I did a trade with an old guy in his seventies yesterday, I got his peavey amp and he took my Cube. However, he had a pile of stuff that was amazing and he could play, -he was a brilliant guitarist.. He had built his own guitars which were really good and they all had incedible circuits in them, he had a strat style guitar that was normal strat config when you pushed his tone control, push it down again and you had almost a les paul config where the bridge and middle pups were wired to humbucking, then the bridge and neck on (but in single coil), then the neck and middle were humbucking. He talked about purists insisting on a nitro finish because it had "better" tone than poly, and he had built guitars for people who wanted certain types of wood also. He said that wood was functional in terms of producing a good guitar but you wanted it to look good mostly. I didn't mention the tonewood debate that had been going on, but it turns out he was having a similar one in his circles. He said the best thing anyone could do was get out there and perform, and then your main priorities would be that you could play, and secondly that your gear worked well. I second that, think you do too! Happy new year Paulie love the vids.
Well I think your testing was very good. Glad you spent time doing it. I wish both you and Will would continue, but I certainly understand why you don't.
In 30+ yrs of accumulating enough gear to open a store, chasing tone was fun but some time ago I ran into my magic weapon. A MXR 10 band EQ. I have all the brands,collect oddballs,acrylic,aluminum,exotic woods etc. A eq solves 99.9% of any perceived tone issue you may have or want to change. Buy qulaity,looks and feel. To much treble,move a slider. To much bass, add more. But nah,,,,thats to easy and for $100 to cheap.
I think the wood type does have a very subtle effect. The resonance of the body and neck is going to be affected by the material density and (perhaps more) the shape, as well as how the bridge is connected to the body. It's important to get a combination that doesn't result in dead spots, or 'hot spots' - but this doesn't necessarily mean expensive woods. Good hardware will make sure strings vibrate cleanly, without losing too much energy to the body. So try your guitar before you buy - of course! All the other stuff (electronics. pickups, amp and FX) will have a bigger impact, but you don't really want (IMO) a base instrument that doesn't respond well acoustically. And the overall response and feel of the instrument in your hands is either going to inspire you, or leave you cold.
Completely agree - to argue that wood has NO effect opens the door to the tonewooders. The right response is that the wood probably has less than .01% to contribute to the overall sound, and you likely cannot hear it (pick out two identical guitars, differing only in wood). The other thing is that since strings vibrate and drive the pickups, how can wood affect the tone unless it changes the frequency (pitch) of the note, or the amplitude (volume). What other contribution to the way the string responds could the wood possibly make? I also agree that to the extent the wood does matter on an electric, there is no reason whatsoever to presume that the same woods that sound good on an acoustic will also be those that sound "good" on an electric. In fact, given the amount of influence wood has on an electric tone, it's not really even meaningful to speak of one wood being better than another.
Have a good gig! I could not agree more about the tone wood debate. It was a very interesting conversation and I learned a lot, but now we have a pretty definitive answer.
I couldn't agree with you more. I once saw a guy at an open mic night with a beautiful, brand new SG. He had no skills and made it sound terrible. I have seen good players of all kinds of instruments, as well as guitars, make cheap instruments sound very good.
+Dreamdancer11 Thanks. Some seem to want to keep this debate going but I feel it has lost momentum and rightly so. Regardless of what you believe, playing guitar will always be more productive towards tone than talking about it.
+Paul Graham (Guitar) I talk about it for that reason alone.For people to stop obsessing and especially losing their money for a headstock logo.Its stupid,its yesterdays news,its scientifically not sound and all around a waste of time and money.People that cant even perform a half decent setup or possess a half decent vibrato technique seriously believe and spend loads of money on that bullshit. Tone is in the fingers...whoever realizes it early on can be saved...as for the rest....its ok...i guess guitar companies ll be very grateful for your contribution.You have to burn your money somehow.
