What are Fattest sounding woods for a Superstrat Body ?

[ROBERTKOA]

I have a Carvin Koa now that's very resonant and thick sounding but still strat-like in single coil modes, lots of sustain and LOUD unplugged.

What wood could even beat this- I love resonance so if chambered is even fatter , include that.

May be H-S-S  or even H-S-H with coil cuts etc.  the idea is to get really fat from the WOOD itself, so we have Mahogany, Koa , Limba  which of these AND others ?

If it gets TOO Fat and doesn't fit your idea of a Superstrat - even better - we're talking FAT here .
  Hopefully - you've heard or made or played  some combinations that are great for this.


Thanks.

 

[m4rk0]

your strat may have to go on a diet soon!!

 

[m4rk0]

Also make sure to get a fatback neck...

and I am serious too... fat necks make fat tone!
I had a bloodwood neck that sounded extremely fat, but then again, my definition of a fat tone may not be the same as yours.
get any hollow body, basswood would be great, cheap and well know for fat 80s tones. Mahogany (LPs) do not per definition sound fat to me...

the right pickups and hardware will probably be even more important.

 

[JaySwear]

I was going to say basswood as well, but thought somebody would jump on it and say "basswood isn't fat, it's used for hair metal." But it's definitely one of the more versatile woods out there. Had it in an RG and loved it! If I build another Warmoth (which we all know I will) it'll most likely be basswood.

 

[tangent]

going with a bigger nut width at the neck will give you a fatter tone also, ie they have put a few of those 1 7/8 nut width necks into the showcase recently.. one of those in goncalo or rosewood with fatback or 59 roundback contour would be cool (unless you have small hands)

one of my acoustics has mahogany/ebony with 1.9" nut width (slightly larger than 1 7/8) and it really thickens the tone.. I have compared it to the same model with 1.75" nut width and it was noticeable

i'm working on a chambered black korina HSH strat now =)

 

[NonsenseTele]

Mahogany body with Goncalo Alves neck That is the fattest thing! Of course, big fat neck

 

[NLD09]

Big heavy strings too. Don't forget them.

 

[nexrex]

Here you go:

OH, SORRY...thats the fattest "woodchuck"

I agree with Nonsense, go with Mahogany body with Goncalo Alves neck.

 

[Lagavulin]

The first thing that came to mind is a webpage of some guitar manufacturer (I don't remember which though) saying that their guitars made of basswood with maple tops equipped with DiMarzio Air-Zone bridge Air Norton neck could eat Les Pauls for breakfast.

I think that wood-top wood-pickup combination...chambered...could be REALLY fat. Very roary too.

 

[Bruno]

I think mahogany body and '59 or fat(or boat) neck (with rose fretboard).

 

[m4rk0]

I think mahogany body and '59 or fat(or boat) neck (with rose fretboard).

he said fat, not muddy '  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I'm kind of proud of myself.  A google images search for "Fatwood" could have gone horribly wrong.

 

[m4rk0]

I'm kind of proud of myself.  A google images search for "Fatwood" could have gone horribly wrong.

should be a fun project, gluing together all those pieces into a body blank!

 

[Bruno]

I think mahogany body and '59 or fat(or boat) neck (with rose fretboard).

he said fat, not muddy '  :icon_biggrin:

Oh yes, my mistake!
:hello2:

 

[Lagavulin]

@OP: A super-fat sound can be fun at times but forget major/minor 3rd malmsteen kind of power chords.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Fat?  'Gonna have to be mahogany or similar wood. and uhh, NO, NOT "basswood with maple top". That is a good tone, but NOT a "fat" tone.

 

[B3Guy]

Well, I was going to say something about my daddy using fatwood to start fires, but . . . . yea.

 

[Lagavulin]

I think fatness in sound has to do a lot with the pickups. It's how pronounced and dense the midrange is. I say dense (or solid) cause some pickups have hollow sounding mids. That makes them sound deep but not fat. For a fat tone you need "density" in the mids (for lack of a better description). This has an explanation in audio engineering but I'm a bit lazy to get into this. :icon_biggrin: You also need a wide mid-mids area to be pronounced.

If someone's interested I can explain what's really happening but the only thing you really have to do is trust your ears. :laughing7:


Examples of pickups:

DiMarzio Evolution - dense mids but not wide (so no fatness in this one)
Bare Knuckle Miracle Man - hollow mids, pronounced low mids but no midrange or high mids (really deep sounding pickup - deep biting palm mutes)
Bare Knuckle Nailbomb - hollow mids focusing in the midrange mids (deep and fat sounding, not too much though)
DiMarzio Air Zone - Dense, pronounced and wide mids (REALLY FAT sounding)
Bill Lawrence L500XL - this pickup has all the frequencies there so you can shape it with an EQ or the amp however you like (so it can be from thin to fat - tried it first hand)
DiMarzio Steve's Special - Dense and wide mids but rolled back (a little bit of fat and a bit of deep - good solid palm mutes)

 

[Paul-less]

Basswood with maple-top.

Lol fail denied.

Doesn't basswood scoop out all your mids? I can see basswood on a bass guitar, but on a guitar I think it wouldn't go over well for me...

 

[Lagavulin]

Basswood with maple-top.

Lol fail denied.

Doesn't basswood scoop out all your mids? I can see basswood on a bass guitar, but on a guitar I think it wouldn't go over well for me...

Nope. Actually, imagine basswood as alder without the extended spectrum ends (lows are not recessed but they don't go that low in frequency - this applies to highs too). Mids are not scooped but not pronounced either. It's the more limited spectrum ends that make it sound middy. It's also more uniform than alder so it's not that complex sounding, if that makes sense.