Guitars and Wine

[MLipton]

originally posted by David Erickson:

originally posted by Joel Stewart:
and there are brilliant guitars made of crappy wood

There are brilliant electric guitars made of crappy wood; I would argue that they would be marginally more brilliant if they were made of better (meaning denser, more resonant) wood. Emphasis on "marginally."

What resonance are you referring to, Mr. Mule? Electric guitars work by electromagnetic induction, translating the vibration of the conductive strings into oscillating electric signals via the pickups. How would the nature of the wood affect that interaction?

Mark Lipton

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

The irregular nature of wood makes for dead spots in the neck, and the denser wood in the body would tend to make the strings sustain longer because it would absorb less vibration from them. The fact that a geetar is electric don't prevent some acoustic properties of the solid body from coming into play, mr. chemical man. I had a Modulus Graphite guitar with a graphite neck that had no dead spots.

 

[MLipton]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
The irregular nature of wood makes for dead spots in the neck, and the denser wood in the body would tend to make the strings sustain longer because it would absorb less vibration from them. The fact that a geetar is electric don't prevent some acoustic properties of the solid body from coming into play, mr. chemical man. I had a Modulus Graphite guitar with a graphite neck that had no dead spots.

Fair enough, O, but that's a reduction in vibration damping, not resonance as I understand the term.

Mark Lipton

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

I guess he means the resonance that any body's matter has, even if it's not hollow? Maybe resonance is not the correct technical term.

 

[Joel Stewart]

originally posted by David Erickson:

originally posted by Joel Stewart:
and there are brilliant guitars made of crappy wood

There are brilliant electric guitars made of crappy wood; I would argue that they would be marginally more brilliant if they were made of better (meaning denser, more resonant) wood. Emphasis on "marginally."

It is true that there are acoustic guitars that are not made of wood that are quite something (Ovations have a fiberglass/resin composite back), but mostly not.

As for Fender, I'm always surprised at the randomness of their quality, given all the automation they use. I've played MIMs (Made In Mexico) that were spectacular, and a Custom Deluxe Telecaster that practically barked, it was such a dog. Not that my experience means anything--someone else would pick up each of those guitars and have a different reaction. But there really are differences that don't seem to have anything to do with the costliness of the materials or the skills of the luthier. (And maybe that's where the wine analogy actually works).

Well posted and well, that was my point. Some folks think electric guitars are less dependent on wood. Fenders don't suck, but each axe (as Eden would prob attest to) is different. Just like D-28's can suck or be great (said by an owner of a good selection of wood.)

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

 

[Ian Fitzsimmons]

Ray Mann's black and white cello woman had better sincerity.