LawrenceH Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 [quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1329680343' post='1545867'] Ahh, this old chestnut again. My take on it: Do different pieces of woods make (Electric) guitars sound different? Theoretically...yes. Does the wood you use to make a guitar influence the sound more or less than the shape of the guitar? (different guitar shapes will have different vibrational modes). No idea. Is the difference between two pieces of the same wood species bigger than the difference between two pieces of wood made from different species? No idea. I suspect the answer is "yes, but only sometimes". Does the effect of the wood make much difference at all when compared to the effect of your pickups or your amplifier? I very much doubt it. [/quote] I'd agree with all of this...except to add that you'd expect the nature of the effect to differ from those of pickups/amp, since there is a time component to any effect of wood whereas pickups would (mostly) act as a fixed filter (at least for a given note). A clean amp will similarly impart a fixed EQ characteristic (distortion is another factor again). So yes the effect might well be subtle, but it may still be audible through a fixed EQ as an altered decay curve. There's also the issue that people don't use particularly exceptional woods,in mechanical terms, for guitar construction very much. You're constrained by weight, workability and strength to a certain range of properties. My balsa-necked ironwood body bass remains a gorgeous dream. I'd like to experiment with it myself just for my own idle curiosity but to do it properly would require a significant investment, and essentially it's just reinventing the wheel. Playing around swapping components between my various jazzes I've felt there are certain characteristics that stay with a particular instrument regardless of electronics. As I've said before though, if the effect of wood was [b]always[/b] negligible, then we'd never encounter dead spots on necks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) [quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1329685092' post='1545982'] ...if the effect of wood was [b]always[/b] negligible, then we'd never encounter dead spots on necks. [/quote] I'm sure that's a whole different kettle of fish... the neck is subject to string tension and so on. I could be more convinced that the neck wood makes some sort of difference compared to body wood. Edited February 19, 2012 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftybassman392 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Anybody seen the OP lately? Just thought I'd ask... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1329685893' post='1546002'] I'm sure that's a whole different kettle of fish... the neck is subject to string tension and so on. I could be convinced the neck wood makes some sort of difference compared to body wood. [/quote] Not sure I follow, the thing about the dead spot is that it's a result of resonant cancellations between the string and the anchor (ie wood). If neck vibration was insignificant then dead spots wouldn't be audible, but instead they demonstrate quite nicely that vibration can alter the decay characteristics of the string in quite drastic fashion - dead spots can be pretty unsubtle! Yes there's the effect of tension in the system, not to mention the truss rod, but that doesn't really change the basic concept. Edited February 19, 2012 by LawrenceH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) I suppose what I mean is that the neck is actually 'played' - it's an essential part of the instrument, it's design and construction is much more important than that of the body, which is basically somewhere convenient to locate the bridge, electrics, etc, and could be any old shape. There's a very real danger that I'm talking out of my arse here, of course. Edited February 19, 2012 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1329687137' post='1546038'] I suppose what I mean is that the neck is actually 'played' - it's an essential part of the instrument, it's design and construction is much more important than that of the body, which is basically somewhere convenient to locate the bridge, electrics, etc, and could be any old shape. [/quote] Well, the body between the neck joint and the bridge is also directly tensioned by the string...but to illustrate why that's not the only important factor look at one cure for dead spots - a clamp on the headstock. Doesn't have to be directly in the path of the tension on the neck, just has to add mass to it, changing the resonant frequency and consequently shifting the dead spot. Similarly, the rest of the body aside from the bit between neck/bridge will affect the overall resonance. [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1329687137' post='1546038'] There's a very real danger that I'm talking out of my arse here, of course. [/quote] A risk we all take on BC I think... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 It is all joined together, with varying degrees of cohesion, which its its own debate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 [quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1329677351' post='1545763'] Err, actually I mentioned it and so did Max in the original post [/quote] Ahh. I'll be working on my speed-reading skills, or lack of them, next week then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) [quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1329687874' post='1546056'] ...but to illustrate why that's not the only important factor look at one cure for dead spots - a clamp on the headstock. Doesn't have to be directly in the path of the tension on the neck, just has to add mass to it, changing the resonant frequency and consequently shifting the dead spot. [/quote] Yes, I believe I read something about Leo's change in the P-Bass headstock from the 51 (tele) shape to the 57 (strat) shape having something to do with adding mass and lessening the incidence of dead spots... I could just have dreamt it, of course... Edited February 19, 2012 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 OK, who signed me up for TalkB*****s and can I have BassChat back please?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 This is brilliantly interesting stuff , all scientific and top , but , while in empirical scientific detail it is quite complex with varying material interactions etc . but does it mean s**t in the real world The timbre of my timber seems to change with the weather I don't have the patience or probably even the ear to pick out subtle changes in tone , but dial in the knobs and I'll soon find something I can use, having said that I wouldnt go out with a bass acoustic to play my rock set Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceonaboy Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1329673724' post='1545672'] Wow! I've got a certificate for swimming a width and the Mrs Joyful prize for rafia work. [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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