Anyone A/B'd neck carves for Sound?

[MichaelS]

... with the theory of more wood in the neck resulting in a fuller (sweeter?) sound, has anyone compared Pattern vs. Pattern Thin for differences in sound? probably hard to have access to two specimens with all else equal.

And a Santana is larger than a Pattern right? (haven't ever touched a Pattern yet)

 

[ViperDoc]

This is impossible to do, unfortunately. Unless you alter a neck carve on the same guitar on the same neck and then somehow compare the sound afterwards. I once strung up a classical guitar I was making prior to carving the neck and it sounded like a cannon. Then I carved it and it sounded like sh!t, meaning the rest of the guitar (and therefore the entire guitar) sucked. My hat is off to anyone who endures the rigors of luthiery and makes something as nice as Paul.

That said, the more massive neck will resist dampening, have more sustain, generally fuller tone, and feel bulkier. I prefer Wide Fat and Pattern Vintage necks, though I have Pattern and Pattern Thin on other guitars and I like them as well. The neck wood species will weigh heavily on the tone, and probably more than the carve, but only the tree can say...

 

[Bogner]

Unrealistic and utterly useless to attempt to try. No two things are alike nor will they sound alike.

 

[owickerman]

The guitarist is the major factor when it comes to guitar sound.
Instead of changing the neck, change the guitarist.

 

[MichaelS]

The guitarist is the major factor when it comes to guitar sound.
Instead of changing the neck, change the guitarist.

Add that to Paul's Rules of Tone I guess.

 

[Rider1260]

I have most every neck carve and there is no difference in tone or sustain I can hear, to me its a feel thing ( I like to change it up it helps me play better )

 

[BrianC]

It seems to make sense that MASS = MORE TONE (fatness) with all other things the same.

I LOVE the pattern regular neck and feel for me that playability trumps any sight tonal improvement going to a pattern would bring if I were to order a PS.

 

[garrettb]

A (theoretically) simple way to test would be to get a Fender style guitar and one of those aftermarket necks that's a full 1" deep. Set it up, play it, record it, shave the neck down a bit, repeat.

I'm positive it plays a role, but it's surely just one of dozens of factors.


An interesting nugget from the PRS site:

The Wide Fat neck has the same nut width as the Wide Thin neck, but it has a deeper profile. Because of its strength and longer "heel", the Wide Fat neck produces warm tones with lots of sustain.
​

 

[bodia]

Just a thought, doesn't the Axe FX have an algorithm that will show this? You play both guitars using the algorithm and the Axe FX will display (on your PC) the different tonal spectrum? I know that's over simplified, but I'm sure I read something about this somewhere.

 

[Mark Ray]

In my mind the only way to really do this test is to have 2 guitars built exactly the same way from the same trees, with the blanks being "siamesed" off each other (in other words the 2 bodies cut in half from the same log, the 2 necks, etc). Same with the fingerboards. Then the only difference being the neck carve, would be the closest way you could accomplish this comparo.

 

[shinksma]

I strongly suspect that any difference in the neck would be masked by other differences in the rest of the guitar. the only way I could see some sort of valid comparison would be to use two as-identical-as-possible guitar bodies (ideally using side-by-side cuts of wood from the same tree) and two different profile bolt-on necks.

Steps:

1. Using just one neck, compare the two bodies, swapping back and forth.
2. Adjust one body until it matches the other one, tonally. If large changes are required, the test probably becomes invalid. So the changes have to be very very minor.
3. Do the same with the other neck - just to be sure it sounds identical on both bodies.
4. Now you have a platform for comparing neck differences on two different but essentially identical bodies, and can swap back and forth ad nauseum to level out any remaining deltas.

At this point I suppose you could convert the bolt-on configuration of both guitars to a glued-in set neck, and do a comparison between the two necks that way.

But I'm of the opinion that the different neck carves will make me play the guitar differently, which will be the primary source of a perceived difference in tone or sound.

 

[MichaelS]

A (theoretically) simple way to test would be to get a Fender style guitar and one of those aftermarket necks that's a full 1" deep. Set it up, play it, record it, shave the neck down a bit, repeat.

I'm positive it plays a role, but it's surely just one of dozens of factors.


An interesting nugget from the PRS site:

The Wide Fat neck has the same nut width as the Wide Thin neck, but it has a deeper profile. Because of its strength and longer "heel", the Wide Fat neck produces warm tones with lots of sustain.
​

Yeah it's quotes like this and Paul's neck experiments and changes in the early nineties that prompted this question. The larger heel is a result of this and the move to 22 frets.
I can only compare my Santana with a CE24 and those are really different animals.
But looking at a Custom 24 next I am trying to decide if Pattern or Pattern Thin would swing tone. I'm not a neck shape snob. I play any of them. Different feel, but they all feel good.

 

[Huggy Love]

Well I can't say I've A/B'd those two (pattern vs pattern thin) but I do have some insight. My neck profile experience was much more drastic, and this subject is timely because I recently acquired a "project" guitar that will require some neck reshape work, so I'll share my thoughts.

I had my number one PRS (HB II) neck reshaped at the PTC from a wide fat to a thin, and was very hesitant to do so due to my fear of losing tone, but I had to do it because of nerve issues in my hands and arms. It was the only way I could keep playing comfortably. The whole process took a long time (shipping, millwork, refinishing, etc.), weeks and weeks without my baby, and because it took so long it's not actually an A/B but from my perception it did not affect my tone or volume in any adverse way. If anything it might have made it sound better, I know it feels better, so much that it's my "sitonthecouchpluckalongwiththecommercials" axe.

With that in mind, the difference between pattern and pattern thin, in sound will be so minimal that it won't matter, so take this sage advice....

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT YOU GET A GUITAR THAT YOU CAN'T PUT DOWN AND MAKES YOU SO MUSICALLY OBSESSED THAT YOU CAN'T STOP PLAYING AND BECOME A MUSICAL MONSTER AND YOU TAKE OVER THE WORLD IN UTTER GUITAR DOMINATION.

..........you can make up for the rest with EQ.

 

[László]

If anything it might have made it sound better, I know it feels better, so much that it's my "sitonthecouchpluckalongwiththecommercials" axe.

So we've probably jammed together then huh?

 

[Huggy Love]

So we've probably jammed together then huh?

No, but because I can catch up to just about any jingle in 2-3 bars, I must have been influenced by your composing greatness.

 

[László]

No, but because I can catch up to just about any jingle in 2-3 bars, I must have been influenced by your composing greatness.

Impossible.