Brightness and Maple vs Mahogany necks:

[Mapleg4]

Will a guitar with Mahogany body (Strat or Soloist) with a Floyd be brighter than a guitar with a similar guitar with a fixed bridge?
Will a the neck pickup on a guitar with a Maple neck (EMG 89) sound brighter than the pickup on a guitar with a Mahogany neck?

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Yes
Yes

 

[Mapleg4]

Then I'll stick to the idea of a Mahogany neck, in order to keep the low end as much as possible. On the other hand, it does at least give an advantage when playing solos and leads on the neck pickup.

 

[-CB-]

1.  Dunno
2.  Yes

 

[JaySwear]

i'd love a side by side comparison between a floyded and fixed bridge guitar. i've heard both opinions, that the wood routed out would make the guitar weak, and that the mass of metal that the floyd bridge provides makes it even brighter.

 

[Mapleg4]

Again, no matter the pickup one uses, one can probably compensate by using more mids on the amp to compensate for the brightness. A bolt-on guitar with a Floyd is going to be brighter than a Les Paul anyway.

 

[-CB-]

A bolt-on guitar with a Floyd is going to be brighter than a Les Paul anyway.

What are you saying here?  If you take, say, a Tele body with a Floyd and a pair of nice BB-Pro's, and a thick mahogany neck, its gonna be brigher than a factory Les Paul?  Or are you saying, that the typical Floyd equipped bolt-on guitar has a maple neck and single coils, and is gonna be brighter than a Les Paul?

 

[Mapleg4]

To put this simple: Will the EMG 85 bridge pickup rythm tone of a Mahogany Carved Top Soloist with a Floyd, a Mahogany bolt-on Jackson neck with an Ebony fingerboard and a 59 roundback profile be brighter than the bridge pickup rythm tone of for example a Epiphone Les Paul Custom that also has an EMG 85 in the bridge?

 

[-CB-]

Considering the neck profile of the Epi vs the Roundback you propose... I'd not be blown over if it turned out that the roundback equipped guitar had more mids, lower mids too.

At worst, the tone will be insignificantly, perhaps not even perceptiblably different.  I dont think they floyd vs tom is gonna do a huge difference - the necks will, and it depends on the wood, and profile of that Epi. 

FWIW, I know, with firsthand knowledge, that some Epi "solid mahogany" bodies are in fact laminates of nice looking mahogany veneer over some really awful looking, and porous yellow wood, that for the sake of legal reasons, is also some sort of wood from a tree in the mahogany family.  I've seen that, personally, on LP's and SG's with set necks, by Epi.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

In most case a Floyd will reduce the bottom end tone of a guitar and make it brighter, simply because the strings are not solidly attached to the body, but through the springs and pivot points. So the strings are actually attached to less mass. That's one of the reasons the brass block upgrades are an improvement for Floyd guitars, they add mass to the bridge.

 

[Mapleg4]

FWIW, I know, with firsthand knowledge, that some Epi "solid mahogany" bodies are in fact laminates of nice looking mahogany veneer over some really awful looking, and porous yellow wood, that for the sake of legal reasons, is also some sort of wood from a tree in the mahogany family.  I've seen that, personally, on LP's and SG's with set necks, by Epi.

Do you mean Aghatis?

 

[Mapleg4]

In most case a Floyd will reduce the bottom end tone of a guitar and make it brighter, simply because the strings are not solidly attached to the body, but through the springs and pivot points. So the strings are actually attached to less mass. That's one of the reasons the brass block upgrades are an improvement for Floyd guitars, they add mass to the bridge.

Do you use a brass block on "Burn Unit"?

 

[Death by Uberschall]

In most case a Floyd will reduce the bottom end tone of a guitar and make it brighter, simply because the strings are not solidly attached to the body, but through the springs and pivot points. So the strings are actually attached to less mass. That's one of the reasons the brass block upgrades are an improvement for Floyd guitars, they add mass to the bridge.

Do you use a brass block on "Burn Unit"?

