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As I said it's a version of DK,
...where everyone thinks they are the ones that have magic ears.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
It's not that they know they can't sing so decide no one else can either.
I'm not just pointing this out to be needlessly pedantic, it's because the Dunning-Kruger effect is very real but the idea that people just assume that no one could possibly hear something that they can't isn't a psychological phenomenon. If anything, it would just be baseless arrogance.
For me personally, when I've swapped pickups to a totally different guitar, it seems to sound different to me. But, because I believe in science, I don't then make the leap to thinking that it must sound different just because I think I can hear it. I would only start believing that if there was evidence.
In fact, whenever I've seen anyone post blind tests, no one's ever able to pick out completely different guitars, never mind just the wood being different.
So the only way to eliminate that is to hear the sounds without any other clues about what you're hearing - if you can then pick out the correct ones a reasonable number of times then that's evidence towards them actually sounding different.
Otherwise it would have just been a normal amount of pedantic.
Your living in science world seems stop once you have made an observation re changing out pickups. Nothing at all unscientific about an observation you had in hearing the difference and nothing to suggest you only imagined it.
It's the conclusions one might draw from a limited data set and too many variables that presents challenges in having a definitive and quantifiable answer.
That said it is very hard to apply absolutes to such subjective concepts as tone. Not everything that constitutes what we consider 'tone' is easy to measure and assign a numerical value, and on any two consecutive days my rig can sound different to me without any change in the settings being changed. The reasons for that could be many, including psychological and/or demonic possession of my amp.
Also there IS a psychological component in how a particular instrument makes you play over another instrument, and how you play affects the sound as much as anything else.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
The thing that suggests I might have only imagined it is taking the fact that any blind test I've seen is failed by everyone who takes part then taking the fact that when there's no blind test involved, many people talk about how big a difference features x and y make in tone and that they can hear it so obviously. Those two things suggest that, at least some of the time, some people are thinking they are hearing things when they know what they're hearing that they don't hear when they don't know what they're going to be hearing.
Add in loads and loads of research that exists about biases and how unreliable our senses are and how our brains piece together many different sources to paint a picture of the world and how we can't just focus on one sense and observe it as it is.
I would think anyone who knows a lot about cognition would say there's definitely a chance that the tone difference I thought I heard didn't exist in the real world.
Surely the very fact that your rig does sound different the next day without any settings changing must open your mind to the possibility that it's your perception of it that might have changed rather than the tone itself?
Nothing would need a numerical value though, the big question seems to be "does the type of wood affect the tone?" and that could just be answered with a yes or no. It would just require a series of ABX blind tests to possibly produce some good evidence.
See with this aspect it really makes no difference whether the difference is real or not - if you think you hear a difference ten it will affect your playing just as much whether it's real or in your head. If that's the main reason someone is concerned with tone then they'll already know the answer that matters - if they hear a difference then that difference exists for them in their head.
It's only if part of someone's guitar choice is affected by the tone other people will hear when they listen to the music that it would matter. Even then, it's not like a piece of music will be ruined because the listener doesn't hear the same subtle tone that the player thought he heard - the listener will likely be oblivious to the idea. It's really just academic - people pose the question on forums and I suppose it's only natural to want to know the answer.
So I don't know if you don't understand it or are just choosing to ignore it but telling me to try out two guitars is completely missing everything I've said in the thread.
I'm not ignoring them. The differences are so obvious that any debate about perceptions is meaningless.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
If different construction but similar style guitars were used. A Les Paul with maple cap and a plain mahogany junior for instance. Then you could also analyse the signal from the pickups.
This would tell us that the two guitars sound slightly different.
Now when we plug our guitar in the signal goes through the on board tone control (assuming no pedals) then to the amp which has its own character and tone stack.
So why do we get so hung up about tone wood? If a guitar sounds good and plays good it is good.
And by golly, it’s worked - over 50 replies already. I note that the OP hasn’t been back to the thread to comment further.
FWIW, my view is that there are so many factors that govern a guitars tone such as;
Neck material
Body material
String gauge, type and AGE
Paint type and thickness of coating
Shape of the guitar
The weight of the hardware on the head stock
Pickup type and numerous variations within
How the guitar is held
How the guitar is played
...and on and on and on. It's Strats vs Lesters....there's no answer.
My other point is that the perception of sound is one of total personal perception. No good sound or bad sound, just its context in any given setting.
Just play the guitar that pleases you and enjoy.
You'd be surprised at what difference having tolex covering on your speaker cabinet will have - listening to a stripped 4x12 sounds different too from what I've heard.
It is a fairly complex equation
Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
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It's almost certainly not the single most important factor in how an electric guitar sounds but it's part of the picture.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.