nienturi
Active member
So you claim that tone wood matters? How dare you? All the tone comes from the pickups.
Just kidding
I know what you mean
Okay, I guess I'm warming up to DiMarzios
- Thread starter Archer250
- Start date
Just kidding
I know what you mean
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
The more I dive into it, tonewood is a myth perpetuated by Big Guitar to justify their designs to buy the cheapest varieties of wood suitable for guitar. Little Guitar ran with this idea, using expensive woods makes a medium hit on the cost of the instrument, but allows them to charge a lot more for their boutique exotic instrument.
If tonewood really mattered, it would not be a debate. I mean come on, we can all agree that a roughcast versus sintered magnet sounds different but we can't agree that a guitar made out of ash sounds the same as a guitar made of cinderblocks?
If tonewood really mattered, it would not be a debate. I mean come on, we can all agree that a roughcast versus sintered magnet sounds different but we can't agree that a guitar made out of ash sounds the same as a guitar made of cinderblocks?
Archer250
Well-known member
The more I dive into it, tonewood denialism is a concerted effort by the industry to reduce costs by selling the shittiest materials to the users (shmucks), who now will gladly eat anything up as long as it has stainless frets and "specs"
ie "you will eat the bugs and sleep in the pods in your designated 15 minute city and you will enjoy it"
Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
The guitar is a sonic brew of many materials - I did not specify the wood!So you claim that tone wood matters? How dare you? All the tone comes from the pickups.
Just kidding
I know what you mean
Masta' C
Well-known member
There's a difference between recognizing that there are "grades" of wood and certain physical properties of materials that matter in an electric guitar vs. suggesting "tonewoods" are able to be categorized by wood type alone.
For instance, there are higher and lower grades of mahogany, but also significant variances in density, stiffness, moisture level, etc. within those grades. Thus, to make blanket statements that "mahogany" sounds a certain way or that certain pickups sound best in "mahogany" compared to other woods is just spreading falsities.
So, until the concept of "tonewood" becomes associated with something OTHER than the bold over-generalization of the tonal characteristics of specific wood species, the better informed among us are obliged to point out the misinformation when it presents itself.
To be fair, you're not wrong about manufacturers racing to the bottom when it comes to wood quality, but that's just how Capitalism works. Keep in mind, we're also at a point where deforestation is widespread and global reserves of historically popular species like mahogany and rosewood have become heavily strained.
Personally, I think it's great to look beyond the "standard" options of Alder, Swamp Ash, Maple, and Mahogany...
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I don't mean to say the materials a guitar is made of don't make a difference. My two Les Pauls have the same scale lenght and pickup placement relative to the bridge, yet they sound different even with the same pickups. They have different body thicknesses and wood combos.
That being said, I've had bright Mahogany guitars and dark Alder/Maple guitars. Some people claim "X pickup goes well in X wood". I'd personally say since wood even of the same kind can be all over the place, pickup placement and distance relative to bridge make as much difference... if not probably more, IME.
That being said, I've had bright Mahogany guitars and dark Alder/Maple guitars. Some people claim "X pickup goes well in X wood". I'd personally say since wood even of the same kind can be all over the place, pickup placement and distance relative to bridge make as much difference... if not probably more, IME.
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