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Tonewood: Myth and Magic or Bullcrap?


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It's entirely possible that Mr Angove came to a similar conclusion; that the method of securing the strings was the key to the perceived differences in sounds between guitars. Eg, string-through body vs top loading, saddle construction, bridge material, floating trem vs hardtail etc. But the true meaning of his conclusion that 'wood doesn't matter' has been lost due to the unavailability of his research paper to the general public (if indeed it ever did actually exist).

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  • 3 weeks later...

There are several issues I have with his test. Not that it proves one way or another that the material used does or doesn't make a difference, just that using these kinds of experiments (albiet, a slightly brutal one in this instance) doesn't really add anything more to the argument:

  1. Darrell didn't give us the opportunity to hear how the sustain changed as he removed parts of the body; he just illustrates that the clips look the same length. I suppose you could take his sped-up sections of his video (1:28 - 4:36) and slowed them down again to compare if the sustain did change, but the video clips between each pass are all cut short anyway so there's no way to tell how much longer or shorter the sustain is from take to take. It's not helped by the fact that each of the takes are sped up by different amounts after each cut is made to the instrument. Did he retune his guitar to the same pitch after making each cut?
  2. It actually seems from the video presented that whole body vs 30% body does make a difference to the sound. It isn't exactly night and day, and could also be down to differences in his picking technique between takes (another key reason why tonewood comparisons are often pointless), but the bottom end does seem to thin out a bit. This is further backed up by the spectrum analyser he has running in the lower-left corner of the screen (8:42 - 8:52 and 9:16 - 9:25 respectively), which seems to show a reduction in low end content around the 100Hz area. There appear to be audible differences when he flips between full body/30% body clips at 9:30 - 9:50, but again the human element in the playing doesn't help prove one way or the other that the change in body mass and size alone is the difference that can be heard and/or measured.
  3. Darrell's experiment is about mass and size of the body, not what the body is made from. The material didn't change during his tests, just the amount of it. And perhaps more importantly, the material and the amount of it between the bridge and the neck stayed the same throughout. My gut feel is that this is where the critical differences in solid body electric guitars will exist, if there are in fact differences to be detected.
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It's also very easy to refer to information that confirms one's bias whilst ignoring those to the contrary. Darrell's videos are good in many ways however don't have a thorough methodology. Making assumptions limits the scope of what you're attempting to "prove". I think what WAS proven is that the guitar used was thoroughly dependant on pickups for driving the sound, if anything. That said, I challenge him to do this again with a good example of a 50s Strat!

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He did it in the easiest way possible and to prove that no matter what the wood species was, wood contributed nothing to the sound or sustain or the length of sustain. It was miniscule. I am done with this website. All you that truly believe wood has tone and is picked up by the pickups, I have no more words for you. Have fun playing, I know I will! Bye!

 

 

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Sorry that you feel this way. It isn't and never will be the simplest discussion to have since there are people firmly entrenched in both camps. It has to be realised that both arguments can be fought for equally well since there are so many variables and caveats. Knowing this helps further understanding, rather than dig oneself into dogmatic thought, man.

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Here is another interesting video about the topic.  Tim just recently put this up and while I still think there is a lot to do with human error between strums and what not, it's a really interesting experiment.  I'm personally in the camp that there is definitely some affect, though not much, and as he notes here, tone is entirely subjective so no hard feelings toward either argument. 

 

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