Sirnothingness
Banned
That would be nutty, wouldn't it?
How does what your guitar is made of affect the sound?
- Thread starter wreckd504
- Start date
That would be nutty, wouldn't it?
Dogman
Unkle Ticklefingers
castlerock
New member
i suppose that would depend on how long you let it dry. petrified dog poop has the most sustain but is extremely rare. softer dog poop has less sustain but a deeper tone.
LOL this thread was a blast to read. Tonewoods are so subjective and have so many variables it is difficult to pinpoint what makes each piece of wood sound different. I have two Strats made from the same piece of Ash with maple necks and fret boards. They sound completely different. Why? Who knows. I really think the density and grain pattern has a lot to do with it. Why does one mahogany guitar sound warmer than another? Why does one Strat have more sustain than another? I try guitars unplugged first then if they have good tone I'll plug them in.
fastisgood
New member
You need to be more specific: German Shepherd poo has a much warmer sound than Rottweiller poo. And how many plies of poo will you be using?
true-eurt
Maneater
...thanks a million!!!
true-eurt
Maneater
Hey, better than Agathis.
antichef
pornk rock
Really fresh dog poop has a nice, warm tone.
muttley600
Banned
IT SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE. You do not understand what you are talking about. Maple is fine as a tonewood. I have built hundreds of guitars with the stuff. I've used American hard, soft and rock Maple. European Maples of all classifications. Flamed, quilted, spalted, birdseye, burl maple. They are all different even two bits cut from the same flitch. PLEASE take your incorrect opinions elsewhere. To say it is not resonant is nonsense. As opposed to what? It has a fast decay? Compared to what? Just to point out how foolish your assumptions are please explain why maple is used almost exclusively on violin family instruments?
Poplar is a different timber and has different material properties. Please explain how it is more resonant which seems to be your claim?
You will not convince me of something that both science and experience has already proven not just to me but to the world in general. If you are to make claims such as those you have done I challenge you to show me the evidence. I am talking down to you not everyone else on the forum. I am doing it because you are talking rubbish and started doing so by claiming to paraphrase me. Also because you are wrong. As a luthier with over 25 years experience I have offered considered and accurate advice to anyone on this forum who has asked for it. You have not asked for it but are trying to offer it with no knowledge of the subject. Do yourself a favour just shut up, read up then put up.
If you don't understand the terminology you need to take some time to learn a little about it because until you have you will not understand the subject and will not be qualified to advise on it.
I am entitled to my opinion you are correct. Unfortunately you are not challenging my opinion but hard scientific fact and hundreds of years of tradition that has proven correct in assessing the merit of various tonewoods and their application. Both cannot be wrong surely?
You do not understand the subject so you cannot put it into terms most people can grasp. What you are saying is neither logical nor common sense in fact it defies both.
I have asked you a lot of questions so far regarding your assumptions and so far you are unable or unwilling to answer them. I can answer them. So until you are able to provide some evidence for your assumptions I guess people here are going to ignore your comments. I have in the past provided a good deal of proven advice and been able to substantiate it. Why? Because I have over 25 years of experience in the trade as a guitar maker. I have a degree in Musical Acoustics and lecture on the subject two semesters a year, I have been involved in post graduate research on the subject of musical acoustics. I have published papers on musical acoustics, I have been consulted by major manufactures on subject as well as manufacturing methods. So until you can back up your statements I would just shut up and admit first to yourself that you don't know something. Only then have you taken the first step to a truly educated opinion.
finally, I'd just like to quote Dave... from another thread when someone was banging on like you stating all sorts of nonsense.
On why we all can't get along
........ and sadly i know why we all cant get along ....... the ones that think they know everything realy piss off the ones that actualy do know everything ....... as long as we have that we will never quite get along .......... not to offend anyone just stating a fact
I'm beggining to concur with you Dave...
Face it guys, a guitar molded out of dog poop would sound like crap. Beyond that, it would be a bitch to finish. (pun intended) Those of us who have been around for a while are very aware that "You cant polish a turd."
groovyisland
hay wasa
groovyisland
hay wasa
there are many variables
the pickups could have something to do with it
if the necks bolt on then the tightness of the screws could too
are both bridges steady and stable?
all the wiring and soldering joints ok?
switches on cheap guitars are notoriously bad. you could be losing signal at the switch or any of the cheap mini-pots if you have a cheapie.
at the music store where i work we got a batch of strat copies made in china that we sell for 130 bucks. i tuned them and plugged each one in. same model guitars with different colors.
one guitar sounded SOOOOOOO much better than all the others. it has a woody organic and lively tone. lots of harmonics.
all the rest sound dull and boring.
why does that guitar sound so much better? all of them are the same model from the same manufacturer.
Polska_77
New member
^ No 2 guitars are going to sound exactly the same, either. Even if it is the same kind of wood. Even if it came from the same tree.
Like Grooveisland said, there are so many factors that can change the sound, including the quality of how it was produced. A slight change of anything is going to change the sound.
