Tonewood Poll

What wood your guitar is made of has an effect on the sound

  • Agree

    Votes: 85 87.6%

  • Disagree

    Votes: 12 12.4%
  • Total voters
    97
rsm said:
yes, and evidence to the contrary.
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Definitive vs objective though.

The science behind what @scottosan posted earlier is absolute.
Every item will have a unique damping and resonant curve.
Even two pieces of the same variety wood cut to the same exact size.
Whether it matters a damn to someone is a whole different thing.
 
DemNuts said:
Definitive vs objective though.

The science behind what @scottosan posted earlier is absolute.
Every item will have a unique damping and resonant curve.
Even two pieces of the same variety wood cut to the same exact size.
Whether it matters a damn to someone is a whole different thing.
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the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

I suspect there's a spectrum / range of values that are good/ideal/optimal for body, neck, fretboard combinations in solid body electric guitars for what most guitarists expect from a guitar.

When the Fender Custom Shop made a strat out of cardboard (body, neck, fretboard, head), and everyone that played it and heard it in the room said it played and sounded like a strat, was interesting IMO. If it plays and sounds like a Strat, does the materials matter?

the body, neck, fretboard materials density may have effect on timbre and sustain; how much effect, and can we hear it enough to make a difference? do other components in the guitar have a bigger impact on the sound?

I agree that even with scientific and engineering facts, it's going to come down to what we hear, feel, think, subjectively.

always fun to discuss, but in the end we like what we like, and believe what we believe, and buy what we want for our own reasons
 
ghosty999 said:
Plenty videos debunking the dogma. Sadly people have eaten up the "tonewood" marketing and even convince themselves they can hear a discernible difference. But of-course, they never provide a null test. Often instead resulting to personal insults or defensiveness instead which usually says enough about their belief system.

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Dude, I have to ask...how many guitars have you owned? Swapped pickups in? Reason is, I didn't care or notice the differences I hear now, for over 20 years because I didn't flip gear. I had the same 2 guitars, a Hamer USA and an 87 RG500...stock pickups and all. But, once I bought my first Charvel I was off to the races. At this point I've been through over 40 USA Charvels and Jacksons, most from the 08/09 run and some Custom Shop and OG 80s USA Charvels and Jacksons. The great majority of them are Alder/Maple, and they all sound different from one another to some degree....and this is after swapping the pickups in one for the other..trying to find the right mix. So when I then compare a Mahogany LP or an EVH made of Basswood, now it's a HUGE difference....or at least more noticeable than the Alder differences between the different Charvels.
Some might not hear these differences, but I think the great majority of guys(and girls) gear heads after all the gear chasing we do start to pickup on the details, large or small as they may be.
 
GOHOINC said:
I think you are conflating arguments here. Just because a guitar made of composite materials sounds good, that doesn't mean wood type doesn't affect the tone of guitars not made of composite materials. Beyond that, the query being polled is "What wood your guitar is made of has an effect on the sound", this isn't a question of what is better or good enough to a crowd. The question is, is there a difference...

I know two guitars that are "Identical", meaning same model, construction, made of the same woods, same pickups, strings, setup etc. can and likely will sound different. Perhaps it is only a subtle difference, but I don't believe any two of my guitars sound the same, even when they are the "identical". If I can hear a difference between two guitars that are "identical", I'm willing to bet that two guitars that are "different" will sound different too, even when the wood type is the only difference and yes I do have two guitars that are "identical" except for wood choice, and yes they sound different...
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I wasn't making that argument. I was replying to:
Geo said:
If anyone wants to spend 2K on a plastic guitar, then good luck to them.
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(And to your second paragraph I agree.)

scottosan said:
Claiming proof that it doesn't matter by referencing Youtube video and digital audio quality, is like putting a condom on and insisting that it feels the same. :D
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I agree. That's why I linked Luthiers explaining why tone wood doesn't matter rather than audio samples.

