Lets look at our guitars thread

[singlecoil]

Dr Z said:

Ah this is still going strong! Any ideas how a standard strat with stainless steel frets, solid mahogany body and an all ebony neck will sound? No humbuckers in sight.

I hope the brightness doesn't knock my head off.

I think how it will sound will depend far more on who is playing it, and what it's going through than whether the frets are stainless steel or not.

[enjo]

benny.c said:

Is anyone just starting out or know someone that would have a use for these books and tuner? Just had a cleaout and found them in the loft. Postage is on me.

Do they have the little pictures that show where to put your fingers?
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2s5apz

[benny.c]

Ha, that is brilliant and I can confirm that both books do indeed have the relevant pictures.

[Evangelion]

Dr Z said:

Ah this is still going strong! Any ideas how a standard strat with stainless steel frets, solid mahogany body and an all ebony neck will sound? No humbuckers in sight.

I hope the brightness doesn't knock my head off.

Sound will depend on string gauge, pickups and electronics, plus what you are plugging into and the tone settings thereon.

Pickups cannot hear the body, neck or frets .. just strings.

[Dr Z]

singlecoil said:

I think how it will sound will depend far more on who is playing it, and what it's going through than whether the frets are stainless steel or not.

...is the correct answer, I suppose.

I have a mahogany body and ebony neck on order to 'upgrade' the woods in my modded-to-death first guitar. I'm going to put the electronics/pickups into the new body/neck. The question better phrased would be, given all the practical variables being the same would there be a substantial difference between a basswood body/maple-rosewood neck strat vs mahogany body/all ebony neck one. I'm about to find out...

Any opinions on the wilkinson wvp6 trem? Looking to do the vintage 6-hole thing but with a bit more reliable tuning stability. How good are these? Not a heavy trem user, mind.

http://www.axesrus.co.uk/Wilkinson-WVP6-Tremolo-St...

Also, any recommendations for some good locking tuners to go with it. The tuner holes are drilled for the stepped gotoh style...

[singlecoil]

Are you drilling the mounting holes for the tremolo yourself? If so, I would suggest as an alternative the WV2 Wilkinson unit that has two mounting posts. That way you can be sure that the bridge is pivoting on the two end screws for less friction, mounting with six screws needs the screws to be perfectly in line for best results. Also the two screws are mounted in pressed in bushes, and have waists that the bridge pivots in, so you can adjust the action by raising/lowering the mounting screws rather than having to adjust all six saddles.

Consider fitting a GraphTech nut too, bone and plastic can be a major source of friction.

I like Gotoh stuff, if they are offering locking tuners that would fit then I don't think you need to look elsewhere.

[Eddie Strohacker]

+1 for Gotoh. Very pleased with their performance on my strat - never let me down for live playing which is the whole reason I fitted them in the first place.

[Dr Z]

singlecoil said:

Are you drilling the mounting holes for the tremolo yourself? If so, I would suggest as an alternative the WV2 Wilkinson unit that has two mounting posts. That way you can be sure that the bridge is pivoting on the two end screws for less friction, mounting with six screws needs the screws to be perfectly in line for best results. Also the two screws are mounted in pressed in bushes, and have waists that the bridge pivots in, so you can adjust the action by raising/lowering the mounting screws rather than having to adjust all six saddles.

Consider fitting a GraphTech nut too, bone and plastic can be a major source of friction.

I like Gotoh stuff, if they are offering locking tuners that would fit then I don't think you need to look elsewhere.

No, it's coming pre-drilled for the 6-hole trem as I wanted to preserve some of the original features of that guitar. Graphtech nut is a good shout, I will do so...I have them on my tele and LP.

I came across the Wudtone shim that sits under the bridge that's supposed to improve the performance of the vintage style tremolos. May give that a go.

[AdeTuono]

Evangelion said:

Dr Z said:

Ah this is still going strong! Any ideas how a standard strat with stainless steel frets, solid mahogany body and an all ebony neck will sound? No humbuckers in sight.

I hope the brightness doesn't knock my head off.

Sound will depend on string gauge, pickups and electronics, plus what you are plugging into and the tone settings thereon.

Pickups cannot hear the body, neck or frets .. just strings.

Are you suggesting that the wood that a guitar is made from will have no affect on it's sound?

[singlecoil]

AdeTuono said:

Evangelion said:

Dr Z said:

Ah this is still going strong! Any ideas how a standard strat with stainless steel frets, solid mahogany body and an all ebony neck will sound? No humbuckers in sight.

I hope the brightness doesn't knock my head off.

Sound will depend on string gauge, pickups and electronics, plus what you are plugging into and the tone settings thereon.

Pickups cannot hear the body, neck or frets .. just strings.

Are you suggesting that the wood that a guitar is made from will have no affect on it's sound?

The weight of a solid guitar body will have some effect on the ADSR envelope, a heavy body will generally sustain better than a light one. But two woods of about the same density and hardness, no discernible difference. Not that it is something that can be tested.

[Dr Z]

Apologies, I haven't been around these parts for ages...what was the conclusion from the previous discussion?

The thing is different wood species have different densities and that varies too.

As if by magic, I came across this which has been posted recently:

https://youtu.be/nrEar7dgVwI

The guy who posted it claims both mahogany and maple wood planks to have the same density. Sounds different, no?

[AdeTuono]

Dr Z said:

Apologies, I haven't been around these parts for ages...what was the conclusion from the previous discussion?

The thing is different wood species have different densities and that varies too.

As if by magic, I came across this which has been posted recently:

https://youtu.be/nrEar7dgVwI

The guy who posted it claims both mahogany and maple wood planks to have the same density. Sounds different, no?

Well, you can prove anything with facts

There are some on here who deny the whole tone-wood 'thing', despite evidence to the contrary. I mean, what do Fender, Gibson, PRS and hundreds of other companies know? Just after our money, apparently. We're all being hoodwinked.....

[singlecoil]

AdeTuono said:

Dr Z said:

Apologies, I haven't been around these parts for ages...what was the conclusion from the previous discussion?

The thing is different wood species have different densities and that varies too.

As if by magic, I came across this which has been posted recently:

https://youtu.be/nrEar7dgVwI

The guy who posted it claims both mahogany and maple wood planks to have the same density. Sounds different, no?

Well, you can prove anything with facts

There are some on here who deny the whole tone-wood 'thing', despite evidence to the contrary. I mean, what do Fender, Gibson, PRS and hundreds of other companies know? Just after our money, apparently. We're all being hoodwinked.....

What they know is that if they provide what their customers want, they will buy it. It's not about hoodwinking. If someone wants a mahogany guitar and believes that it will give them the sound that they want, then why shouldn't they have it?

[singlecoil]

Dr Z said:

Apologies, I haven't been around these parts for ages...what was the conclusion from the previous discussion?

The thing is different wood species have different densities and that varies too.

As if by magic, I came across this which has been posted recently:

https://youtu.be/nrEar7dgVwI

The guy who posted it claims both mahogany and maple wood planks to have the same density. Sounds different, no?

If he had wanted them to sound the same, then he could easily have done that too. The thing is, there are so many things that have an effect on the sound a guitar produces. The type of wood is a long way down the list.

[AdeTuono]

singlecoil said:

Dr Z said:

Apologies, I haven't been around these parts for ages...what was the conclusion from the previous discussion?

The thing is different wood species have different densities and that varies too.

As if by magic, I came across this which has been posted recently:

https://youtu.be/nrEar7dgVwI

The guy who posted it claims both mahogany and maple wood planks to have the same density. Sounds different, no?

If he had wanted them to sound the same, then he could easily have done that too. The thing is, there are so many things that have an effect on the sound a guitar produces. The type of wood is a long way down the list.

I guess that's a theory. Of sorts.

[singlecoil]

AdeTuono said:

I guess that's a theory. Of sorts.

Happy to hear and discuss your theory, whatever sort it might be

[Evangelion]

AdeTuono said:

Well, you can prove anything with facts

There are some on here who deny the whole tone-wood 'thing', despite evidence to the contrary. I mean, what do Fender, Gibson, PRS and hundreds of other companies know? Just after our money, apparently. We're all being hoodwinked.....

Well I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's a strange coincidence that the woods that guitar makers claim sound the best, are always the ones that they're charging us the most money for.

[AdeTuono]

singlecoil said:

AdeTuono said:

I guess that's a theory. Of sorts.

Happy to hear and discuss your theory, whatever sort it might be

I don't have a theory, just many years of playing numerous guitars and the evidence of my ears.

Maybe it's just a coincidence that the guitars that sound 'better' to my ears tend to be built from the 'better' woods.

[singlecoil]

AdeTuono said:

singlecoil said:

AdeTuono said:

I guess that's a theory. Of sorts.

Happy to hear and discuss your theory, whatever sort it might be

I don't have a theory, just many years of playing numerous guitars and the evidence of my ears.

Maybe it's just a coincidence that the guitars that sound 'better' to my ears tend to be built from the 'better' woods.

IS this in the context of solid electric guitars? Assuming it is, the obvious next question is what are the woods that you would consider to be 'better'?

The reason I ask is because after many year of making complete guitars, necks and bodies I have found that when choosing woods for the body, there is not a lot of difference in the overall cost of the instrument between any of the woods that one might choose. Naturally one is choosing from woods that are suitable from the point of view of ease of machining, sanding and finishing, not to mention stability and availability.

[Mave]

Evangelion said:

Well I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's a strange coincidence that the woods that guitar makers claim sound the best, are always the ones that they're charging us the most money for.

Why is that strange? People charge more money for things that they claim are better shocker?