NSD - New Slab Day

[Deftone]

When it comes tone wood it does not matter.

I disagree. In my experience it does matter but of course it's all subjective. YMMV

I've owned identical guitars with the same wood that sounded different and I've owned identical guitars made of different woods that sounded completely different.

I personally don't like Ash or Alder but I do like Mahogany and Basswood.

 

[South Park]

Yes you are right thar is some factor in the wood that makes the difference . I wish thar was more research on this

I disagree. In my experience it does matter but of course it's all subjective. YMMV

I've owned identical guitars with the same wood that sounded different and I've owned identical guitars made of different woods that sounded completely different.

I personally don't like Ash or Alder but I do like Mahogany and Basswood.

 

[Eric'45]

I think the Wood used for the Neck makes more of a difference. As has been said before, the density is more important than the species. So different Wood species, of comparable weight/density will sound similar (like alder/basswood/poplar, all soft and fine grained woods). Ash should not be that far from a typical piece of mahogany, both are medium hard woods, with rough grain.
In the end, the type of wood used for the body of an electric guitar might make some difference, but a very, very small one. actually depending on the Pickups again, in certain circumstances the difference will be very minor.

To make it short, I think Ash is a great choice. I bet you will have a hard time to get it to a high gloss finish, though. It will need lots of grain filler to fill the big pores. Good luck with your project @fitz288 !

 

[AlvisX]

Sure , "tonewood" makes a difference .....that's why Les Pauls cost 3 thousand dollars ,not 100
But we're talkin about fun with cheap guitars ......
Ive been using the white Maestro with the big neck on gigs for the last 8 months or so .....most people don't know the difference unless they get real close

 

[Deftone]

Yes you are right thar is some factor in the wood that makes the difference . I wish thar was more research on this

There a number of videos on the subject. Most it would seem prove wood does not make a difference, however some of them prove otherwise. Johan has a good video out comparing different tone woods....



Based on what I have seen and just my own opinion, clean tones do not produce much of a difference using different wood. But with high output pickups and over driven amps with lots of gain, then you start to hear the difference. YMMV

I think the Wood used for the Neck makes more of a difference.

I actually like the tonal balance of a mahogany body with a maple cap, and a maple neck like on the Norlin era Les Pauls. Also, IMHO the maple neck is superior to Mahogany as it is much harder, thus more stable as far as staying in tune and more resistant to breakage.

My idea of the ultimate Les Paul is a thin Mahogany body, (like a Custom Lite) a carved maple cap and a maple neck with a volute.

 

[Eric'45]

ALL the Vids or discussions that come to the conclusion 'the wood does not make a ny difference' are flawed in some way. The differenc can be very subtle, but there's no denying that it is here. EVERY part of a Guitar affect s the sound in one way or the other, even if the Pickups just pick up the vibrations from the Strings. Everything else directly, or indirectly affects how the Strings vibrate.

The only time I really like a Mahogany Neck is with a meaty 50s Shape. Slim Taper or anything like that is just too spongy. But the mahogany Part of a Guitar is Important. All- Maple Guitars usually sound just sharp and Hard.

 

[Mrmadd]

Well.... Hats off to you guys for the hard time consumming work of a guitar build.

Its not easy to reinvent the wheel.

I think I will just pick up four old wheels and speed into the sunset. VAAROOOMMMMM ! !

 

[El Gringo]

Man I give you all the credit in the world . This is not easy stuff to do and build and I just thinks its so cool !!!!!!!!!

 

[fitz]

Its not easy to reinvent the wheel.

Standby, I have yet to reveal the entire plan....

But I'm loving the tone wood discussion.

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

Yes you are right thar is some factor in the wood that makes the difference . I wish thar was more research on this

Here's my research:

I had 2 identical LP customs. One sounded awesome but was ugly. The other one sounded ok but was beautiful. They were built 3 years apart with the same specs, electronic, and hardware.

I figured I'd swap the pickups and the pretty one would sound good. It didn't help. So figured I'd swap the electronics. No help.

Piece by piece, I ended up changing everything that's changeable without breaking a glue bond or pulling frets. In the end the great sounding one still sounded almost great while the crappy sounding one only sounded slightly better than it had before.

Only thing I didn't swap were the frets, nut, and strap buttons.

Enormous waste of time changing one component at a time and then doing back to back testing after every swap. I ended up swapping everything back and got rid of the pretty one that sounded like crap.

Both guitars were setup the same. I recorded accurate measurements for everything before I started. Frets had minimal wear on both.

My conclusion: wood absolutely makes a difference.


Cheers

 

[fitz]

Only thing I didn't swap were the frets, nut, and strap buttons.

It was probably the strap buttons...

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

It was probably the strap buttons...

Unfortunately that didn't cross my mind until after the other one was long gone.

 

[Kinkless Tetrode]

When it comes tone wood it does not matter. It is all about the density of the wood that matters . i came across a bunch really hard wooden blocks and build a strat body it sounded like shit tons of glue and wood you could not put a wood screw in View attachment 105749

Your project reminded me of the guitar being used here. Doesn't sound too bad in this case.

 

[fitz]

Tried out a mod idea on the old plywood Jr. body before sacrificing it to make router templates for the new ash body.



Stealth neck humbucker - it's a P-90 sized that fits under the pickguard.



Rear rout for the pickup frame with just the coils going through a tight rout to the front surface.



Push / pull V&T pots are pickup on / offs, so no visible surface switch.
Bridge is still a bit louder when the stealth pup is off, but it also kinda works like a volume boost.
Volume difference is more from the string distance - the pickguard doesn't make much of a difference on or off.
I think I'll rout the neck pocket in the new body at a slight angle like a set neck, to get the strings closer to the neck pup and still clear the dog ear mount bridge pup & wrap around bridge.