Does GUITAR matter? 1 pickup in 2 different guitars COMPARISON video!

Did I just prove myself wrong?
Not really! Hold your hats!
Actually, I think I can safely say that aside from the amp (or profile in Kempers case ) which is without a doubht the biggest contributor to tone (does anybody even argue against that?! ), I still stand by the fact that PICKUP is the next biggest contributor to the tone, after amp. Changing a pickup can change the tone audibly, without having to rely on spectrum analyzers. But what about two completely different gutiars? How much difference will there be?

The guitars have almost completely different specs:

GUITAR A
Maple neck
Basswood body
Floyd Rose bridge

GUITAR B
Roasted maple neck with rosewood fretboard
Alder body
Gotoh Hardtail

I think you may find it interesting, following fellow forum participants
@SonicExporer @Monkey_Man @schreckmusic @ashtweth

Here's a video that shows the same difference; however, of course, this is a Floyd Rose vs TUNE-O-MATIC and not Gotoh Hardtail; but still pretty similar.
The Floyd Rose comes out as a bit duller, really.

Conclusion:

Does wood matter? This test doesn't specifically confirm that! It may do, it may not. To know that, you really have to keep the same hardware, and just swap out neck and body. I dont really have money for a experiment like that, but I would love to do it. I will never stand by a claim I have done, if I can prove myself wrong. I have done that several times and will continue. The more I know for sure, the better!

Does bridge matter? Very likely yes! I have experience with changing bridges on guitars, which has made an audiable difference. So I'm not going to argue against that.

This is what science and empirical evidence is all about; indipendent madmen (for example me and Johan Segeborn) doing experiments, confirming the same results, and showcasing to the world, in audio and video.

I would love to "prove myself wrong" on the tonewood issue too, but I dont think it will make so much difference people say.

Can anybody spot guitar A or B in the clips?

Sorry for the inconsistent playing on the DI tracks! I monitored with amped sound, so I didn't hear so much I played a little different in some places... But it's not too bad I guess. I should have checked this before uploading but I'm so goddamn hyper

Quote from schreckmusic

Yes, like I said in the previous thread about using 3 different bridges and even on the last bridge I changed out the studs. @Cederick we share the same crazy interest in experiments and learning how everything shapes the overall tone.

I wish I had access to @sinmix s gear to experiment with all the heads,cabs and mics.

Absolutely, I love experiemnting with this stuff.

It really bugs me when people say "why do you care so much? stop this nonsense and play guitar instead"...

I find the tones almost just as interesting as playing and writing, but in a completely different way.

I have said somewhere that I am not interested in amps and gear: that's actually a bit true and false at the same time.

Kemper gives me the opportunity to discover new sounds any time I want for free, or cheap, instead of having to lug around big loud noisy amps, cabs, and stuff.. I find Kemper to be convincing enough in the profiling department that I dont mind the quality of it. It is, like both you and SinMix knows, different from original amp when profiled: even tho some people deny that to death
But does it make it worse? No, just different. Some people even like the differences, saying it fits better into a mix.

Quote from sinmix

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lublin
Stay Metal!

Hmmm, you mean gear stuff is cheap in Poland? Hehe

My girlfriend and I have traveled there 2 times but when visited music stores it was cheaper, but not a lot, than Sweden.
Actually, the only thing I've bought was a pull-push pot which I still haven't used

Quote from Michael_dk

Cool experiment, and I agree with your assessment!

I do believe I heard a certain snappiness in one of the guitars that were less prominent in the other.

I'd love to see a similar comparison between a mahogany neck and a maple neck - but you usually don't get hog necks as bolt-ons, so you'd be changing several other factors as well...

As said in the video I believe the difference to be the bridge mainly; not so sure about the wood.

Well yeah I would of course do that; super simple experiment, but expensive.

Warmoth (my go-to guitar parts manufacturer) makes bodies and necks in just about any wood you want.

If I wont the lottery I would get an assortment of different bodies and necks to try out, but it's not gonna happen soon tho...

I dont think it matters in my case since even my PLEKd necks are buzzing all over the place

Quote from SonicExporer

Bless you @Cederick , for the persistence and willingness to try and seek out the facts.

Here is something I learned when it comes to tonewoods: There is definitely a certain tonal quality that tends to follow a wood type. Some are obvious (like Mahogany in particular) while others can be more subtle. Once you learn to identify the tonal character of the wood you will be able to spot that tone signature across many guitars. But what complicates things is that pieces of the same type of wood, sometimes even from the same tree, can vary tonally from one piece to the next. So it is possible two different types of wood can have tonal qualities more similar to each other even though they are different woods. And then the neck combinations also come into play, as well as pickups. You are indeed, in almost every instance, molding the tone based on the body, neck and pickup choices. But if you don't keep everything else constant during testing then it isn't always easy to figure out what exactly is the cause-and-effect that creates the end result.

If you truly want to understand tonewoods then I suggest starting with just 2 woods. Definitely Mahogany being one, and then something like Alder being the other. Try to keep the rest (neck,pickups, bridge, etc) constant best as possible. Same if you test a neck (although that is much easier because swapping a neck is not a major ordeal). And again for pickups (easy swap). You will eventually start to identify the signatures of the wood tones. It also helps to go into music stores (do research before hand if necessary) and start listening to various guitars - both through and amp and acoustically (I prefer to put my ear on the back of the neck). I am confident if you follow these general guidelines, especially given your persistence and attention to detail, that you will come away realizing that woods do in fact make a noticeable tone coloration.

Sonic

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However this test does not really confirm anyting about tonewood.

The only thing it confirms is that a Floyd Rose sounds darker than the Gotoh hardtail, which can be backed up by the Johan Segeborn video which has the same results (even tho with Floyd vs a tune-o-matic)

Quote from paults

Here's a definitive statement:

Just about every significant aspect of a guitar's construction has some impact on the sound of the guitar.

Yes, that is absolutely true.

Wood might apply to this as well. But I'm sure the actual, real life effects, are minimal. A pickup change will most probably make a more difference than a neck swap. amp and pickup is higher up in the "tone hierarchy"

Yeah, they CAN be, but the test itself doesn't lean to show thats the case.

In this case I trust more it's more the bridge because a similar result is showcased by Johan Segeborn in his video.

I dont think anything in my video points to that its the wood.

The maple neck/fretboard should make it brighter, right? It doesn't... So we can at least count the neck out.
Basswood vs alder? Maybe that.
But the bridge at least has another video confirming a similar result, so thats why I go with the bridge being the main difference in this experiemtn.

Well, it's a maple/maple neck, and then it's a roasted maple/rosewood neck... if the roasting process would make a difference, that is.

Not even Warmoth states anything about tone difference on their site.

So... haha