kkooss16 Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 So I'm making my first guitar and was well under way, then decided my body design was too small after making the jigs (better now than scraping a good sapelli blank). So now that i have to redesign the body slightly i was wondering how the body affects tone. I've heard a few different things, like bottom is bass related and the horns are treble, or that there's a treble and a bass horn, or that it matters very little and its mostly in the materials. So i figured id ask this before i go back to the drawing board. I'm making a double cutaway due to preference too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 shape isnt gonna change the tone enough to care. just design a guitar that you like. btw find a guitar similar to the shape you want (if there is one) then modifie that shape to yours that will help you get it to the right size. oh yeah lower horns where designed for fret access tone probably never entered Leo's or Les's mind when they put the lower horn on the lp and tele. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkooss16 Posted December 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 alright makes things easy for me Ive kept the fret access in mind, and it should be easy enough up to the 22nd, but its a 24 fret because im tired of running out of the last couple of frets every now and again, they're just not important enough for me to care about easy access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 I have one thing to add in. I haven't played with this myself, so bear in mind this is not my thought nor have I done any testing. But Ulrich Teuffel said in a lecture that he's convinced having a section of love, uninterrupted grain, is highly beneficial to tone. Doesn't matter where it is if I remember correctly, but that it's there. Point in case: the shape of his tone bars on the bird-fish and his affinity for extended upper-bout horns on single cuts. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avdekan Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 I think that unless the body design is radically different then the "traditional" centered mass approach, you can expect similar results from different body shapes using the same material and mass. Doing a 'x' shape body that's one meter long using 1x2" beams will have enough mass, but the flexibility of the design will probably cause a loss of sustain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helldunkel Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 So I'm making my first guitar and was well under way, then decided my body design was too small after making the jigs (better now than scraping a good sapelli blank). So now that i have to redesign the body slightly i was wondering how the body affects tone. I've heard a few different things, like bottom is bass related and the horns are treble, or that there's a treble and a bass horn, or that it matters very little and its mostly in the materials. So i figured id ask this before i go back to the drawing board. I'm making a double cutaway due to preference too. You wont trully know what is the final tone of your guitar until you finish building it The tone of an instrument is produced by hundereds of various factors which includes: - scale - your hands - thickness of the body, neck, fingerboard - hardware - nut material - finish - pickups - strings - wood selection etc etc etc.... Now based on your question, there is something to keep in mind, the acoustic tone of an instrument is produced by the stiffness to weight ratio or specific stiffness if you prefer... The more weight and mass you take off, logically the more acoustically appealing the instrument will become right away. However you will never be able to trully know the impact of this on the final instrument... You could of course create an over sized instrument, play it for a week or two to get a feel and then cut off some of the body to make it smaller and compare it again... The only thing this will do is having the acoustics drop in pitch (tap tone) but most probably that once plugged into your amp, you wont hear any difference at all.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 it will be the last thing to worry about. the only time i feel it really makes a noticable difference is with extreme shapes. If in doubt compare a gibson V to an SG (or explorer to a lesser degree). they do sound different even though the only difference between them is shape and a slightly thicker body/deeper set neck on the V (both of which will also have an important effect). V's are an odd one though, they have a hell of a lot of the body weight behing the bridge. the good v's are nicely middy, the bad ones can be a bit thin sounding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 I read an interview with Eddie Van Halen in which he commented on this topic. At one point he had an explorer that he thought sounded fantastic. He later took some power tools to it and turned it into a star-like shape, removing a substantial amount of wood from the back of it. After that, he hated it. This might have been an extreme example, or maybe Ed's ears are more sensitive than others. There are hundreds of reasons why he didn't like it afterwords, but the fact remains. The bottom line is just exactly what Wez said: it WILL make a difference, but probably not enough for you to worry about right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Actually I think the Gibson V and the Explorer are a perfect example..same pickups and electronics,same woods,same neck joint,same build quality,same scale,and same finish...only difference is the shape. I have played both back to back through the same amp(Mesa dual rec)and I like the Explorer better,but only because it feels more balanced..the sound is close enough that I did not care... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Actually I think the Gibson V and the Explorer are a perfect example..same pickups and electronics,same woods,same neck joint,same build quality,same scale,and same finish...only difference is the shape. I have played both back to back through the same amp(Mesa dual rec)and I like the Explorer better,but only because it feels more balanced..the sound is close enough that I did not care... thats kinda why i did not think it was a perfect example of this - if i am suggested the large amount of wood behind the bridge has an affect on v's - explorers have that to a certain extent - but still have plenty in front of the bridge too. They would be the middle ground between the more extreme examples Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Yeah,but to have the SG example work,you would have to have the 500t at the bridge,which is such a hugely different tone than any other gibson pup. I also had two Jackson soloists with the same bridge pup(duncan JB),but one was an alder body and the other was poplar..the poplar guitar was dead and lifeless in comparison... I have had a few solid mahogany guitars of various shapes with the EMG 81 at the bridge,and regardless of shape they all had the same creamy mahogany tone with just minor differences..couple of alder/maple guitars with the 81 and all had the same alder "bite" to them.. But the different wood combos sounded entirely different regardless of similar pups or shapes.. Anyway,I am agreeing with everyone..shape is of the least concern IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkooss16 Posted December 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2010 yeah i took it all into consideration keeping my considerably low $300 budget in mind while making it look good so i was just wondering if theres any thing i can do to get closer to the tone im looking for - balanced mids, somewhat punchy bass, and clean highs. I'm working with sapele one piece body, hard maple neck, ebony fretboard, and 1/32 (i think) curly sycamore veneer. Hardware is TOM bridge, 2 hums, push-pull volume and a 3 way switch and perhaps a tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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