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Posted by: Matt23 Dec 20 2008, 09:08 PM

If you are playing an electric guitar then the pickups are picking up the vibrations of the strings. Does the wood of the guitar then make any difference to the sound of an amplified electric guitar. I have always thought the wood of the guitar was important but I can't actually think why it should make a difference as the pickups are picking up the vibrations and the wood is doing nothing. I wonder if there is any reason why the wood of the body on an electric guitar makes any difference when you are playing the guitar through an amp.

Cheers

Matt

Posted by: sigma7 Dec 20 2008, 09:12 PM

Yes, even with a solid body guitar the type of wood is a factor. The heavier timbers have better sustain.
The different types of timber all have their own particular tone quality.
The type of timber used on the fingerboard will also influence the sound : maple, rosewood or ebony.

Sound preference is very personal so if you like your guitar and the way it sounds then don't worry what other people think.

-yahoo answers

the type of wood allows the amount of string vibration, the magnetic ability, ect. Even though sometimes it might not effect much, there are differences.

Posted by: Marc_Maiden Dec 20 2008, 09:27 PM

the differences in wood is so small...im one of those people who dont believe wood effects sound that much

Posted by: Matich Dec 20 2008, 09:37 PM

From my experince, wood does affect the overall sound of the guitar...mahogany gives it a darker, thicker sound, especially that high quality, heavy mahogany. then alder and basswood are more bright sounding... but i've never really payed any attention to the fretboard wood. i should probably check up on that lol
But as the guy above stated, it really isn't important what wood is it, the only thing that's important is that YOU like the sound of it, and that it fits ur playing style. seriously, my guitar even aint made out of wood (the body anyways) and omg it rocks. heh.

Posted by: Matt23 Dec 20 2008, 10:26 PM

If wood does make a difference to the tone, is there a reason for it?

Posted by: kjutte Dec 20 2008, 10:28 PM

Depends man. In clean sound you hear it quite well.
If you max gain and crank up with effects, don't expect to hear alot.

Posted by: Matich Dec 20 2008, 10:42 PM

Sure...the density of the wood sets how much vibrations u get from the body, defining the sound.
there u go, read away :

http://www.jemsite.com/jem/wood.htm

Posted by: ztevie Dec 21 2008, 12:07 AM

Well, some people say wood don't matter very much in electric guitars. Often it's also said that with active pickups like EMG's wood don't matter at all, that all EMG 81, for example, sound the same no matter what guitar...
I beg to differ...

I had a mahogany Schecter that I put EMG's in, then put those EMG's in a Peavey Vandenberg with Alder body. BIG difference...
The Schecter was more dark, muffled, and the Peavey had plenty of treble and bite. So sure, everything matter for your tone, from strings and bridge to wood used...

Posted by: MickeM Dec 21 2008, 12:08 AM

Different wood has very different characteristics. I have a few planks in my garage both maple, mahogany and santos palisander, only by knocking these planks complete different tonalities are reviealed.

If you want to make an A-B test it's very simple. Try two Fender guitars, same guitars but one with a maple fingerboard and one with a rosewood ditto, the differance is stringing how the maple one is more pitchy and bright while the rosewood is more midsy and cuts out the highs.

And it's often popular to mix woods, like a mahogany body with a maple top. To get the better from two worlds.

So in my experience wood play a huge role to tonality in forms of sustain, thickness in tone, and what frequencies are brought out clearer. You'd not be happy with a plywood guitar. Of course wood matters.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Dec 21 2008, 12:20 AM

The wood is very important because when the string vibrates it transfers the vibrations to the wood. Depending of the features of the specific wood, it's structure, density and other factors, the wood will more/less absorb these vibrations thus changing the way string vibrate. Pickups pick up this altered vibration and this influences the sound. That article is a great way to read some important characteristics of every type of wood, thanks for sharing Matich