Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodger Knox
The neck has very little effect on tone in an acoustic guitar, the neck resonant frequencies don't couple with the soundboard very effectivly, so there isn't much contribution.
There will be people that hear the difference, whether it's really there or not.
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It might not "couple with the soundboard" effectively but it might play a role in dampening or absorbing string energy and affecting sustain and or cancelling or augmenting or being "sympathetic" to some frequencies?
And as far as no one component being able to make a difference. Yeah we hear that all the time when people post questions regarding one topwood versus the next or back and sides material etc. Always the "doesn't matter...build matters more...bracing matters more...."
Well whether that's true or not, when I put together or commission a build I ALWAYS refer to each component's properties and characteristics just as much as I depend on each ingredient in a recipe to play a role in the final dish.
Each and every component affects every other as well as the end product. That's why God GAVE us Cedar (several species), Sitka and Adi, BRW and EIR, Ebony and rosewood for bridges and boards, tapered and scalloped bracing, and TWO different scale lengths and neck joins ...LOL
but seriously....each and every piece of the puzzle is important and even if it's just another piece of a blue sky, without that piece, the others around it wont fit and the whole picture will not be complete.
YOU may not be able to HEAR the changes one seemingly insignificant component (or taste it in the case of a culinary experience) makes but it WILL make a difference. Make several seemingly insignificant recipe changes, none of which you would taste on it's own....and you will change the whole dish into one that is completely different in flavor.
But either way...looks like many people believe a neck does make a big tonal difference, some say no, and others think you couldn't ever possibly know since changing necks on an acoustic is impossible?.
Personally I'm buying into the oily pitch. I don't have any guitars similar enough to compare. I have a bunch of PRSs with several different carves..2 WTs, a WF, a PT and a PR but for example the one with a WF neck is a 22 fret McSoapy Standard with P90s, fixed bridge, and a HEAVY solid one piece SALB of hog for a body where one WT necked PRS I have is maple, 24frets, on an hb guitar with trem and the other WT necked PRS is a singlecut.
Apples to oranges with all of mine.
I have a pair of Halcyon acoustics but both have the same neck carves/profiles, widths and materials and their bodies differ wildly.
So yeah...let's assume that we ALL already know that there are many things that might have a more profound effect on tone like the soundboard or bracing. And let's assume that we didn't actually have to physically swap necks on a guitar to figure-out whether or not the neck of a guitar is an important factor in the quest for tone.
And...WOW...thanks for all the replies and thoughts and positions on this subject. Please keep em coming.