Carved Tops vs non-Carved Tops

[CrackedPepper]

Is this just an aesthetics issue or is there a difference in:

- tone?
- sustain?
- playability?

 

[m4rk0]

just aesthetics..

some say the thicker top wood adds to the overall tone.. but I don't think this is the case.

 

[rockskate4x]

generally speaking, a thicker body means a thicker tone (Orpheo will testify to this), but a carved top guitar is not necessarily thicker. A Warmoth carved top tele for example, has wood removed in order to form the carve, while les pauls have a cap added to the top to form the carve.

 

[Mor Paul]

They do play differently if wood is added to the top

 

[JaySwear]

carved tops are much more expensive than flat tops, too! seriously though, having owned a couple carved tops it seems to me that it's all aesthetics. i'd rather have a forearm cut for comfort than a nice carved top i think, although whats most important to me would be the rib contour so it wouldn't matter what the top looks like so much.

 

[swarfrat]

Any experiences w/ Hollow - Carved top vs Hollow (not chambered) flat top (Tele Thinlines). Gut instinct says to me that, if there was a difference, it'd be there. (Also very interested because Hollow CT Tele is my current fixation)

Also wondering - warmoth says CT Tele's start w/ regular blank. If you're doing laminate anyway, if you ask can you get a full thickness blank + carved top?

 

[Superlizard]

It definitely does something (as does anything you add/subtract to a guitar), but what
exactly and how much exactly is difficult to tell.

Not nearly as cut and dry as, "what does a mahogany body do vs. a hard rock maple body?".

One caveat though - the cap itself, hard to say.  But the wood type of the cap (if substantial enough) - definitely affects tone.

Gibson LP Custom:  mahogany cap for mellower tone
Gibson LP Standard:  maple cap adds brightness

 

[bpmorton777]

My Bro's 1987 Les Paul Custom has a maple cap.

Brian

 

[Graffiti62]

According to science, any addition, subtraction or modification of the guitar body's density is going to affect the tone of a guitar. Eddie Van Halen will vouch for this--he ruined the tone he liked on his Ibanez Destroyer (Gibson Explorer copy) by creating the "shark bite" look on it.

Although, as its been proven, the shape doesn't play as big of a factor as the density. A little man with a metal elbow from Wisconsin showed us that in the 1940s when he added a neck to a 4x4 piece of lumber and proved right the theory that, over the course of time, has helped us all have a hobby based around his invention.

 

[Superlizard]

My Bro's 1987 Les Paul Custom has a maple cap.

Brian

I shoulda mentioned "classic" LP Custom - the originals were mahog.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

On LP Customs, the finish can lend as much to what the cap is.  If a transparent or burst finish, Maple.  If opaque, Mahogany like the body wood.  This little fact lends creedence to the opinion that the cap's effect on tone is neglible and purely aesthetic.  Wouldn't Gibson want all of the LP Customs in the same run and series sound alike, regardless of the finish and subsequent top wood?

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I would add too that unless you have osciloscopes for ears, these subtle differences in warmth or brightness are noticeable if you want them to be but lost on most folks.  A tweak of knob here or there can overcome them.  The biggest warmers and brightners have about 10 things in front of the cap wood.  Strings, pickups, neck wood, body wood, bridge, amp, etc. etc.