Is this something we'll ever see from PRS?

Then I wouldn’t be able to get any either.
Past a certain age we all wouldn’t be able to get any anyway.....well at least not au natural :p.........ok I speak only for myself
 
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Sure it's romantic to wax lyrical about old tone wood but
guitar materials have less importance than the marketing departments try to convince you of.
Back during the old Tone Wood Wars, these videos were made attempting to convince one side or the other.


One of the things I find surprising, pro players who support environmentalism and global warming initiatives choose to get their MIA guitar lumber from fragile rain forest ecosystems rather than Grown In American forests. It would be nice if PRS started marketing heavily with local sustainable lumber. Buyers need to demand it and the whole discussion on tone wood comes down to, even if you 'can hear a difference', can they or you play 'just a little bit better' and make a better wood choice? Two million new guitars are made every year and that is an impact.

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.

Sure it's romantic to wax lyrical about old tone wood but
guitar materials have less importance than the marketing departments try to convince you of.
Back during the old Tone Wood Wars, these videos were made attempting to convince one side or the other.


One of the things I find surprising, pro players who support environmentalism and global warming initiatives choose to get their MIA guitar lumber from fragile rain forest ecosystems rather than Grown In American forests. It would be nice if PRS started marketing heavily with local sustainable lumber. Buyers need to demand it and the whole discussion on tone wood comes down to, even if you 'can hear a difference', can they or you play 'just a little bit better' and make a better wood choice? Two million new guitars are made every year and that is an impact.

What you, and many others who use these as 'examples' of why 'tone wood' is BS on Electric Guitars is the fact that 'every' solid thing has a 'tone' about it - especially if its solid. If you take a cardboard box for example and hit it with a stick, you get a sound, it resonates - maybe not for long - but it still resonates. Different sized and shaped boxes produce different tones. Metal too - hence you have bells of different sizes and each can be tuned to a note.

An acoustic is much more reliant on the shape and depth of the cavity to produce its sound, the woods though do change 'something' in that tone - as has been proven by making guitars exactly the same but of different woods. However, there is Acoustic guitars made of Carbon Fibre, guitars with plastic back and sides - all of which 'function' as a guitar and all the different materials have some impact on the 'tone'. A simple G chord for example still is a G but there is something 'different' in guitars that are all the same shape, size etc but using 'different' materials.

The same can be applied to Electric guitars. The proof is there - especially with Wood Library and/or custom builds that use different woods. Take a 509 as an example, the core build version is as every core build in that its a mahogany capped with maple body and a mahogany with Rosewood neck and compare it to the Swamp Ash and maple neck build. The difference is noticeable despite all the dimensions, all the same hardware and PU's - the only difference being the 'woods'. That 'difference' is a predictable difference based on the understanding of the different woods and their associated characteristics they bring to guitars. The fact its predictable and repeatable time and time again, is proof that the woods have some impact - just like other 'resonant' materials that cause the air to vibrate and therefore produce a 'sound'.

Another proof, as if it was still necessary, is that swapping PU's between different Guitars all sound 'different' even if the Strings, the scale length, the bridge and nut are all the same. If 'woods' had NO impact at all, then EVERY guitar that is built to the same specs, with the same strings, nut, bridge and PU would ALL sound exactly the same. If its 'just the Strings and PU's, even the bridge and nut as that is the points that 'matter' as these are the point of contact for the strings to 'vibrate' between, then EVERY wood Guitar, regardless of the type of woods, its shape, its thickness and density, the neck material - maybe even the fretboard as that isn't in contact with the string before the fret which is wgere the 'end' of the string when fretted - and maybe even the Fret wire too although I would conceded that, because it is the point of contact that may affect its vibration and thus may have some impact.

