Does wood matter...

mrkb

Cant hear an obvious difference

RaymondLin

It's more in the feel than the audible sound.

Nerine

It matters. But perhaps not as drastically as we see loudly claimed online by “experts” on forums and YouTube. 

I played two “identical” Suhr Alt-Ts when I bought mine. 

One was alder (IIRC) and maple/rosewood. 

The other was ash and maple/maple. 

Pickups etc the same. 

They didn’t sound the same. Guess which one was brighter and more spanky? Yup. 

So it does matter. But it’s not night and day. People will claim it is to help justify their outlay I think. 

Also - YouTubers. Just because they have a platform, doesn’t mean their positions are valid or correct. 

octatonic

Two identically made guitars- exact same wood and materials- can sound different.

WezV

Good vid, but as always with these things it overstates the conclusion you can draw from it for the views

That is one piece of evidence to show body wood on a Stratocaster style guitar has little(not none)impact on amplified tone - id agree.  but even with this one where there is little audible difference in most of the samples, some small differences are still observed

It does not show wood doesn't matter as stated -   He could repeat the same experiments with other woods parts changed, other materials used for the body , or other styles of guitar construction if that is the conclusion he is trying to provide evidence for

For me, i find the neck makes more of a noticeable change, especially on Strat style guitars where body wood is often less important due to the trem and trem springs isolating the string vibrations from the body wood compared to a more directly mounted bridge

I'm currently building 3 near identical guitars so will try to remember to put my money where my mouth is when done.  2 archtops and one soldibody all with different neck woods, same body woods on the archtops, same scale, all with 2 humbuckers and similar wiring

UnclePsychosis

Does it matter? Probably 

Do two pieces of the same type of wood sound consistently and predictably less different than two pieces of different wood types? I doubt it

Do hobbyists spend far too much time obsessing over things that don't make any real practical difference in real usage? Absolutely

guitars4you

Agree with most comments above - Wood makes a difference - But different doesn't necessarily mean better in some circumstances 

But now a curve ball - Why do Trussart Guitars work and sound so good - I'm not saying the Tele style nails the exact tone of a Tele, but it has its own tone that works - As it happens their LP style doesn't sound like an LP at all, but it does have its own tone that again has its place 

stickyfiddle

It definitely makes a difference, but obviously not as much as vastly different pickups or amp. 

An LP Custom definitely has more snap than a Standard, as does a 355 vs 335, and ebony-board SG vs regular.  Maple Strats are def a shade snappier than the "plummier" rosewood board ones. 

Body wood is less of a difference I think, but I'm sure it doesn't have zero effect. 

strtdv

Yes, but only on average. 

It's likely that the wood characteristic (bright/snappy vs warm etc) falls on a normal distribution for that species, and that there's a fair amount of overlap of distributions between species, so possible to have a maple/ash guitar that sounds warmer and with more midrange than a brighter than average example of an alder/rosewood guitar.

Same for guitar construction and scale length, though I'd guess that construction makes the biggest difference with the least overlap, and there are tonal differences that could be easily misattributed to the wood that are actually due to the construction

Plectrum

He used the same neck so only ruled out the body wood. I think the neck has more opportunity to affect the sound than the body. I'd love to see a video comparison using the one body but different necks made from different woods.

VimFuego

heheheheheh,

wood,

snigger etc. 

Roland

Plectrum said: ... I think the neck has more opportunity to affect the sound than the body …

Neck and fret board definitely have greater effect than body. We’ve been around this discussion many times over the years. The difference can be noticeable in attack, EQ, and sustain when playing into a clean amp. It quickly gets hidden by FX and distortion. 

snowblind

VimFuego said:

heheheheheh,

wood,

snigger etc. 

You've either go it or you haven't.  

carlos

Does wood matter...

Your mum/wife says so!

Not this discussion again. Can't wait for the bodyless guitar to be posted which sounds exactly like any other electric guitar.

VimFuego

I just wanted to take a moment to comment about how this interesting and worthwhile discussion has yet again been derailed by childish smut and schoolboy humour.

You're welcome everyone.

swiller

It does. try a laminated squier strat from korea 1988, it weighs a ton, but same laminate technology that steinway use on the sides of their grand pianos. And , whilst not everyones cup of tea, on a strat it thickens up the tone big time.

Tall_martin

It does. try a laminated squier strat from korea 1988, it weighs a ton, but same laminate technology that steinway use on the sides of their grand pianos. And , whilst not everyones cup of tea, on a strat it thickens up the tone big time.

I bought a £200 guitar from guitars in the attic in Mansfield.

I hadn't twigged the guitar shop is in the attic of a piano warehouse. I've never been so careful walking round a shop not to bump into stuff 

£80,000 pianos scattered everywhere! Mixed with a smattering of £40,000 pianos! 

One of my best decisions in my life was not taking my 3 year old loose cannon of a child that day!

https://sherwoodphoenix.co.uk/product-category/pianos/page/2/

I had a poke round their you tube channel. I absolutely cannot tell the difference between the sound of any of them.



The pianist who they have demoing them are incredible! I'm sure there are people arguing about the wood of the pianos changing the sound, but I'm going for the amount that lady has spent practicing being the defining point in her sound

BobHillman

Of course it matters - without wood most guitars would just be a collection of metal parts.

rossi

There are so many factors  even using the "same"  identical  make pickup type probabably involves a 10% +/-  or more difference that no pickup maker will admit to .Add in the same for the iffy 1940's electrics and its not really possble to earole whats what. If yer like it buy it just dont plug em in 

lesyeuxnoirs

I am just pleased that we’re talking about ‘wood’ (teehee) rather than ‘tone wood’

see also: colour as opposed to colourway etc 

snowblind

So if wood, being natural and always unique from piece to piece, matters do all acrylic guitars sound the same?