Wood Plugs To Change Sound?

[Omega]

I want to add some warmth and low-end to my basswood Ibanez RG guitar (7 string solid body electric). Since adding a veneer isn't really feasible, I was considering putting some mahogany plugs into the basswood body (i.e., making some mahogany plugs using a 1/2 plug bit, then drilling holes in my basswood guitar body and filling the plugs). I was thinking 10 plugs or so in total should do the trick.

Does this make sense? Will the fact that the mahogany plugs do not tough one another make a difference? Also, I've never heard of anybody using basswood and mahogany together, so I'm also a little nervous about this combination.

Any feedback or opinions is much appreciated.

Thanks.

[ToneMonkey]

Personally, I'd look at changing the pups

[Ben]

I doubt you would hear much (if any) difference in sound. New pickups, or even different strings, would make a more significant difference.

[Mattia]

I honestly doubt it'll make the sound more 'mahogany like'.

Like ToneMonkey said: change the pickups. Or just build a new body. Not much more work than making, fitting and refinishing a bunch of plugs, likely without any effect.

[Myka Guitars]

Another vote for the pickups change. Or perhaps try changing the settings on your amp.

You have to determine if the guitar itself is lacking the low end and warmth you are looking for. Or if the electronics are not able to pickup what is inherent in that guitar's voice (unplugged). If the guitar is performing well enough unplugged then there is a good chance a pickup change will help. If not then there is not much you can do to the guitar to change that.

Also remember that passive electronics do not add anything. If you want to add to the signal you need active circuitry. You can add an active EQ and boost the frequencies you want that way or perhaps add an onboard preamp.

This is all assuming that you actually have an amplifier that will reproduce those warm tones.

Now to get back to the plug idea. I think it is a very wild concept but I cannot imagine any desirable changes. Even if you were to add a significant amount of mahogany to the body by doing this the little plugs will not resonate in the same way as the longer continuous fibers in a body or neck will. And I doubt that they would do much for the low end. It seems to me (by trying to imagine the changes) that you would succeed in decreasing the low end resonance by chopping up the body and filling it with stiff plugs surrounded by glue. The addition of so much dissimilar material will most likely take away the resonance you already have. This is just a guess.

~David

[Omega]

Thanks for all the great feedback. It really saved me hours and hours of work.

[ToneMonkey]

That's what we're here for