Does a light body = cut bass frequencies and pumped midrange?

I have two really light semi-hollow Tele style guitars. They've always been bright with a fast attack and decay, and twang pretty well but sound brittle in comparison to heavy Les Pauls. Even SG's sound super midrangy, despite the same parts and woods as heavy Les Pauls that sound very full and not as bright and twangy.

I've played a bunch of guitars at the Nashville Guitar Center lately, all levels of price and multiple brands and styles. In general it seems like heavy bodies have augmented bass and treble, and lighter bodies have more midrange. Is this the generally accepted correlation? If anyone can link an article or something where this is explained (maybe one where guitars and their tones are charted on a frequency spectrum) that'd be awesome.

Thanks
-Jim

Nope. Only pickups, bridge saddles, etc (basically everything metal that the string touches) make any difference.

Nope. Only pickups, bridge saddles, etc (basically everything metal that the string touches) make any difference.

Mmmm... well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_eDizMmxD4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Heres proof lol and its just funny to watch

Nope. Only pickups, bridge saddles, etc (basically everything metal that the string touches) make any difference.

If that were true, every guitar made with the same hardware would sound identical.

I think that video is only proof that there's a creepy guy with a video camera, an opinion, and a bad ear. He also doesn't make any damned sense.

A.C.- I think your experience is similar to mine, though I usually find semi-hollow and super light guitars to have a soft attack. At low volumes they feel like they're missing both bass and treble, but when you get to crank them they really tend to roar in a way I love. The bass returns, though the treble is usually not as pronounced as a heavier guitar.

But explain this to me...pickups have magnets right? Thats how they produce the electronic sound that we know as an electric guitar. Am i good so far? Last time i looked wood is not magnetic. Haha no hatin just a different opinion i guess lol

No one's hatin', buddy, but this isn't something I'd put under the category of "opinion." Opinions are "I don't like green" or "I think Gibsons are poopy guitars."

Guitar strings don't resonate by themselves. Part of the energy of their vibration is imparted into the guitar, which has its own resonant qualities. Some of the energy of the wood and hardware vibrating is returned to the strings, creating overtones and altering the way the strings vibrate.

The vibrating string and its overtones is what the magnetic pickup sends to the amp. If the materials of the body and neck didn't affect those overtones, then we wouldn't be making guitars out of wood. It's expensive and more laborious than other materials.

True...of course i think sometimes it depends on the player but i cant personally hear the difference in woods. I personally would think that, based on wat u just said, that because (this is how little i know bout electronics) the magnet will follow the path of least resistance basically wat i mean is they will pickup what vibration is strongest and/or closest (which would be the string). And i would think that the pickups dont HEAR the sound or overtones of the string unless they are microphonic (which most ppl would immediately change for magnet pups) then alll the pup is hearing is the vibration. So i think the wood makes about a 5-10% difference imho

If that were true, every guitar made with the same hardware would sound identical.

I think that video is only proof that there's a creepy guy with a video camera, an opinion, and a bad ear. He also doesn't make any damned sense.



Yup.

The main problem is the next step people feel obliged to take. There may be some patterns, certain weights and types of bodies but you can't bet your life on it. It won't replicate when you NEED it to replicate. I know it seems crude and time consuming, but sometimes you just have to keep substituting parts until everything comes together. Just like you might in order to have that great band come together.

True...of course i think sometimes it depends on the player but i cant personally hear the difference in woods. I personally would think that, based on wat u just said, that because (this is how little i know bout electronics) the magnet will follow the path of least resistance basically wat i mean is they will pickup what vibration is strongest and/or closest (which would be the string). And i would think that the pickups dont HEAR the sound or overtones of the string unless they are microphonic (which most ppl would immediately change for magnet pups) then alll the pup is hearing is the vibration. So i think the wood makes about a 5-10% difference imho


You're still ignoring the fact that the body is changing the way the string vibrates. Everything about the way the string vibrates is recorded by those pickups. The pickups create a magnetic field and record the way the string vibrates in it. It's not picking up the wood directly (microphonics are a totally different topic), it's picking up how the wood modifies the vibration of the string.

But explain this to me...pickups have magnets right?

http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/112/039/Bill.jpg

That "creepy" guy is also a forum member here, ITSGOTQUACK.
He had a stroke which really affected his mental health and he also gave away almost 50 hours worth of free video lessons over at MLP.

Yup scotts the man! This is just me but the dude owns every guitar in da world (almost not an exaggeration) ir has owned them. He makes his living sellin homemade guitar lesson dvds. I think he might know what hes tlkn bout lol just my $.02

Yup scotts the man! This is just me but the dude owns every guitar in da world (almost not an exaggeration) ir has owned them. He makes his living sellin homemade guitar lesson dvds. I think he might know what hes tlkn bout lol just my $.02

I guess love is blind.

Get a mahogany tele with buckers...

Yup scotts the man! This is just me but the dude owns every guitar in da world (almost not an exaggeration) ir has owned them. He makes his living sellin homemade guitar lesson dvds. I think he might know what hes tlkn bout lol just my $.02

If wood didn't matter, Brad Paisley would be recording with this.

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnuwmiQlIN1qgaisxo1_400.jpg

And so would I.

I guess love is blind.

:smile:

But you heard what the man said. I've got over 100 guitars and now you have to believe every word I ever say.

:wink:

To the original question: I've never noticed body weight alone making a huge difference in frequency response given all else is equal.

Get a mahogany tele with buckers...
Got one. Also have have a light swamp ash standard type tele and an alder standard type tele, the last 2 both have the same pickups (Vintage Noiseless).
The alder tele has a 24.75 conversion neck. They all sound different, Not better or worse than any of the others, just different.

Try putting a magnetic pickup on a banjo - should sound just the same as a LP or Tele, right? The only thing that counts is the string and the pickup...PS I have a chambered ash Tele with definitely less sustain than my USA Tele, and a far more mid range sound...

I'm glad this topic came up.
It's been hours since we had a thread on this topic.

Thank you sir may I have another!

I see guitars made out of a lot of unconventional materials. The concrete,aluminum, bamboo, popcicle stick ones sound really good too, but every guitar is going to sound a little different to the discerning or imaginative ear. I personally believe tone is between the bridge saddles and the nut, and a result of the interpretation of that sound by the effects, amps, and PUPS, but that is an opinion and not scientific fact.

Acoustic stringed instruments are definitely affected by build materials and methods, of course IMO.

For the most part, IMO again, is that the neck and body of an electric guitar are vessels for the parts. Aesthetically it depends on the eye of the beholder.

It really depends on the wood type .Alder may or may not resonate better when heavier though my Blacktop Jaguar resonates very well and is for me a nut curdling 9lb.it goes well with the two humbuckers .I also have a Pauwalonia tele that is the lightest and cheepest possible body but rings out like an acoustic .My Fender Japan SP-TNL thinline with a featherlight ash body is warm and sweet and very loud but also rings clear and true on every note ,no dullness even unplugged.so I dunno .Each actual body has its own Mojo .......or possibly not .

I've found very much the same result as Koko described.
My AV52RI has punch over the full range, whereas my GFS paulownia bodied tele with SDs is more polite until its cranked, but still doesn't have the gravitas of the AVRI, or my MIM esquire under the same conditons.

IMHO, it's the nut...

The nut that's following this thread!