Pairing Necks and Bodies

A

AustinS

New member
First off, I'd like to start off by saying I'm not trying to start a tonewood war here.

So in my experience from all the guitars I've played, it seems to me that the heavier a guitar is, the more resonant it is and the more low end it has (plugged + unplugged). Have you guys had similar experiences? Also, I'm very picky about how a neck profile feels so is there anyway to pair a neck and body so you have an idea of what it might sound like beforehand and get the best of both worlds, the feel you want and the sound and resonance you want? Buying these separate and putting them together just to find out you don't like the combo could be quite the expensive experiment :laugh2: I'm also curious of your preferences/experiences with pairing necks and bodies in general.
Thanks guys! :headbang:
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

My lightweight basswood body and maple neck is the best tone wood I have. But I think there are advantages to most woods according to your preferences.

I'm currently undertaking the experiment that you're referring to. I'm ordering an unfinished poplar body from warmoth. And I'm going to get a neck too probably maple but I can't decide. But my pickguard and set up are DIALED so I don't have to worry about lack of bass or tone. I think it will just be the character of the sound.
 
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Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

Maple and ash are both heavy and are used for baseball bats and are bright sounding woods.
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

I have guitars which are SUPER light and really resonate well.
I have a nice 74 custom that is 10lbs and resonates well.

There are too many variables with guitars and the way the woods combine to make sweeping statements. Even if you surveyed 100k guitars I'd guess you'd only ever get a broad trend
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

I'll also say that I don't really know how important resonance is. All things equal I'd rather go for something that is louder unplugged, vs. more resonant; those criteria don't always go hand in hand either. Unplugged tone with greater volume = more dynamics to my ears, because you can have a more varied range of tone just by picking soft/harder (not to mention vintage output pickups come through better...)
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

My sample size isn't enormous but from what I've played there really isn't that much correlation between weight and tone.

As I've built up body/neck combos I have been surprised how much a neck contributes to tone, and it seems a fatter neck has a beefier tone.
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

I've noticed fat necks sounding beefier too. I like that. I think the volume of the guitar affects bass. For example the huge body on a jaguar.
 
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Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

I am happy we can have a rational discussion on tonewood, and not argue that "It is an electric guitar. So what it is made out of doesn't matter".
I dig alder and mahogany. I have a wenge neck that is really amazing, too.
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

AustinS said:
So in my experience from all the guitars I've played, it seems to me that the heavier a guitar is, the more resonant it is and the more low end it has (plugged + unplugged). Have you guys had similar experiences?
Click to expand...

No.
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

AustinS said:
First off, I'd like to start off by saying I'm not trying to start a tonewood war here.

So in my experience from all the guitars I've played, it seems to me that the heavier a guitar is, the more resonant it is and the more low end it has (plugged + unplugged). Have you guys had similar experiences?
Click to expand...

Nope. I dig light guitars with air in them. But I have heard heavy guitars that have a lot of resonance, as well as light ones. I've also heard heavy guitars sound dead and lifeless, as well as light ones. However, that is more rare on lighter guitars. And given the choice, no matter how a guitar resonates, I won't play a heavy guitar for long. So I always opt for light ones.
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

Mincer said:
I am happy we can have a rational discussion on tonewood, and not argue that "It is an electric guitar. So what it is made out of doesn't matter".
I dig alder and mahogany. I have a wenge neck that is really amazing, too.
Click to expand...

That rubbish used to drive me crazy on the Gear Page. So many people with very little experience, but obsessed with mythbusting none the less.

I don't post there anymore.

I like light guitars. They seem more resonant to me and seem to get a fuller sound at the low volumes i gig at these days.

Seems like the heavier guitars, like most Les Pauls, sound thin and plinky at low volumes - especially without any pedals to beef them up.

I can play louder at home than I can on some of the gigs I play these days!
 
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Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

I like light guitars as well
I find I can compensate for most variations
With a few turns of the amps knobs
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

I have lots of guitars and have been playing for 54 years. And I have learned this:
There are no rules and no predictable consistency when it comes to tone being affected by wood weight or density or type.
My favorite Strat has wonderful character with rich overtones, is very sensitive to touch and it has the thinnest neck of all my guitars. It also has a thick poly finish.
So it seems to break the "rules" but it's the best sounding Strat I've ever played.

S Mac
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

Lewguitar said:
I like light guitars. They seem more resonant to me and seem to get a fuller sound at the low volumes i gig at these days.

Seems like the heavier guitars, like most Les Pauls, sound thin and plinky at low volumes - especially without any pedals to beef them up.

I can play louder at home than I can on some of the gigs I play these days!
Click to expand...

I think that sandwich body has something to do with that as well. It adds quite a lot to the rigidness of body, with maple construction LP is probably the most solid guitar there is.

It's interesting how Gibson went into exact opposite with SG. I really like that wooden tone its thin plank body contributes to.
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

Does/has anyone ever pair/ed hog necks with maple or walnut bodies/wings?
We always see hardwood surrounded by soft, but how wood(p.i.lol) it sound the other way?

How different in tone is black-walnut for the neck as opposed to plain maple? (all else being equal)
 
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Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

Lewguitar said:
That rubbish used to drive me crazy on the Gear Page. So many people with very little experience, but obsessed with mythbusting none the less.

I don't post there anymore.

I like light guitars. They seem more resonant to me and seem to get a fuller sound at the low volumes i gig at these days.

Seems like the heavier guitars, like most Les Pauls, sound thin and plinky at low volumes - especially without any pedals to beef them up.

I can play louder at home than I can on some of the gigs I play these days!
Click to expand...

I like light guitars, too, and so does my back. And I stay out of those discussions on any forum I am on. Man, people freak out about that.
 
Re: Pairing Necks and Bodies

My favorite sounding guitar is a set neck all mahogany V, however my second favorite is a basswood body with a bolt on maple neck and a rosewood board. It sounds better than both of my painfully long process, hand picked mahogany Gibson's. Tone woods are a good indication of a starting point but the sum is definitely greater than the parts.

Weight plays a much smaller role in my ear with the exception of neck size. Beefier neck = almost always beefier sounding guitars to me. All guitars are pretty near to ukulele size on me so weight doesn't bother me much and I have them from cinder block on a log chain to near feather weight, it helps shape but doesn't determine end tone.
 
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