Guitars... what you've got / what you want

Laura Lee from Khruangbin plays a $150 SX bass (although contrary to myth it's not all stock, it has upgraded pickups).

Those most likely are Dimarzios. They sold a bunch to Japan back in the 80s for import guitars, you would even see them on Ibanez. I had a late 70s 'fretless' pre-lawsuit P-bass that had old Dimarzios. Would not doubt on the Gotoh hardware either, there just wasn't as many people making this stuff back then.

Usually the headstock was the thing that Fender would sue upon as that is what the trademark is tied as I understand. I had an 80s Fernandes stock that had a 'pre-lawsuit' Fender style headstock. Same as that P-Bass, it was shaped just like a Fender. That Fernandes was nice but the neck was really crazy thin and I gave it to the guitarist in my old band. Sold the bass back in the summer.

Fernandes strat...

I kind of like the Oldsmobile Cutlass guitar fwiw
https://www.schellingercustomguitars.com/oldsmobile-cutlass-custom-car-themed-guitar/

Seeing this "Guitars ..." thread right under the "Cardiacs" thread briefly made me think someone had bumped a Dwight Yoakam thread.

Guitars, Cardiacs and l0u1s jagg3r music

lol

The plywood body of the bass I just bought made me think:

What is everyone's opinion on "tonewoods"

To me (for electric guitars) it just doesn't make sense that after it goes through a magnetic pickup, through the guitar circuit, through a few pedals, then through the amp circuit that you could tell any difference between plywood and alder or whatever

Acoustics I definitely think woods like mahogany vs spruce do have different characteristics

well for one thing the "classic tonewood combos" all have different electronics and construction choices associated with them, so yeah if you're talking a swamp ash telecaster with single coils, a bolt-on neck, and a longer scale length vs. a mahogany/maple set neck guitar with humbuckers and a shorter scale lengths there are so many differences that are all adding up to create distinctive tones. if you're talking a bunch of identical strats but one is ash, one is alder, one is poplar, etc. etc. maaaaybe you could hear something but functionality i don't think it matters a ton. the relative weight of the woods probably matters some. and yes the more you are shaping sound with amps and effects a lot of this is minimized.

plywood vs. solid wood i think is going to be noticeable on a guitar in terms of body resonance and sustain.

I'd say it depends on that particular guitar and the wood involved. I got a very light swamp ash two humbucker tele that has the pickups I once had in an Alder Mexican strat. Same type of wiring, but that telecaster has some serious zing in the sound it did not have in the strat. Is some of this having a cut ashtray bridge, probably a bit but I think the lightweight body is just more resonant too.

I do think there are some differences but it's part of a whole and just that each instrument is a bit unique. I think scale length probably makes a bigger difference like say going from a 32" or 34" bass to a short scale 30". I think that scale length is part of the difference in sound between Gibson and Fenders.

I'd say all mahogany guitars have a bit more bite to them than say a Les Paul with the maple cap on top, sometimes even with the same model pickups.

The ones to compare is guitars with a Duncan JB. You try one of those in those 80s style superstrats, which also usually puts a Floyd and Fender scale length into the equasion, it might sound like it was going to bite your head off. You hear a JB in a Les Paul, its often really smooth and even sounding. Same pickup some differences in wood most likely too.

Acrylic and metal bodied guitars sound pretty awesome. Whatever timbre differences there might be with different woods are going to be swamped by the slop in actual tone pot values.

The funniest subspecies of tonewood is "old wood" as explanation for the obvious superiority of $15k vintage guitars (when the albums that made them classics were made with... new wood).

ums omg that was my first bass! Except mine wasn’t string through. But otherwise a black Hondo P with that headstock, sadly stolen about 5 years after I got it.

I definitely think the wood on the fretboard makes a bit of a difference, body probably much less so.
To me, Indian laurel, rosewood etc. each have a different sort of sound, subtle maybe but still a difference.

I would be sceptical of any claims of magic tonewood though. Good build quality is obviously a far bigger factor.

ums omg that was my first bass! Except mine wasn’t string through. But otherwise a black Hondo P with that headstock, sadly stolen about 5 years after I got it.

― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, October 15, 2021 2:27 PM (twenty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

aww cool...seems like it should be a solid player with a little TLC.

it is weird i was digging around on them and that era of Japanese stuff there can be weird variance on things like bridges, etc from year to year, assuming it was based on supply/cost and they just went with whatever made the most economic sense

interesting comments on tonewoods all, thanks!

i've always wanted to have a tone attorney blues coverband band called the Exotic Tonewoods

yeah the thread consensus is right - wood can make a difference at the absolute margins but most people will not be able to hear the difference if everything else is held constant. Which, in real-world terms, it almost never is, so it's rarely worth getting fussed over unless you

I will admit to being VERY partial to maple fretboards on Strat- and Tele-style guitars but it is way more about the philosophy of it than anything related to tone or playability. By which I mean: the conceptual beauty of having the fretboard just be the topmost bit of the wood that already constitutes the neck. As opposed to a separate cap of rosewood or mahogany or whatever being imposed on the neck.

With a maple neck and maple fretboard, I can contemplate the notion that my fingers are pressing down on the same piece of tree that my thumb is pressing upward on ("down" and "up," here, are relative to the string tension, not to the physical position of my body or that of the guitar). I can imagine Leo in his workshop, thinking how to make a frugal and brutally simple machine. An engineer's practical, unfussy solution that somehow transmutes into a work of art. If I choose, I can think about that a lot. Or I can choose not to, and just play the frkn thing. My experience of interacting with an instrument is a layered one.

...unless you really want to get fussed over it, is what I think I was starting to say

Dark rosewood >>>> maple

Fender switching to Pau Ferro for non-US because of rosewood laws a couple of years ago made all the vintage-style guitars look dumb as hell. The new Squier fretboard wood (Indian Laurel?) looks much better, almost rosewood.

Yeah I hear pau ferro is fantastic in terms of hardness and durability etc, but it looks like the generic $79 East Asian copies of the 70s and 80s.

for me the maple vs rosewood look depends on the finish/color of the guitar. that bass i just bought is black on black and has a maple next which i have always liked contrasted with black, on the other hand on my sunburst jazz i like the rosewood fretboard better lookswise

jazzmasters, jaguars, mustangs, and most jazz basses just look wrong with maple fretboards

How do I tell what kind of wood my tele is made of? It’s an American standard, bought brand new in 97 or 98. The fretboard is light, not dark. I know next to nothing about guitars.

jazzmasters, jaguars, mustangs, and most jazz basses just look wrong with maple fretboards

― joygoat, Friday, October 15, 2021 5:27 PM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflagli

This is otm. Strats, Teles, and P basses look good w maple

xp i’m guessing alder

For me, the tradeoff between maple vs. rosewood is far more practical. I'm nervous as fuck when I'm playing a gig and even with the better visible contrast of strings on a light-colored maple neck, sweat pools up on a maple neck but on rosewood it dissipates. I love my maple neck blonde Telecaster, but everything else is rosewood.

What's potentially more important than wood choice is the quality of the hardware. On my strat I swapped out the saddles and block with the heavy Callaham cold steel ones - tremendous improvement in sound and responsiveness. Loud af even when not plugged in.

Figured I would show this one off...I've had this geetar for right at about 10 years now. It is a pretty heavy beast.

https://i.ibb.co/QjmZ6xg/bigsby-T.jpg

ooh that's cool, did you put that together?

No, it's a parts guitar though. There is a local guy here and some guys close by that are pros at this stuff(RS Guitarworks). Bob Davenport used to work for Willcutts (kinda well known guitar store in Lexington been around since late 60s) and was building guitars out of his house at the time. He works @ RS now. I got a couple parts guitars he worked on. I got another buddy that also hotrods pawnshop guitars etc. So I got a couple ringers on this stuff.

just went to their website - how sad, jeez

Last Thursday, October 7th, RS Guitarworks suffered catastrophic flash flooding which has interrupted our operations and ability to serve our customers.

Nearly 6" of rain fell in an hour, which led to 36" of sewage, oil, and water flooding our building. The scale of the devastation is beyond comprehension, and we've only just begun the process of assessing the scale and scope of the damage.

