Do woods matter as much with electric guitars?

[Humbuster]

Originally Posted by alnico5

only the magnetic field flux.

He said "flux"

Heh, heh.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by alnico5

However, pickups do not "hear" vibrating air molecules, only the magnetic field flux.

Food for thought: were this strictly true, there would never be any problem with acoustic feedback with pickups (the kind that is generated even when you mute the strings). However, it is an imperfect world and every magnetic pickup can be made to feedback, it is just a question of volume. They are feedback resistant, not feedback proof. With most guitars, in moderate gain situations, even with the strings palm muted you hear finger movement on the fretboard.

Just something to chew on as we analyze this.

Bob

[Garthman]

Originally Posted by alnico5

For my final post on this thread I'll just say:

All guitars resonate and have acoustic properties. Listen to unplugged electrics and they will sound different. However, pickups do not "hear" vibrating air molecules, only the magnetic field flux.

The wood may influence the string vibration to a very very small degree. A plucked string on an acoustic sends vibrations through the wood, which then vibrates, air inside and around the guitar vibrates, and we get the sound of that guitar.

Does the vibrating wood create a feedback loop to the string that significantly influences the magnetic flux of an electric guitar? I personally don't think it does.

I've played my guitars on different days and had them sound really good or not so good. I put this down to my frame of mind, which has more import than the wood IMHO.

We all want the wood to matter and perception is everything. Great thread with lots of food for thought!

I hope it's not your last post, Alnico, because you are knowledgeable about the scientific principles involved and you talk common sense and both of those attributes are, alas, often lacking in discussions like this.

I've highlighted the most pertinent of your remarks in the post. I've always considered the contribution of wood to be virtually totally cosmetic in electric guitars (and that applies to a large extent for acoustic guitars too - certainly when it comes to the back and sides of a guitar).

When I first starting playing guitar back in the late 60's wood was never mentioned - I never encountered one single player back then who cared or even knew what wood their guitar was made from - and manufacturers rarely mentioned wood either. It was just not an issue - people bought guitars for how they played, looked and sounded (and, of course, within whatever budget they could afford).

It's just sales hype. That's it. But of course those people who have forked out lots of $$$$$$$$$ for "swamp ash" (LOL) expect and therefore "make" it sound better.

When we have these discussions about wood I get a mental picture of Johnny Headbanger shredding his guitar in front of his bank of Marshall amps and speakers saying "Hey man! Listen to the sound of this swamp ash!"