Neck wood or Body wood

[uOpt]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

i've been hearing from some Youtube clips that the solid body guitar most important part for tone is the wood in the neck... more important then the body wood.... Robert Godin believes this to be true.... so i wonder if you try to improve a dead sounding strat by using a new neck would it make a massive difference... i may pop the neck off another strat that sounds great and see if it makes a huge difference.... and i'm talking high quality strats here... USA and Custom Shop parts

so what do you guys believe... body wood or neck wood more important in making differences in tone?

In a Strat with tremolo block the neck wood is more important than the body wood. In fact the construction, namely the truss rod, definitely play a major role, too.

In a Les Paul? Not so sure, at least not for the wood.

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

Agree or disagree: "A Les Paul with a Maple neck sounds more like a Les Paul than a Les Paul with a Swamp Ash or Alder body."

This is like saying "Pizza tastes different if you replace the cheese with carrot shavings" while your friend replies "No, it tastes more different if you replace the sauce with strawberry pie filling" and then some ignoramus on YouTube says the crust might as well be particleboard because all its doing is carrying the toppings.

That was actually pretty brilliant.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

hate to say it but the reason i've been asking this is i bought a Custom Shop Time Machine 1966 Strat and it's not the best strat i've ever owned... i like it in some ways and in others i don't... i changed the bridge PU to a Duncan SSL-5 and added a 5 way switch... The SSL5 is a major improvement over the stock low output pickup when used on it's own but that magic quack of the Bridge/Middle together is not the same as when it had the original Bridge PU... i kind of miss that original PU just for that in-between sound... but the SSL-5 has a better output

it's interesting how this strat is pretty dead and lifeless compared to other strats in my collection... what i was going to buy was a 62 Hot Rod or just a new American Standard but the store offered me a killer deal on this CS piece... it was silly how discounted it was, but maybe i know why it never sold...

 

[uOpt]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

hate to say it but the reason i've been asking this is i bought a Custom Shop Time Machine 1966 Strat and it's not the best strat i've ever owned... i like it in some ways and in others i don't... i changed the bridge PU to a Duncan SSL-5 and added a 5 way switch... The SSL5 is a major improvement over the stock low output pickup when used on it's own but that magic quack of the Bridge/Middle together is not the same as when it had the original Bridge PU... i kind of miss that original PU just for that in-between sound... but the SSL-5 has a better output

it's interesting how this strat is pretty dead and lifeless compared to other strats in my collection... what i was going to buy was a 62 Hot Rod or just a new American Standard but the store offered me a killer deal on this CS piece... it was silly how discounted it was, but maybe i know why it never sold...

Pics? Maybe I take it

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

don't get me wrong it's still a good guitar but not the Dream Machine i was hoping it would be... i've been blown away from some Custom Shop pieces, mostly Tele's... this strat is pretty heavy and dense, it's pretty bright sounding and it makes me wonder if the brightness is more from the neck, or the body.... oddly the brightness helps the neck PU from being too muddy bluesy stuff... thru a clean fender amp it has some great qualities... for a harder rock guitar even with the louder SSL5 in it, it's not been the best it can be...

now what it has going for it is it's a model i was interested in for a long time... the 66 era strats with the Round Lam fingerboards and the Larger headstock with the transition Fender logo... and the Firemist Gold finnish is kind of cool...

i will not be breaking up the parts of this strat for good, it's a $3800 guitar after all..... but as an experiment i'd like to see if my neck off my great thick sounding American Standard would tame the highs on this strat... that American Standard is just great and thick sounding....

this 66 CS i may never sell... it still has it's uses...

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

don't get me wrong it's still a good guitar but not the Dream Machine i was hoping it would be... i've been blown away from some Custom Shop pieces, mostly Tele's... this strat is pretty heavy and dense, it's pretty bright sounding and it makes me wonder if the brightness is more from the neck, or the body.... oddly the brightness helps the neck PU from being too muddy bluesy stuff... thru a clean fender amp it has some great qualities... for a harder rock guitar even with the louder SSL5 in it, it's not been the best it can be...

now what it has going for it is it's a model i was interested in for a long time... the 66 era strats with the Round Lam fingerboards and the Larger headstock with the transition Fender logo... and the Firemist Gold finnish is kind of cool...

i will not be breaking up the parts of this strat for good, it's a $3800 guitar after all..... but as an experiment i'd like to see if my neck off my great thick sounding American Standard would tame the highs on this strat... that American Standard is just great and thick sounding....

this 66 CS i may never sell... it still has it's uses...

Ugh, that's a harsh lesson I've learned all too many times. I can't tell you how many custom shop guitars I've owned to find that they were only "good" (the Gibson's were the biggest culprits). Truth be told some of the best gear I've owned was production model stuff that I hand picked. At least then I knew what I was buying. Sorry to hear you're going through it too.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

ya it's a good lesson in that paying alot more for a guitar does not mean it'll sound better... and i truely believe good tone starts in the wood itself... people can argue finish, hardware, and pickups to death but if the wood isn't right the rest does not help... my American Standard is from 1988 and has 2inch thick poly and 2 post trem... it sounds killer over the Custom Shop

 

[uOpt]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

Have you learned nothing from dating? Can't judge this one WITHOUT PICS!

 

[DonP]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

It's the wood that makes it good LOL!

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

It's the wood that makes it good LOL!

lol... i was thinking of that Seinfeld clip myself

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

Have you learned nothing from dating? Can't judge this one WITHOUT PICS!

i have no idea how to post pictures... never been that good with computers

but it's a great looking strat... Closet Classic with the cracked finish... the Abagail wound Pick Up's are super for some great clean tones for sure... i could see putting these in a warmer strat to great effect! even in my American Standard...

 

[RayBarbeeMusic]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

lol.

 

[slash08]

Re: Neck wood or Body wood

If its acoustic it is best that both neck and body are wood..