At this time, we will not be accepting new orders. Existing orders placed prior to Thursday will be assessed for feasibility of delivery, or refunded as soon as possible.

While we work through the flood recovery process, we ask for your patience and understanding, and if you are at all able, to give what you can to our GoFundMe effort, which we've linked below.

Yeah, I donated on that a few days ago. Cool and wild to see how much love they are getting from Japan, as they sell quite a few guitars over there. They have done a work for pros over the last couple decades. They restored quite a few vintage guitars that got damaged in the bad Nashville floods a few years ago.

does anyone know what those "ashtray" things (those metal covers over the middle pickup and/or the bridge) on older models of P and J basses affect the sound? or just what the purpose of those was to begin with

I always assumed they were palm rests but that only seems like it would work if you were playing with a pick which most people don’t.

fwiw I always loved the way the old tele ashtray covers looked and wondered why more people don't have them, but otoh I've never tried playing with one on.

i think they were strictly for aesthetic purposes and most people remove them because they get in the damn way.

I recently bought this (used) and there’s no way I’m taking the covers off, it’s been interesting learning to work around them.

https://i.imgur.com/51F7GBD.jpg

that's great looking

how is it? see SX around but don't know much about them

It’s great. Well built, well finished, plays well. Neck tint is hideous orange but otherwise about 80% as good as the AVRI version I once had. Fretwork and neck shape are faultless.

cool! good to know, definitely see those on craigslist from time to time

Chinese made for Rondo in the States I think. I’d say on a par with newer Squires (i.e. better than the stuff they were putting out 5 years ago) or maybe some of the China-made Fenders.

Enjoying my new Gibson Flying V, my first electric guitar. People who said it would be awkward to practice with were wrong. You put one part of the V between your legs and angle the neck upward on a diagonal and it’s fine. In fact it’s how classical guitarists play.

I kinda like the vintage tint look myself, I like it better with a satin matte than a gloss and it looks better if the maple wood has some nice figuring. It is pretty much to get the look of what old Fender clear lacquer would do as it aged. I had a 78 P-bass that they would still use it on the front face of the head stock and it was that tone of orange. Buddy had a G&L ASAT that was black that had that type of paint on the maple neck and I thought it looked pretty cool.

Totally agree on the tint look, but what you can't see in the pic is that this one is orange, not amber. It doesn't photograph well but the one on the left in this pic gives an idea of the difference:
https://www.tdpri.com/attachments/img_20181207_164546-jpg.567473/
(and yeah the oddness of orange nitro on the face of a yellowed poly finished 70s neck is yet another thing!)

Congrats on the Flying V, Josefa.

That is a noble instrument and I hope it brings you joy.

Thank you, Puffin. Maybe being stuck indoors for many hours this coming winter will give me enough practice time to get good on it. I see myself ultimately as a capable guitarist, but I'm just a beginner now.

I keep trying to escape from playing the guitar but it keeps pulling me back.

Like, I spent most of the last 10 years on mandolin, bouzouki, percussion, drums, bass.

Anything but guitar. My town has a glut of guitar players. Like 62.5% of middle-aged white guys can play guitar. In two phone calls I can find four guitarists who play better than me. So why bother?

Then I recently had a gig where what made sense was guitar (in terms of keys and logistics). So I was like, oh yeah, I guess I can do that... And now I find myself sneaking up into the attic to get amps and pedals I'd forgotten about.

_Mars Volta dude did have a pretty sweet Ibanez signature model about ten years ago IIRC

― papal hotwife (milo z), Tuesday, November 9, 2021 10:24 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink_


If I had $3K, I'd buy Omar's EBMM model: https://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars/mariposa🕸

_Mars Volta dude did have a pretty sweet Ibanez signature model about ten years ago IIRC

― papal hotwife (milo z), Tuesday, November 9, 2021 10:24 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink_


If I had $3K, I'd buy Omar's EBMM model: https://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars/mariposa🕸

Yeah that sunburst natural finish is really pretty

Not a big fan of the Ernie Ball headstock but appreciate stuff like this and the St. Vincent where they just aren't recycling old designs like Fender etc