I read that removing the back cover plate to your guitar will improve the tone. Is this true or did somebody notice that SRV, Johnson, Mayer, etc took theirs off and assume it....

How does it (if it does) effect the tone?

Thanks for your input...

just try it yourself and see if you notice anything different

Has anybody tried it? Did you notice anything different

Mojo Myth............. Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Yep,one of the biggest myths around.But dont say anything to Eric Johnson.

I tried this once and my youngest came in the room while I was playing, saw it and exclaimed, "Daddy, what happened to your guitar?" I think the general public would think the same. "Oh look at that guitar in the back. It's broken. They must not be able to afford to fix it. I wonder if it affects the guitar's sound..."

I think it's ugly. My opinion.

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-Kirk

GUITARS
'12 Sonoran Acoustic - black (dated 10/31/12)
'13 Standard Strat
AMP
Vox ac4c1-bl
PEDALS
Compressor
Big Muff
Vox Stomplab 1G
Carbon Copy Delay

It makes it louder and warmer when you strum unplugged, but doesn't really affect anything once you plug in. Plus there's a risk of catching something on it and breaking stuff.

Thanks guys... appreciate the info...

I took mine off yesterday, and i don't think it does anything, it jsut makes changing springs and strings easier. after all what can a piece of plastic do the the sound of a guitar?
plus i think it looks pro

It doesnt do a single thing. Just more internet BS. Why dont we see all these people that say it improves tone playing without scratchplates either? It's a far bigger lump of plastic to 'hamper tone'. How about the neckplate? Surely that must have some detrimental effect, a heavy lump of chrome. Why dont we see them ditch those in favour of directly screwing the neck to the body?

I'm sure the people that come out with such nonsense are either, 1 tone deaf. 2 having a bit of a joke, or 3 utterly stupid.
It's the same as that other misnomer about body paint affecting a guitars sound. Utter bunkem.

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No no and no

Doesn't do anything for the sound but I leave it off because I change strings so frequently...

Taking it off allows the springs in the back to breathe, which not only improves tone but it makes the entire tremolo system work better. That's why SRV, Johnson, and Mayer never go out of tune!

That's also why I leave the truss rod cover of my Les Paul off. It allows the truss rod to breathe. It makes the neck feel much better than one with the truss rod cover on.









Seriously though, I just leave mine off for easy string changing. I lost the back cover a long time ago anyway.

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I've heard that the reason a lot of guitarists have left if off historically is so they could easily remove the tremolo block. What you do is get a block of wood cut the right size so that when you place it inbetween the bridge-block and the guitar it halts the motion of the tremolo completely. Then if you play a song where you want the tremolo you remove the block, difficult to do if the cover is on.
Don

It dramatically and most profoundly enhances tone but ONLY in the world of, "Infallible Web Dogma." In the 'real world' however, it affects it not one discernible iota. Further, just because a handful of eccentric celebrities swear (or swore) by that postulation, it still doesn't make it any more true.

From what I've witnessed, the majority who leave it off in the 'real world' do so for any one or combination of the following five reasons (in no particular order):

1. When it comes to string changes, it is easier to remove the backplate rather than maintaining a proper tremolo setting to where the plate wouldn't need to be removed in order to change the strings just as easily.
2. They think it looks 'tougher' or more 'lived in' and of course, it looks contrary to what would normally be expected back there.
3. They overtightened the plate screws, cracking the screw holes and now they have no choice.
4. Their #1 guitar hero does it.
5. Laziness which includes searching for the backplate's screws they've somehow lost.

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You dig?

Yea, taking off the back cover totally changes the sound of the guitar. its awesome. its what made SRV so great.

There are some other tricks to totally change the tone of your guitar such as:

Scraping off that horrible poly finish on the guitar and respraying with nitro as it allows the wood to resonate more.

Leave the plastic cover on the pickguard. adds density which aids sustain.

Only buy a fender with the spaghetti style logo. totally makes it a better guitar.

Leave a load of lose string at the tuners instead of cutting it off. more material,more mass, more sustain.

Use Nickel coated screws in your pickguard. read here the other day they add mass, also in the same thread i found out the 8 hole pickguard is crap for tone but the 11 screw hole pickguard is much better for tone.

Im sure folks here know loads of other great ideas to improve the tone and make you a much better player