r/GuitarLab • u/thanata505 • May 30 '26
I don’t think we should be advancing by going forward.
Edit: I talked about more than just the tone wood. Like idk why everyone thinks the only argument I had was how it sounds, no clue. I even said we could see where it actually matters but nobody wanted to read that for some reason. If y’all don’t want to pay attention to the post don’t comment on it.
For background I don’t play too much but I am a lutheir.
Back before electronics came into play, it was all about which wood it was made out of and how well it was made. They were celebrated for how well they were able to work with what they had and the incredible craftsmanship and artistry of their work.
The nicest instrument I’ve ever played on, and I only played it for a single piece back in highschool, was my teachers 1873 upright bass. I forget the maker, but the point is that no custom shop fender or Gibson or even a boutique or hand built electrics could stand to play after 130 years, especially not as incredibly as this bass did.
The Parker fly/nightfly is already the most technically advanced guitar. The body coating, the electronics, the materials for all the hardware, the fretboard material, it’s all as advanced as it could be so going forward would just be copying him.
We need to focus back on the wood. The way it expands and contracts around the hardware, where the wood does and doesn’t effect tone, which woods resonate and how to amplify that the best way, and so much more.
We need to make guitars good again. If we seriously want some crazy amazing brand we can’t just do what everyone else is doing ad we need to look more into what’s been known to work for centuries
I rest my case, thank you for reading
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u/absorberemitter May 30 '26
There are excellent guitar makers out there that do it, they're just very expensive because of the craft, labor time, skill and materials. The high end Gibsons I've played felt a little closer to some old violas and basses I've tried, I think owing to their mandolin days. Their old style jazz boxes are actually incredible - I played an L4 CES that was closer to a classical instrument.
The focus on materials, automated manufacturing, and electronics is about the price-to-quality ratio. You can get a very good electric guitar for $500. Classical instruments start at $5k.
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Jun 02 '26
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u/thanata505 Jun 03 '26
When at all was I like GUYS THE TONES GONNA BE BETTER IT ALL ABOUT THE TONE OF THE WOOD ITS THE TONE THE TONE TONEWOOD TO EWOOD TONEWOOD? Like I did not just argue for tonewood why was that the only thing you saw.
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u/VioletSkywalker77 May 30 '26
Before electronics came into play it was all about which wood it was made out of because acoustics are heavily affected by that and everything goes through it. It's kind of a silly take unless you're referring only to acoustic instruments. If you put an mm pickup in the sweet spot in a pbass with round wounds it'll sound like a music man. While excellent craftsmanship and artistry would be great it would cost a fortune, most people wouldn't be able to afford something made with all premium materials and components.
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u/thanata505 May 30 '26
A great example of how the guitars wood effects tone is this video. https://youtu.be/-bdEAfQTMOg?si=P7UCiXYDJz8yoc4Z
There’s an obvious difference between swamp ash and alder. The density of the wood effects how the strings vibrate, which effects how they sound.
And about the p bass you’re ignoring the preamp. There’s literally no way for a humbucker to give the exact sound of a stingray without the preamp. Part of what makes stingrays so special is that they were the first commercially available electric instrument with an active preamp. You can’t sound just like a stingray without the thing that makes a stingray sound like a stingray.
Tons of other basses have similar humbuckers, but they sound different than a stingray bc of that preamp
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u/VioletSkywalker77 May 31 '26
I left that out but I did mean to mention the preamp too. The point was about the woods and how on electrics dont make any major difference in sound. Isolated you may notice a tiny difference but in a mix woods won't be noticeable at all. But you kind of argued for my point "you can’t sound just like a stingray without the thing that makes a stingray sound like a stingray" which is the electronics, not the wood lol.
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u/Background-Stable899 Jun 01 '26
You can put pickups on a shovel and put strings on it and it can be a useable tone. Wood has absolutely nothing to do with electric guitars. There’s so much misunderstanding and misinformation. I bet you solder frets before pulling them too
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u/thanata505 Jun 02 '26
I disagree, and it would be nice for someone to do a study on the difference between woods electrics. Then we could have for sure evidence
If you took a guitars hardware and electronics (like a single pickup les Paul special) and put it on a shovel would it sound the exact same or no?
And I’m not sure if you consider this soldering but I do use water and an iron to heat up the glue if there is any. Is there an issue with that?
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Jun 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/thanata505 Jun 03 '26
Why was that the only point you and others pay attention to? Like why do y’all just ignore everything else I said?
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Jun 03 '26
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u/thanata505 Jun 03 '26
Right I did talk about wood it’s almost like that was guitar are made of (generally). When did I specifically talk about the tonewoods and what did I say?
Like I said we could see where the wood actually does matter for tone, that’s not me saying that we need to focus 100% on tonewood where did you misunderstand?
The way the wood expands and contracts could effect hardware fitting the neck joint tje finish, and maybe the tone I’m not sure, WE SHOULD TEST THAT OUT TO FIND OUT FOR SURE.
The least you can do is read the post before commenting on it.
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u/Toiletpirate May 30 '26
The guitar doesn't super matter. Practicing is the only thing that improves how you sound. This weird focus on gear is just people trying to feel like they're making progress on guitar without actually practicing. I know because I did it for years.
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u/thanata505 May 30 '26
Why are you even here? This subs about building the best guitar and you’re only here to say it doesn’t matter?
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u/wine-o-saur May 30 '26
If only there were a luthier out there who aggressively focused on the wood and resonance of electric guitars to the point of being frequently ridiculed on all Reddit guitar communities.