How RUclips affect sound Am I allowed to ask this question? Or it's against RUclips rules? Question when you listen to your sound at recording the video , when you edit the video and when you listen it from youtube what difference can you ear also clean and overdrive ? i never see or ear anything about this topic .thanks Keep the Mojo in the Groove
Some very good points made indeed. Whatever side of the debate you stand on, you would surely have to admit that once you start using the gain or tone controls on your amp, the controls on any pedal you might be using, even the controls on the guitar itself - ANY of those things would just swallow up any difference you may perceive between playing the same make and model of guitar made from different woods? And once acknowledging that... the whole "tonewood" controversy should be relegated to the dustbin.
hell yes man it is very very minute but its there. for those who think the wood matter alot really do need help but i had a big problem for some reason that said wood that has zero effect on tone. and the harsh vulgar ranting from the anti side. dealing in absolutes is dangerous to begin with.
The tonewood debate is worth having for the following reason: Guitars could be easier to manufacture, better made, and kinder to the environment by being made out of cheap, reliable synthetic materials. Unfortunately morons continue to believe in marketed bullshit while ignoring very basic science, so we have to deal with expensive guitars and endangered wood species. Enjoy paying a premium for a rosewood fretboard.
hmmm... sinthetic materials are not cheaper than wood, they have to be industrially produced, and that produces environmental pollution. Better to use the wood in a more ecologic way, planting more than what it's used...
Hi I know I am very late with my comment here, I have an open mic for 5 years now and i have some guitar 🎸 for people to borrow and some people make them sound like shit and some make them sound like the best guitar 🎸 in the world 🌎 so I understand your point ☝️ keep the mojo !
Granted, guitarists have an absurd obsession with gear while also having an absurd disregard for theory of music. But that is all besides the point the moment we start talking about tonewood. A guitar might be 1000 euro overprices, using wood damaging to the environment for no good reason at all. Making sure that stops, that definitely is NOT a waste of time.
Tonewood debate is not distracting from the playing; if you want to play, you play. Or, better yet, are you saying that if you want to play guitar, you do not have time to discuss? Wtf? This debate is important to find some theorically based result and reasoning, that can be generally agreed as knowledge; just like why planets are round; so industry cannot cash in from ignorance by using false claims of their products.
Well, it is 2023 and the stupidity of tonewood is still being argued, as well as type of finish, pickup type, string type, and speaker type. No one wants the real answer, and it is what Paulie said.....IT IS THE PLAYING THAT MATTERS!!!
I build my own guitars...Wood priority for me is mostly of WIEGHT. I don't like bricks.I do agree..my fingers effect the sound of my instrument more.The NECK...the fretboard's radius, neck profile, and frets...effects how I play it or what is comfortible to me. The skinner frets require me to place my fingers closer to the frets....otherwise it sound totally like shit.lmaoThen you get into strings tension....25.5 or 24.75. I prefer 24. 75 on standard tuning.I need different guitars for different tuning...All require me to install different strings guage (which effects the tone) to get the guitars to feel comfortable for me... Otherwise I'll over bend when I get back on the 24.75...which sounds like shit.LOL
Forget the wood bollocks. Guitarists can't even use correct terminology to describe sound. Warm is a temperature term. Bright and dark are visual terms... 🤣🤣🤣
so to be clear the non belief side thinks every acoustic guitar with the same exact pickup wud sound the exact same. whats so hard understand wood affects string vibration that is then amplified. uggh. no more i gotta stop. i need tonewood anonymous
every thing you said is all good and well but I think youre overstating the 'problem' who cares what minutia so-called guitarist argue about? also, dont take this personally but your tone in this video is really bad. It doesnt even sound like a strat. all I hear is boomy bass. No mids, highs, or any richness at all. Just sounds blah.
Good words, mate. Let's hope the whole debate finally dies out in 2016. A guitar either sucks, or it doesn't - end of story.
I did a trade with an old guy in his seventies yesterday, I got his peavey amp and he took my Cube. However, he had a pile of stuff that was amazing and he could play, -he was a brilliant guitarist..
He had built his own guitars which were really good and they all had incedible circuits in them, he had a strat style guitar that was normal strat config when you pushed his tone control, push it down again and you had almost a les paul config where the bridge and middle pups were wired to humbucking, then the bridge and neck on (but in single coil), then the neck and middle were humbucking.
He talked about purists insisting on a nitro finish because it had "better" tone than poly, and he had built guitars for people who wanted certain types of wood also. He said that wood was functional in terms of producing a good guitar but you wanted it to look good mostly.
I didn't mention the tonewood debate that had been going on, but it turns out he was having a similar one in his circles. He said the best thing anyone could do was get out there and perform, and then your main priorities would be that you could play, and secondly that your gear worked well. I second that, think you do too!
