Hey forum,

I have a MIM i've been modding pretty heavily over the past year or so. 57 reissue neck, pups changed out, callaham trem block+saddles, etc. I still want to change out the middle pup cuz its still got the flat sounding MIM one. The guitar was bought used and the old neck dated it to 1991, although i dont remember authenticating the body (nor do i really care to).

What I'm contemplating is weither swapping the body for a nice swamp ash body (2 tone yellow burst) would improve the guitars over all sound. The current body is solid black with that thick modern finish that chips instead of wearing through. The current body is quite resonant but I think the trem can be accountable for most of it since the loud accoustic property only came out after installing the new part.

So basically i'm asking you guys if you think that the (300-400$) face lift would also improve some of the more important sonic properties of my axe.

Cheers,
Jack

its not really about buying the right guitar. Its about making my custom guitar . Besides i have all the old parts, so when im "done" with this one. I'll actually have a second guitar to assemble and either keep it or more likely sell it.

I guess you missed the idea a little bit, but thanks for looking out for my wallet

My understanding is that the MIM bodies are made of several (between 3 and 7, I believe) pieces of wood laminated together. I have little doubt that slapping a nice, heavy, one-piece ash body would make some difference in the guitar's sound as well as increasing sustain. That's not to say, however, that the tone would be any "better" or "more pleasing to your ear." It would most likely just be a different incarnation of "good tone." On that count, I'd say go ahead; it certainly can't hurt.

Minimal difference to be heard, acoustically perhaps but little when plugged in. Save the money and spend toward PUs.

Hi JackSteel: one of my favorite Strats came about exactly the same way as yours. After 20 years of modding the body (also with thick black polyester lacquer) and the control pots are the only original parts left. Way to go!

I strongly doubt you'll notice much difference between timbers tonewise, unless you happen to get very lucky and chance upon a particularly vibrant lump of ash. I sure as heck couldn't tell you ash from alder by ear on guitars with solid finishes on 'em.

That goes double for the paint. You may find that chippy polyester aesthetically displeasing (actually doesn't bother me, but still...) but you must have very fine "dog ears" indeed if you can hear the difference between finishes. Eric Johnson says he can, and I guess we just have to believe him...

But so what? If you find a nice piece of ash with a pretty finish at the very least your guitar will appeal to you more, and sometimes the psychology of that helps you to play it better.

If you're even thinking about it then why not give it a shot? As you say, by then you'll have enough leftover parts to put together another Strat (the original one). I've been there, too!!

Good luck - C

[quote="JackSteel"]What I'm contemplating is weither swapping the body for a nice swamp ash body (2 tone yellow burst) would improve the guitars over all sound.


Seems to me that if you swap the body you're not improving the guitar's overall sound.......you're changing the guitar....and back to "Go" once more.

Time to "get of of jail"

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"Another day in paradise!"

Here's what I find makes the biggest changes to my sound: 1) twisting the pre-amp volume knob, and 2) twisting the amp's tone controls.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

when those are up, you can alter your sound a lot with the volume control on your axe too!! Oh and there's that little known trick of changing your attack when you strum, or pluck the strings!

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

Just my opinion here but as others have insinuated or said, you're probably not going to hear too much of a difference tone-wise with the ash body. Certainly a "good" piece of wood is going to produce a different and better tone than a sonically "dead" piece of wood but...

The truth of the matter is that with electric guitars, the importance that the wood plays in regards to an individual instruments tone is relatively minor compared with other factors such as pickups, the bridge, the amp, etc.. I have an old NJ Kramer where the body is literally plywood (although decent plywood...it's never cracked on me) and with the DiMazio pickups I have in her, she just screams. Certainly some people think they can hear a difference...and of those folks, perhaps a gifted few of them actually can but for most folks, it's a very minor and subtle difference -if- it's there at all. That said, if you think that such and such sounds better, to your ears, it typically will.

Now as to aesthetics, that's a very different issue. While playability and sound are typically the primary concerns with any instrument, looks are important too. Will a different finish make the guitar sound any different/better? Like the wood, it's not -that- big a deal, but having something that looks good can change your over-all opinion of the instrument. I won't go into my usual psycho-analysis here but it goes without saying that a guitar that looks good is likely to inspire you to play it more. In this regards, you simply have to decide for yourself if this is something that you want to do. If you like the looks of a particular body, if you can afford it and you think it would work well with the parts you've already assembled, go for it. If you are doing this strictly from the view point of tone however, then it's probably not going to be a very worthwhile upgrade.

Just my $.02 worth,
Jim

Found this pic thought it could apply. A Dan Armstrong, people who have never played one should try.

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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

that was inspired by this:

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

A friend of mine has one. I've been trying to buy it from him for years, but he won't budge lol

He has it set up for slide which is the exact same thing I would use it for.

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The mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work unless its open-FZ

I'd back up your 2 cents with 3 cents of my own.
Like cv showed, there are guitars with plastic bodies that sound just fine.

As a simple proof, consider the following experiment for Strat owners. Plug your guitar into your amp and play for a while on the Bridge pickup. Then switch to neck pickup. It sounds different, no? So, which one of those sounds is the sound of the wood? Either or neither?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.