Which woods are..........

bonedish

New member
.......... more "forgiving" when placing pickups? And which woods are harder (aka pickier) to match pickups to in your experiences?

Also, how does a solid body of one wood compare to those guitars that have tops?

Just trying to learn a little more about geetars!
 
Re: Which woods are..........

Honestly, it's whether or not the pickup is picky about the woods.

And as far as solid bodies and one with tops goes, Les Pauls are mahogany bodies guitars but have a maple top just to add more presence to the overall tone. Usually I like to get a mahogany guitar with a maple top or with a maple neck just so it's not too warm because I prefer mahogany but too much because can be a bit boomy. Having said all of the my Flying V is all mahogany but sounds fine so whatever.
 
Re: Which woods are..........

It is the combined characteristics of the two elements that you are trying to balance.
 
Re: Which woods are..........

I would say that the standard woods like Mahogany, or mahogany with maple top, Alder, and Ash are well known and used everywhere, so their tone is more predictable and easy to select pickups for.


Exotic woods, like Korina, can be a little trickier, unless you play a game of guess and check and find the best pickup to your ears.



Neck construction comes into it as well. Set necks offer warmer tone, and bolted necks give a punchier, brighter attack. It seems that bolted necks have less sustain, but its not truly the case. Their tone just has more attack and faster decay.



Dre
 
Re: Which woods are..........

Neck construction comes into it as well. Set necks offer warmer tone, and bolted necks give a punchier, brighter attack. It seems that bolted necks have less sustain, but its not truly the case. Their tone just has more attack and faster decay.



Dre

I'm surprised neck-thru doesn't count as neck construction..
IMHO neck-thru give sustain the best than bolt-on..
 
Re: Which woods are..........

I'm surprised neck-thru doesn't count as neck construction..
IMHO neck-thru give sustain the best than bolt-on..

A good well setup bolt on will sustain just as well. A lot of bolt on gets flack that they don't sustain well. Often they are cheaply made guitars with a neck pocket that is less than satisfactory in fit. Keep in mind that most neck thru guitars are higher in the price range. If you take a bolt on of equivalent price with a tight neck pocket it will sustain just as well. I had a LTD bolt on with a floyd that sustained way better than my LTD neck thru that was string thru. Technically the LTD should sustain more being that trems and bolt on necks are thought to rob sustain but really it is primarily a matter of the quality of construction.
 
Re: Which woods are..........

Yeah I don't buy into the whole "Bolt on necks have crappy sustain" belief either. No matter what a good guitar plays good and a bad guitar plays bad. I'm a Gibson guy at heart but play Fenders and etc. All the time. If I were to make a custom guitar then no way would it be a bolt on but that is just because my first guitar was a Les Paul.

When I bought my Tele the singer/rhythm guitarist in my band complained "OMG you got a bolt on? What were you thinking? They don't have any sustain!!!" Well thats because he is a brand name guy and loves Gibson and will never buy anything else. It's sad. But anyways that Tele is actually a $130 Agile and it is one of the best guitars I have ever played despite the price. It has awesome sustain. It's just the difference in attack like Dre explained. It casts the illusion of lesser sustain. Honestly, if bolt on guitars had such crappy sustain then why do so many guitarists use bolt on necks?
 
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