does body type really make a difference?

teddyastuffed · #1 05-12-2005, 08:26 PM

hello everyone! i was reading up on guitar parts and so forth (im planning on doing a few things to a cheapo rg170 just so i can have it as a fixed bridge guitar and use my rg570 for everything else ;o). the main thing i was wondering is the tone difference between agathis and lets say basswood. i mean ive read what each sound emphasizes and weight difference, but in all honesty (u guitar elitests r an exception -_-) is the sound really that different? its hard to be able to tell because guitars with ****ty pickups and ****ty setups r usually made with agathis where better made guitars r made with basswood or so forth.

so to the typical guitarist/musician, does body type really make that much of a tone difference? if so, how big of a difference (use analogies if u must -_-)?

Rotti · #2 05-12-2005, 10:47 PM

I guess it depends on your level of playing and your style. To me it makes a big difference. A guitar made from a good tonewood will be more vibrant and alive.

lyconxero · #3 05-12-2005, 10:59 PM

When I first saw this post I thought it was asking about the shape of the guitar but I can see you're actually asking about wood. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to wood. The wood of the guitar does affect the tone to an extent, but it also affects how the guitar looks and how much the guitar weighs. One of the reasons why I believe that cheap guitars are made out of agathis is because, like alder, it's easy (and fairly cheap) to finish. I'm still kind of inexperienced in the wood department, so I'll just give you a few links that can explain it better than myself.

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/option..._bodywoods.cfm

http://www.carvin.com/wood_finish/

I hope that helps

fuze · #4 05-13-2005, 05:08 PM

I think the type of wood makes a huge difference. This is not a "magic ears" difference. The biggest difference I can hear is between Mahogany and Alder. Mahogany is warm and midrangey, bordering on muddy with the wrong pickups. Alder is spanky and bright. Basswood is sonically neutral, and in the middle of the road tone wise - it will let the character of the pickups come through. It might be harder to hear drastic differences between basswood and agathis. But it probably comes down to differences in clarity and note separation.

The quality of the wood makes a difference too. The older S series guitars are a lot lighter, and also sound warmer to me. This is because lower grade mahogany has a higher mineral content, which adds weight and and kills tone...

lyconxero · #5 05-13-2005, 05:36 PM

Fuze, I agree with you about the clarity and note separation thing. I have an RG370DX made of basswood and a Yamaha Pacifica made of agathis and clarity is really the only possible difference between the two....but even then, the difference is a negligible. The only times you can actually tell any sort of difference is when you're comparing the two guitars ability to articulate long-term legato techniques like tapping and such.

**JJEMMER777** · #6 05-13-2005, 05:41 PM

I have a Jem7VSBL and a JEM7VWH...both have the same pups (Evo's) but have different body woods. Basswood vs Alder. I can tell you there is a BIG difference between the way the two sound.

teddyastuffed · #7 05-13-2005, 08:01 PM

thanks for the replies everyone! i guess since i only tried to compare basswood to agathis that i didnt really notice a huge difference and in that sense generalized everything -_-. woops ! ;o well thats great to hear then, maybe ill try a guitar that has maple or mahogany and see the sound difference (i could always just get a new body and essentially start a project

)

Elysian · #8 05-13-2005, 11:37 PM

i love how my Rhoads V sounds versus my neck thru basswood RGT42, but then again the rhoads v has a dimarzio x2n in the bridge, is also neck thru, and is string thru body tune-o-matic... i'm thinking of going hard tail on the RGT42, with a piece of alder to fill the trem cavity(and possibly more)