Guitar Body Thickness

[Dallas Marlow]

Hey Guys,

I've got a question for everyone, how much do you all think the thickness/body size of a guitar makes an effect on the guitars tone. For example, would a Suhr Pro Series which has a thinner body than a strat have a less "meaty" tone, or because the wood is better quality and resonates better, would it sound thicker? Or lets say with two Suhr guitars a Standard vs Classic body, will the Classic body have a thicker tone?

I've never seen a modern, so I can't comment on how thick they are, but how about those mega thin Ibanez or a PRS vs Gibson, my Single Cut I had was noticeably thinner than my Les Paul.

So whats the word??

 

[tekbow]

hmm well.. a PRS mcarty has an 1/8th of an inch extra on the back to "make up" for the wood lost by making a singlecut guitar a doublecut, and it definitely sounds a little darker and warmer than a custom 22

 

[Disfigured]

Overall mass would affect the tone, you could either have a thicker body (e.g. Les Paul) or a guitar could be a bit thinner with a body shape that covers a larger surface area (e.g. Explorer) to achieve this. I've played SG's which are very thin, and combined with a very light piece of wood the sound does not have the fullness of other mahogany guitars. The wood quality largely determines the tone, if you're thinking about mahogany then you will achieve a lower, thicker sound by choosing a piece with a higher density. I've played a gold top Les Paul that couldn't have weighed more than 6 pounds, and the sound was nasally and ratty with little thickness in the lows and low mids.

 

[Dallas Marlow]

Overall mass would affect the tone, you could either have a thicker body (e.g. Les Paul) or a guitar could be a bit thinner with a body shape that covers a larger surface area (e.g. Explorer) to achieve this. I've played SG's which are very thin, and combined with a very light piece of wood the sound does not have the fullness of other mahogany guitars. The wood quality largely determines the tone, if you're thinking about mahogany then you will achieve a lower, thicker sound by choosing a piece with a higher density. I've played a gold top Les Paul that couldn't have weighed more than 6 pounds, and the sound was nasally and ratty with little thickness in the lows and low mids.

Hmm interesting....

 

[Khoi]

I'm not sure, but Blackmachines (which are the thinnest guitars out there I think) are ridiculously thin, and from what Ive heard, they are super resonant... I want one so bad, too bad I don't have $4k and 4 years to wait!