Point is, all those that say Tone Wood is a 'myth', something to push up guitar sales etc, are wrong! That doesn't mean that Guitars cannot be made out of anything other than wood because other materials have their 'resonance' too - some may be more resonant too - that's why some metals continue to ring long after they are struck - they ring with a 'tone' that can be tuned to a note. That's the way Glockenspeils are crafted by using 'metal' tuned to a note that 'rings' when struck. Their construction is very similar to a Xylophone and the 'wood' bars used in Xylophones are crafted and carved to ring at an 'exact' note. The carve, often on the underside is the method used to tune that bar to the exact note required - as well as the length which also affects the note. Every solid item can have tonal qualities with some materials being much better - if you want it to continue ringing/vibrating/resonating.

Professional musicians, people like Steve Vai who has an incredible ear for music and tone, will also agree that 'tone woods' have an impact on the electric guitar. Just watch the 'Woody' build and why the materials he picked for that was to create a guitar with the tonal qualities associated with those woods. The reason Flo and Evo III continue to be his 'favourites' is because of the tonal qualities from the 'woods' and the fact that the same 'tonal' notes are in the 'neck' as well. He believes that marrying the right neck to the right body is vitally important - he wants 'both' to ring with the same 'note' and believes that is what turns a 'good' guitar into something special. Marrying the 'wrong' neck though can turn a guitar into an 'average' to mediocre guitar as they cancel each other out.

Tonal wood isn't BS but for Artists as well as luthiers to use to 'sculpt' their instrument in a predictable way. Whether its putting Maple on top of Mahogany - something Gibson did and then 'covered' it with Gold because they didn't want competitors to know. It was done for a 'tonal' reason - not for an Aesthetic reason as Gibson tried to hide the Maple cap. There is 'proof' everywhere if those 'ignorant' can be bothered to look for it. PRS have made the same 'guitars' with just mahogany (standards) and one with Maple Caps (Custom) and there is a reason why, despite having the same bridge, nut and PU's, the Standards are 'darker' and the Customs are 'Brighter'. There is a reason that Guitars, despite being built to exactly the same specs, with the same strings, nut, bridge and PU's have a different underlying tonal value because the 'woods' do affect the tone.
 
Another proof, as if it was still necessary, is that swapping PU's between different Guitars all sound 'different' even if the Strings, the scale length, the bridge and nut are all the same. If 'woods' had NO impact at all, then EVERY guitar that is built to the same specs, with the same strings, nut, bridge and PU would ALL sound exactly the same. If its 'just the Strings and PU's, even the bridge and nut as that is the points that 'matter' as these are the point of contact for the strings to 'vibrate' between, then EVERY wood Guitar, regardless of the type of woods, its shape, its thickness and density, the neck material - maybe even the fretboard as that isn't in contact with the string before the fret which is wgere the 'end' of the string when fretted - and maybe even the Fret wire too although I would conceded that, because it is the point of contact that may affect its vibration and thus may have some impact.

In my mind, this is probably the most practical test for this. If the wood makes no difference, the pickups should sound the same from guitar to guitar, but they don't.

And a real world example? Eddie Van Halen's "shark" guitar - the Ibanez Destroyer that he carved up with a chainsaw. After he was done, he said the tone was ruined. Shouldn't be, if the wood doesn't matter. Sure, the shape changed, but that shouldn't matter if the wood doesn't affect the tone.
 
Past a certain age we all wouldn’t be able to get any anyway.....well at least not au natural :p.........ok I speak only for myself
Is this why old guys sometimes get grumpy? Boy, that sure does make it easier to understand!
 
"Just got back from a trip to Stevensville and, well, f@c&in' A!!! Due in...however long it takes to print one a them f@c$er$?"

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Picy no worky on ipad or PC.
 
'the first stainless steel neck'?

nonsense. There is the Gittler.
I have a friend who had one for a while years ago, that I got to play with. It actually sounded pretty good, but was not exactly ergonomic. His had a bare skeleton neck, though later on they added plastic inserts to give them a more conventional feel.
 
The whole process of making that that is amazing. I just can't see it being done at a price point that us mere mortals could stomach.
 
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