Does wood affect the amplified tone of an electric guitar

[Tonart]

Sure does and it’s a simple reason why.
The wood affects how the strings vibrate. The pickups and amp then do the job which they were designed for, to detect and replicate how the strings vibrate, right down to every nuance, mole freckle and wart.

Anything that the strings sit on that is itself movable, be it a slab of plastic or metal, will have this effect. A long thin cantilever like a guitar neck, will just make this effect more pronounced. The only time when strings are not affected is if they’re attached to the immovable ground.

This is also why the unplugged tone of a guitar sounds similar to the amplified tone. They both come from the same basic source - string vibration.

The other way wood comes into play, but probably to a smaller extent, is that it vibrates the pickup itself when the strings are in play. That’s why we can hear knuckle raps out of the amp. It’s happening on a very micro level admittedly but let’s not forget that we’re eventually amplifying these little nuances.

 

[Bluegrif]

If you’ve ever tried to “cure” a guitar’s sound with pickups, and noticed it still has the same fundamental character beneath what those pickups are coloring, you’d never ask that question.

 

[RickP]

The answer the any “does (insert component here) affect the sound of a guitar“ is always the same:

Only if you can hear the difference.

It has as much to do with what a player can/cannot detect as it does anything else. So, if you can hear a difference, it makes a difference to you. If you can’t hear a difference, it doesn’t matter to you. Same answer for wood, fret material, neck carve, etc.

The arguments and crusades start when a person who experiences a difference assumes everyone else experiences what they experience, and vice-versa.

 

[Greywolf]

I would like to think most experienced players have selected guitars by their tone UNplugged at some point . There are some that are really magical, yes even solid bodies. While pickups , electronics and other hardware has a big part to play , I don't think to many would argue that those special ones that do sound great UNplugged can only sound better

 

[shinksma]

There are pine Teles, and acoustics use spruce for the soundboard...?

These, too!

Yeah, good point - I was focused on Solid body guitars. Indeed, spruce is I suppose the top / soundboard for acoustics on the vast majority ever made.

As for a Pine telecaster...I dunno, I would guess it wouldn't be the ideal wood, but as I said, people make guitars out of plywood and lucite...

Now I want to try one, just for kicks.

 

[Mozzi]

Actually, that HB Spruce - as well as Hollow/semi-hollow instruments in general - also prove the effect of wood on tone. They have a different tone to Solid bodies despite the same 'arguments' that are used to argue that woods don't affect it. Its still a string vibrating above a 'pickup' and that signal being sent to an Amplifier etc. Its not using the wood 'directly' to amplify the sound like an acoustic but it still has an impact on the sound.

But like I said, its not as if you as a musician will think about changing the 'body/neck' on a guitar if you don't like the tone - you'll probably not of bought a guitar if it didn't sound decent to begin with. If it doesn't quite do what you want, you'll swap pups and maybe do a few other tweaks and if you don't gel, trade it away.

 

[László]

It occurs to me that the easiest answer to the question is to play several guitars with different woods through the same amp.

If they all sound the same to you...hey, there are audiologists who can help with hearing impairment!

 

[Tonart]

Epiphone and Gibson Custom Les Pauls. Exactly the same design, scale length etc. But a world of difference in tone when played unplugged. Why?

Epiphone Les Paul fitted with Gibson Custom pickups. Gibson Custom Les Paul. Again a world of difference plugged into the same amp.

I am lucky to own the above permutations. Gave me a Newton apple moment and sent me into the Guitar Enlightenment. Nowadays I just levitate anywhere I wanna go. Whole lot of people on the internet still making do with walking.

 

[JasonE]

It occurs to me that the easiest answer to the question is to play several guitars with different woods through the same amp.

If they all sound the same to you...hey, there are audiologists who can help with hearing impairment!

This is actually how I learned this many years ago. I was in the market for a deluxe Telecaster. I went to my favorite shop and was discussing it with one of my favorite sales guys. He was is a monster player and can play about any genera you ask him to. I told him that I was not sure if I wanted a maple or rosewood fretboard on the Tele. I told him that I didn't know if I could actually hear the difference in them. He said "oh, you have a good enough ear, you will hear the difference, let me show you." They had the exact guitar I wanted with both fretboard materials. We pulled them off of the shelf and he dialed up an amp. I could clearly hear the difference in them. They were very different to my ears with both clean and driven tones.

Another bit of a controversy is, do you hear more difference in neck or body woods? For me, the neck woods seem to affect the tone the most.

 

[Julian]

Lots of lingo but at the end of the day the video (if legitimate) really kicks the speculation to the curb.

 

[shinksma]

Lots of lingo but at the end of the day the video (if legitimate) really kicks the speculation to the curb.

Do you mean the video of the "air guitar"?

That isn't an air guitar - it is a concrete and wood/steel beam guitar - the body is just awkwardly placed as a "floor" and surrounding workbenches, and he's playing it as a slide because, well, no frets.

Plus, I can hear a difference in the open strums he makes. So the argument is lost to me at that point anyway.

 

[phillybri]

Directly from the man himself: THE WOOD MATTERS.

 

[alantig]

EVH's shark guitar. Ibanez Destroyer body (like an Explorer) that Eddie cut a chunk out of, and in his words, it ruined the tone.

 

[jxe]

at least we all agree cabinet wood doesn’t matter. i used to play a ric through gallien-krueger cabs made of steel plate, sounded same as my sj-200.

 

[letterk]

I’ve only seen reasonable and semi controlled proof that it doesn’t. So my stance is yes, theoretically it does. But practically it does not compared to everything else in the signal chain. This is for electric guitars.

 

[Julian]

I’ve only seen reasonable and semi controlled proof that it doesn’t. So my stance is yes, theoretically it does. But practically it does not compared to everything else in the signal chain. This is for electric guitars.

Given what I've heard this would be my take as well