Happy new year Paulie love the vids.
+Mike G Sounds like an interesting guy.
All the best Mike.
I will have to attend a hangout some time.
***** They won't let you in Paul, they only like angry fellas. (Just kidding)
Well I think your testing was very good. Glad you spent time doing it. I wish both you and Will would continue, but I certainly understand why you don't.
It's insignificant compared to the powers of the force...
Happy new year bud!!
+DKGCustom Ha!Happy New Year Duncan.May the force be with you!
In 30+ yrs of accumulating enough gear to open a store, chasing tone was fun but some time ago I ran into my magic weapon. A MXR 10 band EQ. I have all the brands,collect oddballs,acrylic,aluminum,exotic woods etc. A eq solves 99.9% of any perceived tone issue you may have or want to change. Buy qulaity,looks and feel. To much treble,move a slider. To much bass, add more. But nah,,,,thats to easy and for $100 to cheap.
Yes, the graphic eq is one of my favourites for finding that elusive tone.
I use a 31 band and the clean tone I get is to my ears perfect.
I think the wood type does have a very subtle effect. The resonance of the body and neck is going to be affected by the material density and (perhaps more) the shape, as well as how the bridge is connected to the body. It's important to get a combination that doesn't result in dead spots, or 'hot spots' - but this doesn't necessarily mean expensive woods. Good hardware will make sure strings vibrate cleanly, without losing too much energy to the body. So try your guitar before you buy - of course!
All the other stuff (electronics. pickups, amp and FX) will have a bigger impact, but you don't really want (IMO) a base instrument that doesn't respond well acoustically.
And the overall response and feel of the instrument in your hands is either going to inspire you, or leave you cold.
Completely agree - to argue that wood has NO effect opens the door to the tonewooders. The right response is that the wood probably has less than .01% to contribute to the overall sound, and you likely cannot hear it (pick out two identical guitars, differing only in wood). The other thing is that since strings vibrate and drive the pickups, how can wood affect the tone unless it changes the frequency (pitch) of the note, or the amplitude (volume). What other contribution to the way the string responds could the wood possibly make?
I also agree that to the extent the wood does matter on an electric, there is no reason whatsoever to presume that the same woods that sound good on an acoustic will also be those that sound "good" on an electric. In fact, given the amount of influence wood has on an electric tone, it's not really even meaningful to speak of one wood being better than another.
Have a good gig! I could not agree more about the tone wood debate. It was a very interesting conversation and I learned a lot, but now we have a pretty definitive answer.
+periurban Thanks. It was a great gig.
All the best for 2016.
I couldn't agree with you more. I once saw a guy at an open mic night with a beautiful, brand new SG. He had no skills and made it sound terrible. I have seen good players of all kinds of instruments, as well as guitars, make cheap instruments sound very good.
Tonewood only affects the pocket of who buying a guitar.
Paul my dear friend you are right on the money....they ability of the player and the setup of the instrument....really its all there is to it.
+Dreamdancer11 Thanks. Some seem to want to keep this debate going but I feel it has lost momentum and rightly so.
Regardless of what you believe, playing guitar will always be more productive towards tone than talking about it.
+Paul Graham (Guitar) I talk about it for that reason alone.For people to stop obsessing and especially losing their money for a headstock logo.Its stupid,its yesterdays news,its scientifically not sound and all around a waste of time and money.People that cant even perform a half decent setup or possess a half decent vibrato technique seriously believe and spend loads of money on that bullshit.
Tone is in the fingers...whoever realizes it early on can be saved...as for the rest....its ok...i guess guitar companies ll be very grateful for your contribution.You have to burn your money somehow.
Ditto! My Yamaha Silent Guitar has a lot of " Air Tone" :-) Great vid and channel!
How RUclips affect sound
Am I allowed to ask this question? Or it's against RUclips rules?
Question when you listen to your sound at recording the video , when you edit the video and when you listen it from youtube what difference can you ear also clean and overdrive ?
i never see or ear anything about this topic .thanks
Keep the Mojo in the Groove
Some very good points made indeed. Whatever side of the debate you stand on, you would surely have to admit that once you start using the gain or tone controls on your amp, the controls on any pedal you might be using, even the controls on the guitar itself - ANY of those things would just swallow up any difference you may perceive between playing the same make and model of guitar made from different woods? And once acknowledging that... the whole "tonewood" controversy should be relegated to the dustbin.