Like Grooveisland said, there are so many factors that can change the sound, including the quality of how it was produced. A slight change of anything is going to change the sound.
MadAudio
Damned if I do
Acrylic has been used for guitars for a long time, but glass?
Light
New member
Here's my take on it.
In a solid body guitar, the body's main effect is to act kind of like a heat sink. It absorbs and transfers the energy from the strings. The more efficiently it transfers energy, the less it absorbs, and the longer the sustain. This is in very broad terms, of course.
Other things involved in the construction do much the same thing, such as the type of neck joint, neck construction (solid vs. laminated, carbon fiber rods, size of the truss rod, etc), and the fit & finish of the joints. But saying these things effect the sustain is over simplified.
I much prefer to think of it the way synth guys think of their filters, ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release). Now, on a guitar the release is when you take your finger off the string, so it is not really an issue, and the attack is determined by how you hit the string. That leaves decay and sustain issues.
When you first hit the string, you get a burst of energy. A guitar which transfers energy efficiently will conserve that energy, and you will have a long decay. A guitar which is less efficient will absorb some of that energy quickly, for a fast decay. What does that sound like? Well, a strat is a good example of a guitar which has a fast decay. compare that to the decay on a Les Paul. A slow decay takes some focus off of the attack, focusing your attention more on the tone and sustain than the attack. A fast decay emphasizes the attack, for that kind of spanky, funky sound you get from a strat. Think of it as kind of like putting a compressor with a fairly slow attack on a kick drum. What it is really doing is emphasizing the strike of the kick, and making it a bit punchier.
And then of course, there is the frequency issue. Different frequencies are more or less robust (lower frequencies are more robust than high), which means that different woods will effect the ADSR differently at different frequencies. Thus, the wood/neck joint/fit of the guitar will effect the frequency spectrum of the guitar as well.
Pickups effect all of this stuff too, of course. A big ceramic magnet up too close to the strings will exert a lot more pull on the strings, and will cause a fast decay and shorter sustain (not to mention pulling the strings out of tune); whereas a smallish alnico II which is down almost flush with the body will exert very little pull on the strings, and will let them ring out better. The number of winds in the pickup, the gauge and type of wire, the size of the "window", all of that is of critical importance.
None of which is to say that an inefficient guitar is a bad guitar. A Strat is a horribly inefficient guitar, in terms of transfer of energy, but it is one of the classic guitar sounds on the planet. None of this stuff is about better of worse, just how it shapes the sound. You use it to shape the sound, not to make it "better" or "worse." Just different.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
In a solid body guitar, the body's main effect is to act kind of like a heat sink. It absorbs and transfers the energy from the strings. The more efficiently it transfers energy, the less it absorbs, and the longer the sustain. This is in very broad terms, of course.
Other things involved in the construction do much the same thing, such as the type of neck joint, neck construction (solid vs. laminated, carbon fiber rods, size of the truss rod, etc), and the fit & finish of the joints. But saying these things effect the sustain is over simplified.
I much prefer to think of it the way synth guys think of their filters, ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release). Now, on a guitar the release is when you take your finger off the string, so it is not really an issue, and the attack is determined by how you hit the string. That leaves decay and sustain issues.
When you first hit the string, you get a burst of energy. A guitar which transfers energy efficiently will conserve that energy, and you will have a long decay. A guitar which is less efficient will absorb some of that energy quickly, for a fast decay. What does that sound like? Well, a strat is a good example of a guitar which has a fast decay. compare that to the decay on a Les Paul. A slow decay takes some focus off of the attack, focusing your attention more on the tone and sustain than the attack. A fast decay emphasizes the attack, for that kind of spanky, funky sound you get from a strat. Think of it as kind of like putting a compressor with a fairly slow attack on a kick drum. What it is really doing is emphasizing the strike of the kick, and making it a bit punchier.
And then of course, there is the frequency issue. Different frequencies are more or less robust (lower frequencies are more robust than high), which means that different woods will effect the ADSR differently at different frequencies. Thus, the wood/neck joint/fit of the guitar will effect the frequency spectrum of the guitar as well.
Pickups effect all of this stuff too, of course. A big ceramic magnet up too close to the strings will exert a lot more pull on the strings, and will cause a fast decay and shorter sustain (not to mention pulling the strings out of tune); whereas a smallish alnico II which is down almost flush with the body will exert very little pull on the strings, and will let them ring out better. The number of winds in the pickup, the gauge and type of wire, the size of the "window", all of that is of critical importance.
None of which is to say that an inefficient guitar is a bad guitar. A Strat is a horribly inefficient guitar, in terms of transfer of energy, but it is one of the classic guitar sounds on the planet. None of this stuff is about better of worse, just how it shapes the sound. You use it to shape the sound, not to make it "better" or "worse." Just different.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Light
New member
Man, that thing is buzzy. Sounds to me like it needs a fret dress.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi