Every now and again I would hear experienced guitarists referring to a particular solid body guitar as being "more resonant" or "being better at transferring the vibrations from the wood" or more "toneful". The context in which these adjectives are used is typically an acoustic set up - i.e. the guitar is not plugged in an amp. These people (most of you I guess) are able to tell when a guitar is more resonant by simply strumming and listening for THE vibration, THE sweet spot in terms of tone.

Ever since I was able to spare enough cash to buy myself some proper guitars, I've always owned one Strat and one Les Paul. I replaced the Strat with another Strat and the LP with onother LP, but I have always kept one Strat and one LP and have always noticed that the LP is louder than the Strat when played acoustically (unplugged) - I mean the tone really stands out more.

Recently I acquired another Strat so I was able to compare it to my existing Strat and for the first time noticed that it was much louder than my existing one when played unplugged.

So is this what they refer to as resonance? Is it the pure loudness or is it some other property?

So does that mean that an LP will be always more resonant than a Strat? I am confused...

Real easy - tune the guitar - hit an open chord all strrings - lightly grasp the headstock - feel the vibration?

In extreme cases you might feel it as a tingling sensation in your fingers. I have a Peavey Cirrus bass that behaves like this - fun!

I buy guitars by-
1, the way they feel particularly the neck.
2, their resonance the way the body vibrates. Its the easiest check too. Simply hang the guitar up, strike the open B string (has the most tension to pitch so vibrates least) and feel around the back of the body in the jack/ strap button area for vibration.
Everything else with strats is easily changable. The feel and vibration of the guitar are less easy. If i try a guitar and need to plug it into a amp to know if i like it i probably wont buy it. Pickups are readily available to upgrade as are bridges,tuners and all those peripheral things.

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No no and no

Thanks guys.
So it's vibration (not acoustic loudness) that you are looking for? But how does that vibration transfer to the actual tone when plugged in? Does it give it a fuller tone, a louder tone or a more distinctive tone?

Volume is a lot of it too, dont ever rule it out.
Resonance will add character and sustain to your guitars primary tone.

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No no and no

Hi tremolo arm: at the risk of stating the obvious, "acoustic loudness" (sound) is vibration.

Have I understood correctly, do you currently have two Strats? If so, try Niki's B string test with each of them and tell us what you find.

BTW: one of the few areas where Nikininja and I would likely respectfully differ is that I adhere to the popular notion that the unplugged difference you are hearing between your Strats and Les Pauls is largely a product of the set-neck of the LP against the bolt-on of the Strat. The glued-in neck gives the whole vibrational system more rigidity.

Not that I regard that as making one or other instrument better. Just different.

And anyway, I believe The Ninja would disagree with that - but I'll leave him to do so for himself...

Cheers - C

to hear the difference in a guitar that is resonating and one that doesn't resonate as much take a look at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbgUMqU ... re=related

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It's a mix between Jazz and Funk, it's called "Junk"

Yep i think its more to do with the maple cap.

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No no and no

Ceri, I believe the glued on set neck doesn't make a lot of (if any difference,) than a properly mounted bolt on. The difference has more to do with the tilt of the headstock. Just in case there weren't enough dissenting viewpoints!!

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Whatever causes it and i have my views as do many other people that disagree with my reasonings. its a great guitar with a magic of its own. Untill we start building em from scratch we'll never know for sure.

Twelvebar is it true that gibson copyrighted the angle of the headstock? Due to it supposedly increasing string stability.

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No no and no

My understanding is that a bolt-on is more rigid. Think about it, there is a metal plate holding the wood together that is much stronger, more rigid than two pieces of wood glued. To me this would affect the way it sounds.

If the guitar is less rigid, it will vibrate more through the length of the guitar, giving more sustain. However, high frequency vibrations get absorbed more the less rigid the guitar is. Since the bass frequencies are less prone to being absorbed, and high frequencies get absorbed more (ever heard the thumping bass coming out of those rice rockets that sounds louder outside the car than inside), a less rigid guitar will sound warmer and have more sustain. -kinda like a LP huh?

If the guitar is more rigid, than less vibration gets absorbed, hence more high end/brighter sounding guitar. Bolt-on necks generally sound brighter to me.-kinda like a Strat

That also holds true with the woods. Maple is the hardest and most rigid of the tone woods that is used in guitar construction. Ever heard an all maple guitar? It's pretty bright. There just is not much absorbtion which means the high frequencies get reflected more instead of absorbed. And mahogany is softer than maple and generally is a warmer sounding wood since it will absorb more.

So:

Rigid Guitar=less absorbtion, more reflective and brighter sounding
Less Rigid Guitar= more absorbtion, less reflective and warmer sounding

My theory on the bolt-on neck is that its more rigid at the neck/body joint than a set neck or neck thru which kills some vibration through the neck to body, and kills some sustain, but it also allows less absorbtion of the vibration/hence is more reflective and sounds brighter and snapier.

Yes, I have read to much on this subject. But I bet that is also why you almost always see a maple top on a all mahogany guitar, like the LP, to get back some of the high frequency reflectiveness

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Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

With me I listen to see how resonant a guitar is and as ceri said type of neck can make a difference and even the overall mass weight will make a difference between two strat because they will not weigh the same most times. It how the the tone of the strings sound unpluged. Remember mass will change the feel of vibration but that does not mean it is not resonant its the some of many things even finish the resonant tone of a guitar. And also it what you are looking for different guitar design feature give different tone. A Korean set neck strat to a regular strat.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

i agree

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Stratohawk Guitar Works Custom Handwound Pickups-
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stratoha ... page_panel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc72Re ... qfXXXkVTqA

Callaham machined bridge block= extreme resonance. The best upgrade to any strat, including custom shops.

My sense is that the neckthrough and setneck joints have less fundamental than the bolt-ons. Put another way, the set necks have a richer overtone structure.