My Beliefs on Guitar Tone
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KwazyTwang
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Personally I do think that finish plays a part. Not a tremendous part. But it matters. To me polyurethane really hurts your tone. (Personal Opinion) I tend to think that if you just wax it that's fine. It allows the wood to breathe. (Depending upopn the wax you use) Staining won't hurt obviously. But anyway's. Yeah
Ok, just some food for thought....
Why does the wood need to breath?
Why does poly hurt tone. What property of a poly finish is different from other finishes that makes that so? Under what conditions does poly hurt tone?
Could poly improve tone? If so, under what conditions?
We cant take the same exact body and pickups and neck and refinish it - so we have to draw on generality, based on large samples of poly vs whatever. What other specific traits did those large samples have? Was there anything specific to those poly finished guitars that varied, or was different from the other guitars?
Let me give you a "for instance"....
A person might like the sound (tone) of a twin pickup ES-137, and not like the tone of a Telecaster. So one might conclude the following:
Solid bodies suck for tone.
Poly finish sucks for tone
Single coils suck for tone
Maple fingerboards suck for tone
Maple necks suck for tone
Bolt on necks suck for tone
Angled pegheads improve tone
....and the list goes on and on.
But, we know there are GREAT and FANTASTIC and KILLER sounding guitars with solid bodies, poly finishes, single coil pickups, bolt on maple necks with maple fretboards, and straight headstocks. And there are terrible guitars with hollow bodies, nitro finishes, HB's, and glued in mahogany /rosewood angle peghead necks.
So that leaves a huge giant HMMMMMMMmmmmmm in ones mind.
To all that, I've concluded its hogwash.
Real tone comes from the knob that is labeled "Tone" (or is blank but has the same function).
With the selection of the right knob, all will be right with the world. And knobs are easier and cheaper to change than pickups, or necks or finishes. So if the strat knob doesn't cut it, use a bell knob, or speed knob, or wooden speed knob....
But, when you change knobs, please be sure to use knobs made of old wood, or vintage plastic, or better yet "phenolic" plastic. Make sure your brass knob is made of bell brass, not common brass. And the set screw... it must NEVER be a socket head type, or a philips head type, but ALWAYS a single, shallow slot. Yah they tend to let the screwdriver slip, but that is where the real tone is made.
Then go out and learn to play your guitar.
Why does the wood need to breath?
Why does poly hurt tone. What property of a poly finish is different from other finishes that makes that so? Under what conditions does poly hurt tone?
Could poly improve tone? If so, under what conditions?
We cant take the same exact body and pickups and neck and refinish it - so we have to draw on generality, based on large samples of poly vs whatever. What other specific traits did those large samples have? Was there anything specific to those poly finished guitars that varied, or was different from the other guitars?
Let me give you a "for instance"....
A person might like the sound (tone) of a twin pickup ES-137, and not like the tone of a Telecaster. So one might conclude the following:
Solid bodies suck for tone.
Poly finish sucks for tone
Single coils suck for tone
Maple fingerboards suck for tone
Maple necks suck for tone
Bolt on necks suck for tone
Angled pegheads improve tone
....and the list goes on and on.
But, we know there are GREAT and FANTASTIC and KILLER sounding guitars with solid bodies, poly finishes, single coil pickups, bolt on maple necks with maple fretboards, and straight headstocks. And there are terrible guitars with hollow bodies, nitro finishes, HB's, and glued in mahogany /rosewood angle peghead necks.
So that leaves a huge giant HMMMMMMMmmmmmm in ones mind.
To all that, I've concluded its hogwash.
Real tone comes from the knob that is labeled "Tone" (or is blank but has the same function).
With the selection of the right knob, all will be right with the world. And knobs are easier and cheaper to change than pickups, or necks or finishes. So if the strat knob doesn't cut it, use a bell knob, or speed knob, or wooden speed knob....
But, when you change knobs, please be sure to use knobs made of old wood, or vintage plastic, or better yet "phenolic" plastic. Make sure your brass knob is made of bell brass, not common brass. And the set screw... it must NEVER be a socket head type, or a philips head type, but ALWAYS a single, shallow slot. Yah they tend to let the screwdriver slip, but that is where the real tone is made.
Then go out and learn to play your guitar.
The Tone Wars really remind me of these people who swear they can taste huge differences in various types of vodka. I think a huge part of it is in your head. It really sounds crazy when someone tries to explain what the difference is between two different woods or two different pickups: "It just sounds more alive", "I don't like that one because it sounds too barren." You might as well be a stoner saying "That guitar's aura is purple!" because unless you're pointing out specific properties that make sense to another person (like "This one has more trebel" for example), it's not really going to make that much sense.
You have to just try stuff out and whatever works for you is what works for you, none of it is set in stone. I try to not be too persuaded by what other people say when forming my opinions, but it's hard to get suggestion and marketing out of one's head.
You have to just try stuff out and whatever works for you is what works for you, none of it is set in stone. I try to not be too persuaded by what other people say when forming my opinions, but it's hard to get suggestion and marketing out of one's head.
I love that wonderfully all encompassing term, Timbre.
My old sax teacher said it best. Take a slab of beef and a slab of buffalo, then cook and season them exactly the same. The difference in flavor is timbre. You can state the difference between a clarinet, oboe, saxophone and trumpet in a thousand pages of text...or in one word, timbre.
My old sax teacher said it best. Take a slab of beef and a slab of buffalo, then cook and season them exactly the same. The difference in flavor is timbre. You can state the difference between a clarinet, oboe, saxophone and trumpet in a thousand pages of text...or in one word, timbre.
erogenousjones17
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Max said:
Exactly.
smavridis said:
What? I JUST SAID that it is good to form your own opinions and use whatever sounds good to you. Why so snippy? And I'm not talking about timbre, I'm talking about how everyone has these strong opinions about miniscule differences in tone that are really hard to justify to another person because they are a matter of individual perception, and in a lot of cases swayed by what we have been taught by other people and by marketing.
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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Hannaugh, since Smavridis changed his avatar to his picture, he's hard to be offended by or taken as "snippy."
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