Totally agree with you @Paul Graham :) (subscribing and liking the video)
thank god some one has said this
I totally aggre and think that exotic wood is primarily cosmetic and there is no substitute for hard work and talent. 🍨
Subscribed because I know i wont see the BS fighting.
hell yes man it is very very minute but its there. for those who think the wood matter alot really do need help but i had a big problem for some reason that said wood that has zero effect on tone. and the harsh vulgar ranting from the anti side. dealing in absolutes is dangerous to begin with.
happy new year
The tonewood debate is worth having for the following reason:
Guitars could be easier to manufacture, better made, and kinder to the environment by being made out of cheap, reliable synthetic materials. Unfortunately morons continue to believe in marketed bullshit while ignoring very basic science, so we have to deal with expensive guitars and endangered wood species. Enjoy paying a premium for a rosewood fretboard.
hmmm... sinthetic materials are not cheaper than wood, they have to be industrially produced, and that produces environmental pollution. Better to use the wood in a more ecologic way, planting more than what it's used...
Hi I know I am very late with my comment here, I have an open mic for 5 years now and i have some guitar 🎸 for people to borrow and some people make them sound like shit and some make them sound like the best guitar 🎸 in the world 🌎 so I understand your point ☝️ keep the mojo !
Keeping it real
Exactly
The sound leaves the guitar before the wood comes into play
Granted, guitarists have an absurd obsession with gear while also having an absurd disregard for theory of music. But that is all besides the point the moment we start talking about tonewood. A guitar might be 1000 euro overprices, using wood damaging to the environment for no good reason at all. Making sure that stops, that definitely is NOT a waste of time.
if you give satriani the cheapest guitar it is still going to sound amazing. the ability to play is always the first and most important thing
Tonewood debate is not distracting from the playing; if you want to play, you play. Or, better yet, are you saying that if you want to play guitar, you do not have time to discuss? Wtf? This debate is important to find some theorically based result and reasoning, that can be generally agreed as knowledge; just like why planets are round; so industry cannot cash in from ignorance by using false claims of their products.
Well, it is 2023 and the stupidity of tonewood is still being argued, as well as type of finish, pickup type, string type, and speaker type. No one wants the real answer, and it is what Paulie said.....IT IS THE PLAYING THAT MATTERS!!!
I build my own guitars...Wood priority for me is mostly of WIEGHT. I don't like bricks.I do agree..my fingers effect the sound of my instrument more.The NECK...the fretboard's radius, neck profile, and frets...effects how I play it or what is comfortible to me. The skinner frets require me to place my fingers closer to the frets....otherwise it sound totally like shit.lmaoThen you get into strings tension....25.5 or 24.75. I prefer 24. 75 on standard tuning.I need different guitars for different tuning...All require me to install different strings guage (which effects the tone) to get the guitars to feel comfortable for me... Otherwise I'll over bend when I get back on the 24.75...which sounds like shit.LOL
Well said - this tonewood stuff has become boring beyond belief - Steve
Forget the wood bollocks. Guitarists can't even use correct terminology to describe sound.
Warm is a temperature term. Bright and dark are visual terms... 🤣🤣🤣
so to be clear the non belief side thinks every acoustic guitar with the same exact pickup wud sound the exact same. whats so hard understand wood affects string vibration that is then amplified. uggh. no more i gotta stop. i need tonewood anonymous
Acoustic guitar is very different from solid body electrics rendering your argument irrelevant.
i have a basswood, a swamp ash and mahogany...my brightest sounding one is the mahogany, my warmest is the swamp ash....so that disproves that debate
every thing you said is all good and well
but I think youre overstating the 'problem'
who cares what minutia so-called guitarist argue about?
also, dont take this personally but your tone
in this video is really bad. It doesnt even sound like a strat.
all I hear is boomy bass. No mids, highs, or any richness
at all. Just sounds blah.
+Christoph G Sorry the mic in the camera was used and it was too close to the speakers.
+Christoph G Frets sound noisy as well.
Neil Pincus Hahaha.