The wood and plastic rant a.k.a. wood sounds warmer myth
Aug 11, 2016 11:08:16 GMT -6
chasmanian likes this
Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2016 11:08:16 GMT -6
Actually, it is so frustrating reading these wrong statements over and over.
I am talking solid body guitars and basses.
A lot of guitar folks still hold up the myth, that wood always sounds "warmer" (i.e. "better") than any artificial material.
And this is so wrong. Yes, it is wrong in every way something could be wrong.
Actually, from a single note, blindly you would never be able to say for sure if you hear a "plastic" bass or guitar, or a wooden one. This is the plain truth.
Because: Solid body guitars don't work like that.
Physics doesn't work like that.
And real world does not work like that.
And there is no way, physics could be "wrong" or "incomplete" in this area. No way. Period.
Explanation in short:
"Warmer" is a matter of sound, or better "tone". And meant is what you see in an analyzer. The mixture of frequencies that you hear and identify as a specific sound.
Does this in any way depend on the origin of the material? No.
Does it depend on whether something is artifical or natural? No.
Can wood influence frequencies in a way "plastic" could not? No.
It is all a matter of mass, density and build type. And this is all.
Make a body heavy enough and you would not be able to identify, if it's of iron, plastic or mahagony.
Dampening and reflection from the bass/guitar to the string thru saddle/fret and bridge are the parameters and there are very small differences here in solidbodies. And the dampening is especially changing one thing. AMPLITUDE (volume, sustain). NOT frequency (sound/tone). Wood or plastic is meaningless in this regard.
The energy you put into the string while playing is minimal. The movement of the pick is small, the energy you put on the string is small. The solid body does not "move" a lot. By far, the vast amount of energy is reflected into the string. You feel the body swing a lot? You think so, but you don't feel a lot of movement, actually. Not in a body - heavy - enough to have a good sustain. You might hardly beeing able to measure the movement. With really sensible and precise instruments.
Take a material with same density as a specific wood. Build 2 guitars or basses with a fairly high mass, both with the same carbon neck, one with wood body, one with plastic foam body. Same construction in every other aspect. Saddle, frets, bridge, strings (These are the things that REALLY matter in a solidbody). Only ONE parameter changed. Body material.
There is no physical difference in the swinging of the string and therefore NO difference in "tone"/sound. And of course no difference in what you hear.
Wood or plastic does NOT matter.
People might hear that my bass is "perfect" in some regards. No dead spots, very even amplitudes
Is this "sound/tone"? Frequencies? NO.
I have a 90's Bogart SKB bass, 0% wood. (Ebonol fretboard can not be considered "wood", you might agree...)
It sounds warm and full, with really good sustain. Sounds "plastic"? Not at all.
Because Stefan Hess, the builder and designer of these basses, used a good body shape and a cool artificial foam material with density of good wood. I swear you heard one of his basses before without the slightest idea of "plastic sound".
If you want to change/improve "sound/tone" of a solidbody, look at the hardware first. The mass of the bridge especially (this is where the energy is reflected back into the string, matters MUCH more than body material in almost all cases).
You may read up the theory behind it in EVERY good physics schoolbook. And no, theory does not mean it is not "proven". It is. For a long time. All evidence you might ever need to "know" and not "believe".
Sometimes i want to scream it to esoteric preachers of the wood in solidbodies: "Read a f*cking schoolbook about physics, ignorants!"
OK, rant over. :-D
I am talking solid body guitars and basses.
A lot of guitar folks still hold up the myth, that wood always sounds "warmer" (i.e. "better") than any artificial material.
And this is so wrong. Yes, it is wrong in every way something could be wrong.
Actually, from a single note, blindly you would never be able to say for sure if you hear a "plastic" bass or guitar, or a wooden one. This is the plain truth.
Because: Solid body guitars don't work like that.
Physics doesn't work like that.
And real world does not work like that.
And there is no way, physics could be "wrong" or "incomplete" in this area. No way. Period.
Explanation in short:
"Warmer" is a matter of sound, or better "tone". And meant is what you see in an analyzer. The mixture of frequencies that you hear and identify as a specific sound.
Does this in any way depend on the origin of the material? No.
Does it depend on whether something is artifical or natural? No.
Can wood influence frequencies in a way "plastic" could not? No.
It is all a matter of mass, density and build type. And this is all.
Make a body heavy enough and you would not be able to identify, if it's of iron, plastic or mahagony.
Dampening and reflection from the bass/guitar to the string thru saddle/fret and bridge are the parameters and there are very small differences here in solidbodies. And the dampening is especially changing one thing. AMPLITUDE (volume, sustain). NOT frequency (sound/tone). Wood or plastic is meaningless in this regard.
The energy you put into the string while playing is minimal. The movement of the pick is small, the energy you put on the string is small. The solid body does not "move" a lot. By far, the vast amount of energy is reflected into the string. You feel the body swing a lot? You think so, but you don't feel a lot of movement, actually. Not in a body - heavy - enough to have a good sustain. You might hardly beeing able to measure the movement. With really sensible and precise instruments.
Take a material with same density as a specific wood. Build 2 guitars or basses with a fairly high mass, both with the same carbon neck, one with wood body, one with plastic foam body. Same construction in every other aspect. Saddle, frets, bridge, strings (These are the things that REALLY matter in a solidbody). Only ONE parameter changed. Body material.
There is no physical difference in the swinging of the string and therefore NO difference in "tone"/sound. And of course no difference in what you hear.
Wood or plastic does NOT matter.
People might hear that my bass is "perfect" in some regards. No dead spots, very even amplitudes
Is this "sound/tone"? Frequencies? NO.
I have a 90's Bogart SKB bass, 0% wood. (Ebonol fretboard can not be considered "wood", you might agree...)
It sounds warm and full, with really good sustain. Sounds "plastic"? Not at all.
Because Stefan Hess, the builder and designer of these basses, used a good body shape and a cool artificial foam material with density of good wood. I swear you heard one of his basses before without the slightest idea of "plastic sound".
If you want to change/improve "sound/tone" of a solidbody, look at the hardware first. The mass of the bridge especially (this is where the energy is reflected back into the string, matters MUCH more than body material in almost all cases).
You may read up the theory behind it in EVERY good physics schoolbook. And no, theory does not mean it is not "proven". It is. For a long time. All evidence you might ever need to "know" and not "believe".
Sometimes i want to scream it to esoteric preachers of the wood in solidbodies: "Read a f*cking schoolbook about physics, ignorants!"
OK, rant over. :-D