Sure do. www.floydupgrades.com  :icon_thumright:

Tell Adam, Death by Uberschall sent ya.  :icon_thumright:

 

[-CB-]

FWIW, I know, with firsthand knowledge, that some Epi "solid mahogany" bodies are in fact laminates of nice looking mahogany veneer over some really awful looking, and porous yellow wood, that for the sake of legal reasons, is also some sort of wood from a tree in the mahogany family.  I've seen that, personally, on LP's and SG's with set necks, by Epi.

Do you mean Aghatis?

No, I mean mahogany, as was the standard claim as of... oh... early '00's

 

[Superbeast520]

FWIW, I know, with firsthand knowledge, that some Epi "solid mahogany" bodies are in fact laminates of nice looking mahogany veneer over some really awful looking, and porous yellow wood, that for the sake of legal reasons, is also some sort of wood from a tree in the mahogany family.  I've seen that, personally, on LP's and SG's with set necks, by Epi.

Do you mean Aghatis?

No, I mean mahogany, as was the standard claim as of... oh... early '00's

Im not surprised to hear that,I actually considered buying an Epi this year as I thought damn looks like a Gison, so why not go Epi and just swap out the electronics and walla...Gibson...But then I thought ya know if  it seems too good to be true, ..it probably is. So I nixed that Idea as I suspected there had to be other cost cutting factors at play when buying an Epi...factors other than electronics and rolled neck edges..etc,etc  always nice to hear how it is from someone who really knows..thanks CB

 

[Mapleg4]

Exactly what is this crappy wood called? Just get that Epiphone. I think we have to do with a Gibson/Epi hater here.

 

[-CB-]

Cant say on all the Epi, but I know the flat body SG... where the grain showed... the veneer was thin enough to easily sand through and look like crap.

 

[Mapleg4]

And CB... Exactly why did you sand, or more correctly, why did you have to sand that finish off?!?

 

[jackthehack]

FWIW, I know, with firsthand knowledge, that some Epi "solid mahogany" bodies are in fact laminates of nice looking mahogany veneer over some really awful looking, and porous yellow wood, that for the sake of legal reasons, is also some sort of wood from a tree in the mahogany family.  I've seen that, personally, on LP's and SG's with set necks, by Epi.

Do you mean Aghatis?

No, I mean mahogany, as was the standard claim as of... oh... early '00's

Im not surprised to hear that,I actually considered buying an Epi this year as I thought damn looks like a Gison, so why not go Epi and just swap out the electronics and walla...Gibson...But then I thought ya know if  it seems too good to be true, ..it probably is. So I nixed that Idea as I suspected there had to be other cost cutting factors at play when buying an Epi...factors other than electronics and rolled neck edges..etc,etc  always nice to hear how it is from someone who really knows..thanks CB

Well, I never re-finished one, but the lead player in my girlfriend's son's band had one of the more expensive Epi LP models, like this one:

..that runs around $550.

You have to gut ALL the electronics as it all cheap crap, but I put a set of SD Alnico V "Slash" pickups in it, CTS pots & Sprague Orange caps,
and if there's any difference in the sound/playability from one of these:

...that cost $2300 (couldn't the same exact burst color) I'll be damned if I could tell. I'm sure the Gibson has a solid carved top and the Epi veneer, but then again there's not $1750 difference in sound/feel. It DOES say Gibson on it though...

 

[-CB-]

And CB... Exactly why did you sand, or more correctly, why did you have to sand that finish off?!?

Factory SG bright red transparent finish on "mahogany", sanded off in order to go deeper color red (with a hint of brown).  Never got that far.  It went to a solid black to cover the veneer.  Lester was going to go from clownburst to a tobacco burst... same thing... the 'maple" cap was very thin, I'm guessing.. less than 1mm thick.  That one went black too.  That REALLY turned me off to Epi.  They make a claim, but its a very iffy claim at best... "solid mahogany body".  Yah it was.  Thinking of the SG, you could see, if you looked really close along the tail of the body, that the grain on the body didn't match the grain on the top at all, as it should have.  You couldn't see the seam, or the veneer... but the not-so-seethru finish did give up a few secrets.  Even in the pickup and control routes, its hard to see.  I dunno about the LP, but it was their better grade, about $399 varient of the SG