That's not correct. "The voice of the guitar" doesn't exist until it's plugged in. You should read about how electric guitars work, and you will realize that a guitar that doesn't sound loud in the room can sound great through an amp. I've played dozens that fit that description.

Not busting your chops, just addressing a common misconception.

I'd have to disagree that its a complete misconception sir. I'd offer that its greatly exaggerrated in importance. The unplugged sound of a guitar does go someway to making its amplified tone, just not as much as most people think. Otherwise you'd be able to put a 498R humbucker on a strat and have it sound exactly like a current production lespaul or sg. We all know that just isnt possible, even if you do change the bridge and tuners.

Anyone with a mahogany strat (the one with the gibson tailpiece and bridge) want to prove me wrong?

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Unpluged you may not hear the voice of the pickups but you will hear the voice of the strings and how they react to your attack. Long vibrating sound or dull quick dying and thats the vibrations that become the pickups voice.
Its the combination of all that add up to the final result, change one and the result changes and thats not even counting the amp which is another piece of the puzzle.

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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

It's important to me that my guitar sounds decent when unplugged, but only because I happen to play it that way a lot. I couldn't say which components of the unplugged sound contribute to the amplified tone, but I like my instruments to sound as good as possible in a variety of situations. I'd like to be able to experiment to see if I come across one that seems like nothing special until I plug it in, but that's not likely to happen any time soon (if ever!). Plugged in or not, mrs mondo usually asks me to turn it down... heh.

Now that I think of it... the other day I was sitting in the living room with my amp very low, with a touch of reverb, tremelo and boost going... I was getting some nice rainy day sounds so I called her over and said "This... this is what I've been searching for these past few months... this is officially Good Tone!"

She just looked at me and said "And this differs from the sounds you make over in the lounge room at night how, exactly?"

So as far as my beautiful wife is concerned, there's no difference between my unplugged and amplified sounds -- both are equally irritating! Heh. Mind you, I'm sure she'd be painfully aware of the discrepancy between the two if I turned the amp up past about 2 when she was around. Nevertheless, it was interesting to me that she finds the overall tone to be consistent when the volume levels are low.

That's a good way of putting it.

How about how a solid guitar body breathes?

Did you see my post about the amp head carrying case?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I completely agree with this guy. There is some truth in it, but you shouldn't completely base on your guitar buying on just the acoustic sound of the guitar. Chances are that it may sound different amplified as the pickups pick up some nuances that aren't audible when you play the guitar acoustically. It's an electric guitar, not an acoustic.

1 example I'd like to add is that I had a Gibson Les Paul Studio Faded. Acoustically it sounded awesome...rang really well and sounded "loud" and felt the vibration through out the body. Plugged in, it sounded very bland. I must've tried at least 3 different pickups on that guitar and they all gave the same result, which was different versions of the same bland sound.

Each guitar is different, they have their own personality. Usually just picking one up I hear/feel something. Then it's how the guitar actually feels in my hands. Then playability, this one is touchy especially if the guitar does not have a good setup. Last but not least is how it sounds, both unplugged and plugged in.
I have bought quite a few that seemed right at first but I later decided that they weren't quite right for me.

Remember too that what may be a keeper to me may be something you can't sell fast enough.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

I didn't say it was a complete misconception. I said the previous poster's idea that the acoustic voice of a solid body guitar was the ultimate source of its sound - a source that "can never be altered" - was wrong.

And it is.

I also know that almost any Strat can be made lively, resonant and responsive by setting it up right. When you play a dead one, 99 times out of a hundred it could be brought to life if you just set the damn thing up.

And they are cantankerous beasts, for sure. My own main Strat-style homebrew recently went through it's bi-annual set-up, and even though I had it right in spec, it felt stiff and didn't "ring" the way I was used to. After letting it settle in for a few days, I took measurements again, and finally decided that the trem wasn't floating enough. A couple of turns of the trem claw screws,and there it was, just like before... loose, slick, lively and chimey.

Same guitar, same strings, a tiny adjustment in set-up creates an entirely different feel and sound. Kind of puts the lie to "it's in the wood and can never be changed."

Which is what I said. The most tiresome thing about communicating on a forum is constantly correcting people who misread what you say. But if you don't, then before long the whole Forum thinks you're the guy who said Hitler should eat all the puppies.

Now i feel like your just egging me on to get down to bletchley and demand they sell me a head cover. Looking at the picture code i see its available at Sam Ash. I've never seen one for sale in any uk shop and havent looked online.

Now i'm away from the blues faliure and back on to marshall i really should invest in a good carry case. Incidentaly i just dug the marshalls out of storage ready for the soon arriving powerbreak.

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No no and no

Sorry mate i misread common as complete. (tired after rehearsall).

Anyhow its breakfast time now so i'm off to the pet rescue as soon as i find the ketchup.

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No no and no

What? SlapChop says Hitler should eat all the puppies?

That's a shocker: wait till that gets all over the Forum...

- C

Since the acoustic voice of the guitar is "greatly exaggerated in importance" then I guess we don't need Les Pauls, or Hollow bodies. According to your logic, if we swap out the pups they’ll sound the same. Excellent news, I just saved myself a bunch of money.

All I know is if a guitar sounds like junk before you plug it in, no change in pick ups or the latest boutique amplifier will make it sound great.

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AmDlx HSS
62 Hot Rod
Luke w/Piezo
Carvin Belair

No worries, bunkie. S'all good.

Bruno, we're talking about Strats: solid body guitars, all the same shape and approximate weight. Yeah, hollow bodies like 335's sound a little different (but seriously, in the hands of the same player? Not that much different). Great big acoustic archtops with pickups on them sound even more different still. But that doesn't mean you should judge Strats unplugged because, well, you'd be wrong a lot of the time. ANd there is no absolute, unchanging "voice of the guitar" that's sealed into the wood: you can make a Strat sound different by tweaking the set-up, as I mentioned previously.

These are electric guitars: you don't know what they sound like until you plug them in. Indeed, they don't sound like anything til you plug them in. It's like playing an acoustic guitar with no soundbox. The instrument is unfinished until it's plugged into an amp.

Bruno.

Greatly exaggerrated importance is not the same as no importance. Woods do affect tone, just not as much as most people think.
I'd offer that unplugged sound is a basis for amplified sound. How you judge the way one equates to the other is a mystery though. Nobody can say for sure that (A) body wood of (B) shape with (C) neck and (D) board with (E) headstock shape and (F) tuners using (G) strings of (H) gauge passing over (K) bridge is going to sound amplified. Especialy when you have to consider (L) amplifier (M) pickups (N) Height (O) setting (P) pots of (Q) rating connected with (R) wire of (S) gauge. Thats all well before you start getting into the realms of (T) neck relief, (U) neck pitch, (V) nut material, (W) slot depth (X) string height (Y) bridge float and (Z) fret level.

All offer an effect on overall sound some more than others. You cant define the way your guitar sounds to only body wood. There are far too many variables involved.

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No no and no

Hahaha
Hey Niki that's awesome. It definitely puts amen to this conversation.