Tele Build Tone Wood Question

[sbskates]

I have built a pine tele body. After milling it needs to be capped on top or bottom to gain some thickness back between 1/4 to 1/2 an inch. I have never been in this situation in a build. Here is my question I was thinking of capping it with poplar on the back to thicken the body up . Also I will be painting it. I figure the poplar on back will still let the pine resonate on top. any ideas here?

[Our Souls inc.]

Don't believe all the tone-voodoo you have been fed. That guitar will sound different depending on the pups/electronics you use, moreso than by what wood you use. Change pups and your tone change can be dramatic . Change wood.... not so much.

With that said : I'd suggest putting a poplar cap on front AND back, to protect the pine.

I did a pine-bodied explorer last year with a curly cherry cap. (front)

next pine guitar will get front and back caps.

Experience is a great teacher.

[Geo]

Don't believe all the tone-voodoo you have been fed. That guitar will sound different depending on the pups/electronics you use, moreso than by what wood you use. Change pups and your tone change can be dramatic . Change wood.... not so much.

I agree that pickups are a huge factor in the sound of a guitar. However, to my ears, I can still hear the unique tone of a guitar come through in different pickups.

For example, my $99 knockoff Strat (first guitar... gettin teary-eyed...) still has the same character even with rewound pickups. This is probably due to the body wood sandwich, neck joint and bridge still being the same.

I built a guitar with a poplar neck and ash body. I put cheap no-name P 90's in it. Even after rewinding these pickups, the particular "thud" of the ash and the springiness of the poplar neck still come out in the amplified tone.

Now, maybe there would be a bigger difference if I put humbuckers in the Strat or Strat pickups in the ash guitar... I don't know.

[avengers63]

Yes there's a lot of voodoo, but there's a lot of truth in it too. The hard part is mining through the rock to get to the gold.

I can personally testify that the woods make a HUGE difference in the sound of the guitar. A prototype I made from sapele sounded very dark & muddy. I later re0used the pups from the prototype in a cherry-bodied guitar which was painfully bright. They've since been used in a mahogany-bodied guitar that sounds just perfect.

All that being said, yes a poplar cap will change things for the sound. How much it'll alter it is up for debate. The more that's used, the more it contributes.

[kpcrash]

Maybe I'm voodoo-ing the voodoo here but after many discussions, threads, scientific research, not-so-scientific research and playing for a long time, it turns out that the composition of the wood does contribute to the tonal qualities of an electric guitar. How? Glad you asked.

By now, we should all understand how the pickups works and how the disturbance of the magnetic field they create is carried via the pickups (which are ~2V electromagnets) through the wire, to the amp and produce sound.

The question of tonal quality of wood is often shot down/negated because of the heavy reliance on electromagnetics to make the guitar make sound. There are two other factors that are physically present - material and thickness of that material. As proof, I offer that you attempt to make an acoustic guitar with wood of the same thickness of an electric guitar - you'll have a hell of a time getting sound out of because acoustic guitars/pianos rely on a soundboard (don't worry, I'll get there shortly). These soundboards are often made of spruce - why? Density, which affects speed of vibration. The other factor is thickness, it has to be able to vibrate to transfer the vibrations from the strings, through the bridge and out into the open (piano or guitar). Ok, now that we've reviewed the basics

Turns out that the type of wood used in an electric guitar can effect the disturbances carried by the pickups by how much the pickups themselves vibrate (relatively minor, but try it out sometime with an oscilloscope) and resonant feedback caused in the strings by the material/and thickness of that material. This is why string-through has a different tone than top-bridge. That is why mahogany sounds different than pine (density).

As for how much it impacts the sound is in the ear of the beholder - I'm just offering a logical explanation for some of the voodoo

[guitar2005]

I have built a pine tele body. After milling it needs to be capped on top or bottom to gain some thickness back between 1/4 to 1/2 an inch. I have never been in this situation in a build. Here is my question I was thinking of capping it with poplar on the back to thicken the body up . Also I will be painting it. I figure the poplar on back will still let the pine resonate on top. any ideas here?

I'd put the poplar on the top. On the bottom, its tonal effect will be almost nil.

[Drak]

I would put your make-up wood on top, and I wouldn't bother using Poplar.

Do you want to cut yourself short on your own build?

Pick something a hella lot nicer (and harder) than Poplar, and put it on top.

If you didn't have to add anything, then what the hey.

But if you HAVE to add it

Then MAXIMIZE your situation

Don't look at it as something you HAVE to do, like it's some sort of tiresome task

Look at it as a FORTUNATE OPPORTUNITY of fate to BLOW THE TOP OFF that guitar.

Be creative, pick something really nice.

Poplar seems like you really don't care much about it one way or the other.

Ho-hum, hum-drum, let's just stick any old thing on there, tweedle-dee, tweedle-dum, hum-drum...

Ho-Hum guitars are born like that.

Really nice guitars are not built with that frame of mind.

You USE your 'fortunate mishaps'

To FUEL the creativity

To PUSH yourself PAST

Where it would have wound up

Had you NOT made the 'fortunate mistake'.

That is called Interactive Serendipitious Thinking, and it is part of the high arts of a creative mind that any really truly creative person has as a tool in their toolbox, but it needs to be addressed and focused on to maximize the potential.

In other words, you need to work it like a muscle if you want it to be a strong tool.

PS, the original Pine Tele's were only 1.5" thick.

If you have that much, and the Pine means so much to you, just proceed ahead, it ain't no big deal to Leo.

[guitar2005]

I've seen some very nice figured Poplar and birch. If you look hard enough, you might find a nice top to put on that guitar.

I'm with Drak. This is a great opportunity to transform the design into something else. You can always build another pine tele down the road.

[sbskates]

The reason I am wanting to use poplar is because its a good stable wood . I usually have used it on basses for paint . I am wanting to do this tele tv yellow or black so I dont really want to use a figured wood. I have glued a poplar panel up. I just think if I put it on top it will mute the pine. So i am thinking of using it on bottom. I know a pro luthier that said maybe use masonite on top and bottom as he does on his semi hollow danelectro types. Any thoughts?

[WezV]

i would be tempted to use a 3mm cap of any hardwood front and back - mostly for dent protection, but also a little extra stiffness

closest manufactured version of that is the yamaha A.I.R guitars with almost balsa style wood cores and agathis caps front and back

[SwedishLuthier]

I just think if I put it on top it will mute the pine. So i am thinking of using it on bottom.

Why would the polpar mute the pine when glued on top but not when glued on the back?

[FireFly]

We have lots of figured birch up here. It's the state tree!

As far as pine goes, i'll never understand why people use it for guitars. It's hard to work with, weak, dents easily, and there's a reason no big companies use it today. But i suppose if you're just doing it to do it because you've never done it before.

In my experience, every component of a guitar effects the tone. Different pickups will bring out different parts of character in each piece of the instrument.

[SwedishLuthier]

As far as pine goes, i'll never understand why people use it for guitars.

There were some legendary early Teles with pine bodies, before Leo switched to ash. Thats probably why.