Do you think wood quality affects the overall tone?

By how much if you do think it affects it?

You're talking about wood quality not wood species selection, right? A solid piece of timber should yield better tone and sustain than one full of splits, knots, soft spots or voids created by rot.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

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The poll refers to the overall quality of the wood piece, as in if you need a good piece of wood to get a good tone.

Amplified.

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I remember reading in the Ask Mike Eldred forum a while back where he stated in his opinion that the neck ( rosewood or maple ) made a difference in tone amplified. I tend to believe in what Mike has to say. Of course this is no scientific test. Forum member BigJay has some interesting views on the subject of tone woods.

I think your pickups and fingers have more effect than anything else as far as tone is concerned. That being said, I'm sure there is a minor effect based on the quality of the wood but that most people don't have the audible range needed to perceive it.

I do notice that my 72 Strat with a maple neck/fingerboard sounds a little brighter and tighter than my cohorts rosewood board Strat. I usually will play a bucker equipped guitar when we play together unless he's using his LP. I don't like the way two of the same guitars sound. I like a contrast in sound. YMMV

I agree. The difference in wood tone if any can be equaled out by so many other things that added together gives you your overall tone. Like Pups, strings, fingers, fx(pedals and or amp), etc.

A good guitar's sound is dependant on all its parts added up to create something greater than the sum of its parts. I really believe everything contributes to a guitars sound. How much a body wood affects sound, I'm undecided. I read earlier that gibson lp's tone was all down to the scale length which makes a bit of sense. Shorter string length, wider string travel. One thing os for sure, you cant put a gibson pickup on a strat and get a les paul sound. I absolutely refuse to believe a glue on the neck causes it. That is snake oil.

Thats all I'm saying on it till Bigjay voices his opinion.

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No no and no

+1

cheers

I don't know. I've played a lot of guitars and you can always find differences in tone when you play them side by side. But how do you know to attribute the difference to wood quality when there are so many variables? I suspect that the quality of the woods Fender uses is pretty uniform. So I doubt that quality is a real issue.

Despite all of these differences I think it is often, but not always, possible to listen to a clean recording and say, "that's a Stratocaster in position 2," or "that's a Telecaster in position 1." But even that is not foolproof.

A lot of people hear studio recordings of B.B. King and think he always plays a 335. But there are reports that he sometimes plays Telecasters in the studio. He's got big hands. And could you for sure tell the difference between a Telecaster in position 2 and a 335 in position 2? I wouldn't bet my paycheck on it.

But I digress.

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i used to believe that wood couldnt affect tone.
(if the electronics as in different tone pot giving it more output)
i dont know if an s1 switch not engages has a change in tone.

my friend has 2 strats with texmex pickups. one on a mim sss strat alder wood
and one on a mia special mahagony hss.
by the way my friend got 2nd place storewide kotb, and was told his strat had a creamy tone.
i wanted to test that wood has an effect on tone. texmex pus, neck
strings were 9s, pu height s were the same, volume and tone were the same. cleans sounded clearer and more output, dirty was thicker responsive on the mahogony special strat. crimson red.
based on that, i am a believer, however if someone tells me that the pus are wound hotter on that strat, or tone pot is totally different i will stand by it.

I used to have a stock '69 Strat made of northern ash and that was a heavy guitar, but it also had a sound that was like no other Strat that I've played since.

The sustain was amazing!

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I am one of those that believes even cuts from different parts of the same tree will make some difference in tone.

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Chet Feathers

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