Wood affects tone (Anderton's video content)

Branshen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLxE8iDWD_w

OilCityPickups

I think most people will admit to there being an effect ... just not as much effect as many people would have you believe. I have alder Tele with a maple board and a swamp ash Tele with a rosewood board ... and to my ears they are impossible to tell apart ... or were while I had similar pickups in em. The most dramatic illustration for me was my old Honduras mahogany body Strat ... much warmer and fuller than a comparable alder one.
However that test hinted at what I always maintain: that if you chuck some dirt in the mix then in matters even less ... in fact down to not mattering at all

carlos

Errr... no. 

Fretwired

And in news today water is wet ... :-)

koneguitarist

What a waste of space this video is, how about remove pickups, use one guitar and mic it and then swap bodies. 

Then you will hear the difference in the wood, Pots, pickups everything changes tone slightly, so if we are looking for minute difference take them out of the equation.

HAL9000

TheGuitarWeasel said:

 if you chuck some dirt in the mix then in matters even less ...

Once the drums come in it doesn't matter a jot.

stonevibe

The 'taches make them look like the Chuckle Brothers....

digitalscream

koneguitarist said:

What a waste of space this video is, how about remove pickups, use one guitar and mic it and then swap bodies. 

Then you will hear the difference in the wood, Pots, pickups everything changes tone slightly, so if we are looking for minute difference take them out of the equation.

Dude, that's ridiculous. When you have a consistent production line for all components, that's enough to verify that there's a difference. No, it's not enough to measure the precise difference scientifically, but that's not the point of the video. They even point out that it's not night and day between the two.

For people who aren't particularly experienced with lots of guitars, the video gives useful information.

not_the_dj

georgenadaintl said:

Errr... no. 

Are you suggesting that their isn't (or shouldn't be) a difference? 

randomhandclaps

stonevibe said:

The 'taches make them look like the Chuckle Brothers....

They wish.

koneguitarist

digitalscream said:

koneguitarist said:

What a waste of space this video is, how about remove pickups, use one guitar and mic it and then swap bodies. 

Then you will hear the difference in the wood, Pots, pickups everything changes tone slightly, so if we are looking for minute difference take them out of the equation.

Dude, that's ridiculous. When you have a consistent production line for all components, that's enough to verify that there's a difference. No, it's not enough to measure the precise difference scientifically, but that's not the point of the video. They even point out that it's not night and day between the two.

For people who aren't particularly experienced with lots of guitars, the video gives useful information.

They say its Proof, but its not. Get two guitars exactly the same and they will sound slightly different even with same woods etc. So what does the Video prove? two similar guitars sound different ! wow earth shattering.

OilCityPickups

The video definitely proves that a pale, anemic, swamp ash superstrat is one of the most hideous guitars ever conceived by the mind of man. It reminds me of nasty Ikea furniture code named Plookys or Foontabs or whatever fucked up catalog handle they were given.

randomhandclaps

I concur with the IKEA guitar awfulness.  It's about as cool as.... well 'Chappers'.

OilCityPickups

I really don't like guitars that look like coffee tables ... if 'gold top' is rock and roll ... it's kinda like evil anti-rock finish

Lukeage

Chappers videos... insufferable.

streethawk

To be fair to the fuckle brothers, the difference was what you might expect it to be.

Paul_C

I used to say (sometimes after a pint or two) that the wood of a guitar (or bass) body has an effect, the wood of the neck has an effect, the wood of the fingerboard has an effect, the size and shape of the body and the headstock has an effect, the neck/body join has an effect, the pickups have an effect, the choice of strings (and their relative newness) has an effect, the preamp or lack of (particularly on a bass) has an effect, the amp/cab has an effect, the placement on stage of amp and cab has an effect, the shape of the room has an effect, the number of people in the room has an effect, and after all that, the only person in the place who really gives the slightest shit about what it all those effects sound like is the player.

EdGrip

Chappers is certainly annoying.

The problem is that what they've shown is that the two guitars sound different, and that the two guitars are made out of different pieces of wood, and that those different pieces of wood are also from two different species of tree. Now, that doesn't show that the difference in tree-species is the reason the two guitars sound different. 

It might be, and it might not be. I'm sure different species do contribute to the sound of guitars, but my groundless suspicion is that the difference is a lot less consistent, predictable and buzzword-describable than some would have you believe.

bertie

Paul_C said:

and after all that, the only person in the place who really gives the slightest shit about what it all those effects sound like is the player.

this, in buckets.   have a wisdom

ICBM

The wood makes a difference - any idiot can tell that. The only question is how much.

I found it made a substantial difference at high gain, high volume in a stage mix and *after* the bass and drums had kicked in (and the bassist and drummer could tell, too). For what it's worth I was comparing a PRS Standard (all-mahogany) to a PRS Custom (maple top), both with trems, same pickups, ie identical guitars apart from the wood. BIG difference.

I'm pretty sure the audience would have been able to tell too, although whether they gave a shit is a different question...

guitarfishbay

koneguitarist said:

digitalscream said:

koneguitarist said:

What a waste of space this video is, how about remove pickups, use one guitar and mic it and then swap bodies. 

Then you will hear the difference in the wood, Pots, pickups everything changes tone slightly, so if we are looking for minute difference take them out of the equation.

Dude, that's ridiculous. When you have a consistent production line for all components, that's enough to verify that there's a difference. No, it's not enough to measure the precise difference scientifically, but that's not the point of the video. They even point out that it's not night and day between the two.

For people who aren't particularly experienced with lots of guitars, the video gives useful information.

They say its Proof, but its not. Get two guitars exactly the same and they will sound slightly different even with same woods etc. So what does the Video prove? two similar guitars sound different ! wow earth shattering.

In fairness I think those guys are aiming at a different audience to the 'been there done that' experienced musician with a few decades under their belt.  Also they're salesmen at the end of the day, they have a financial interest in these test videos. 

I agree with their sentiment that when you get to small differences in spec the feel becomes the most noticeable difference to the player rather than the sound to everyone else.

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My own personal opinion is that only broad strokes really matter when it comes to tone, with any musical gear.  Anything that sounds fairly similar can probably be EQ'd to sound basically the same at some stage - if not via amp/pedals then probably by post EQ on a recording - obviously much of this depends on your goals with use of your equipment.  I've been there done that with several similar-but-different superstrats from various brands - different body woods, pickups, bridges etc.  I came to the conclusion the best thing to do is pick a guitar you like to play and like the sound of and stick with it and make music.  For me I reckon a Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster cover all the tone bases I actually enjoy.  I do believe other tone categories exist but I'm not bothered about them myself at this stage of my life.