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Old 12-06-2012, 11:20 AM
upsidedown upsidedown is offline
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Default an old thread resurrected

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Carruth View Post
Let's get this one out of the way right off: on a solid body guitar the neck is the most flexible part; the thing that's most likely to be set into motion by string vibration. As such, it's probably the biggest 'acoustic' influence on the sound (as opposed to the 'electric' stuff, such as the pickups). Ebony, maple and rosewood all have different densities and stiffness, so swapping out one for another as a fingerboard material will probably effect the sound. Ditto for neck materials, such as maple and mahogany.

On an acoustic the neck is quite stiff compared with the top, or even the back (even if it's no stiffer than an electric neck: acoustics tend to have fatter and shorter necks so they're probably stiffer all else equal). For this reason alone you'd expect the neck and fingerboard to have less effect on the tone of an acoustic than it does on a solid body electric. Note I don't say 'no effect', it's just not nearly the big deal it is on a solid body (usually), and tends to get lost in other, more significant, changes.
I'm wondering now about the difference between the stiffness or rigidity or resistance of necks. Whichever word describes it best.

One guitar I own has a lot more give to its neck than what I'd consider "normal." Always felt that it should be a bit louder but never thought the neck's relative stiffness (or lack thereof) might be a contributing factor.

Makes sense, right? If a neck is too soft there will be a lack of tension and generally speaking a decrease in volume.
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