Racerxrated said:
Dude, I have to ask...how many guitars have you owned? Swapped pickups in? Reason is, I didn't care or notice the differences I hear now, for over 20 years because I didn't flip gear. I had the same 2 guitars, a Hamer USA and an 87 RG500...stock pickups and all. But, once I bought my first Charvel I was off to the races. At this point I've been through over 40 USA Charvels and Jacksons, most from the 08/09 run and some Custom Shop and OG 80s USA Charvels and Jacksons. The great majority of them are Alder/Maple, and they all sound different from one another to some degree....and this is after swapping the pickups in one for the other..trying to find the right mix. So when I then compare a Mahogany LP or an EVH made of Basswood, now it's a HUGE difference....or at least more noticeable than the Alder differences between the different Charvels.
Some might not hear these differences, but I think the great majority of guys(and girls) gear heads after all the gear chasing we do start to pickup on the details, large or small as they may be.
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Around 60+ over the years. Mostly swapped pickups, rarely stock. They all sustain, react, weigh, feel, differently. But the same guitar with the same electronics, hardware, amp... and just different wood, is variable I've yet to be proven matters. If I come across it, I'll happily admit I was wrong :rock:
 
In room, through a quality amplifier, I easily hear the difference between 2 strats, 1 maple board and other with rosewood board. The maple board always has more brilliant highs and stiffer low end response. Just like ash has a pretty pronounced scooped midrange compared to alder. It isn't too hard to hear. Throw a mic on a cab and make a recording and it's more difficult to hear on the recording.
 
ghosty999 said:
But the same guitar with the same electronics, hardware, amp... and just different wood, is variable I've yet to be proven matters. If I come across it, I'll happily admit I was wrong :rock:
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You in San Diego by any chance? Stop by and see for yourself. :giggle:


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  • Like
Reactions: Geo
veji said:
Had an intense debate with a coworker who also owns a few Guitarss saying that the wood your guitar is made of has no effect on the sound and that wood is purely just for looks only. I have owned guitars made of basswood, alder, swamp ash, walnut, maple, mahogany, and black limba and with the same pickups and thru the same amp all sounded different to me.
Do you think what wood your guitar is made of has an effect on the sound?
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I think 100% in acoustics. The rosewood as opposed to mahagony.. listen to difference between d18 and hd 28. In electric? I saw a guy playing a shovel with awesome tone.
 
I think most of us agree the inductors are likely the largest factor in a electric system for shaping the sound. But all the parts have total effect in combination. Obviously each individual piece of wood has it's individual resonance properties.
Everyone has experienced certain guitars that just resonate more. I'm sure the wood is a factor.

As mentioned above wtf the difference if it sounds good.
 
ghosty999 said:
I'd love to but I'm about 22000 miles away.
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Bummer. I'm partial, and pretty sure some of it is subliminal, but there's definitely a little bit of Strat vs LP vibe between the two builds.

Hey, just checked and the earth's circumference is 7,915 miles.
Where EXACTLY you from? :ROFLMAO:
 
Last edited:
It also depends on what you are using as an amplifier.

If you are using something like a Kemper, the material of the guitar matters less than if you playing through a 65 Fender.
 
i was going to look up what my Godin is made out of, it’s probably my favorite guitar and it seems silly I have no clue what it is, then I thought do i really need to know and does it really matter? The guitar is light and resonate, has tons of attack and bite, the neck has the perfect shape for my hand and it looks beautiful. I’m sure it’s probably made of some new growth bullshit tree which in no way possible can sound good and it’s gonna skew my view.
 
RaceU4her said:
i was going to look up what my Godin is made out of, it’s probably my favorite guitar and it seems silly I have no clue what it is, then I thought do i really need to know and does it really matter? The guitar is light and resonate, has tons of attack and bite, the neck has the perfect shape for my hand and it looks beautiful. I’m sure it’s probably made of some new growth bullshit tree which in no way possible can sound good and it’s gonna skew my view.
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Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George's mother accepts advice from a Donna Chang - assuming she's Chinese.
Once she finds out she isn't she changes her mind and flat out rejects the advice.

Ignorance can be bliss! :giggle:
 
DemNuts said:
Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George's mother accepts advice from a Donna Chang - assuming she's Chinese.
Once she finds out she isn't she changes her mind and flat out rejects the advice.

Ignorance can be bliss! :giggle:
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It’s like when I’m scarfing down hot dogs and Italian sausages I’m not really trying to think about how or what they are made out of, I’m sure it’s terrible lol
 
DemNuts said:
Bummer. I'm partial, and pretty sure some of it is subliminal, but there's definitely a little bit of Strat vs LP vibe between the two builds.

Hey, just checked and the earth's circumference is 7,915 miles.
Where EXACTLY you from? :ROFLMAO:
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Hahaha I'm a spud sorry I meant 5000 miles! 22k miles I'd be on another planet harvesting rare tone woods to sell on reverb at crazy prices haha
 
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