Jimi, it is not only EJ who can hear different batteries in pedals. You too would hear the difference in a fuzzface between a new alkaline and a cheap carbon battery. They act differently (the batteries) and sound quite different. The good old "he can hear the difference in BATTERIES.." is not because someone has huge ears..its because they really DO make that much of a difference. If you google it you will find out why.
Weights...now I'm gonna argue the other side of what I just said about batteries lol.
If EVH, Billy Gibbons, Angus Young etc etc etc... played a guitar that weighed almost nothing..and then one like a Wylie E. Coyote anvil, to us anyway, I bet we wouldn't really hear a difference. I'm sure they hear and feel the difference and I know we all would if we were playing them but..there are some HEAVY LPs and some light ones (chambered, swiss-cheesed and some that are just lighter pieces of wood). A les Paul still sounds like a Paul. Companies like Gibson (ok bad example in modern times) and PRS don't use some dry and some wet pieces of wood to build guitars. They should all have the same moisture content no?
A lighter guitar should usually resonate more and sound and act more lively. Try a trad LP and then pick up a fully hollow ES and you will hear and feel the difference. Another poor example ..apples to oranges but you will definitely experience how much more lively a hb is compared to a solid. Again..apples and oranges but it KIND OF illustrates a difference.
In PRACTICE though, I have some heavy examples and some light examples of one model and the theory doesn't always ring (pun intended) true.
Les Pauls are typically heavier than a strat or tele...for sure than an SG. Les Pauls can be lively and responsive and they SURE don't lack in any sustain (heavier might mean more sustain maybe...if the body doesn't resonate a sympathetic harmonic, it wont cancel (phase) as much "sustain"?? .. again theory vs practice does not ALWAYS = truth).
Part of what makes a LP sound like a LP is it's mass and weight and even a heavy beefy neck probably contributes somewhat? But then again, they have some light weight-relieved LPs that sound GREAT.
MY own personal experience (I been making everything up so far) is pretty lacking truthfully. I've never owned a lot of very light guitars. I have some light PRSs and some real heavy ones but they are vastly different. My lightest is my '94 CE24 but it's alder with a long thin maple neck. My heaviest is my Tremonti SE Custom. Completely different machines that shine in their own way. The SE though SOUNDS as heavy as it IS.
My in between weighted PRS is my Studio and it's a little on the heavy side. Like the Tremonti it is hog and maple. The tremoti though is a sc and thicker (apples and oranges again). I guess for me to really experience the difference in a light vs heavy guitar I would need to have 6 or 7 of one model. Al with the same woods and electronics but with different weights. I know there are players here who own multiples of one model.
It'll be interesting to hear what they have to say.
You'd THINK that a lighter guitar is better. Well... the die-hard gibby fans/players seem to prefer an older heavier non-weight-relieved LP.
I wonder... take a string and mount it to an iron I-Beam. Take another (same gauge and manufacturer and model) string and mount it to a stiff piece of balsa wood. Use a mechanical "plucker" and put it through a DAW or analyser and see which sustains longer, produces more overtones etc...
That wont necessarily tell you which SOUNDS better but it might show that a more resonant "base" causes or creates sympathetic or NON-sympathetic "notes" that might phase cancel...OR...encourage "musicality"?
IDK...interesting subject that we see brought-up very often (my new xxx guitar weighs only 5.8lbs!!! WOOHOO!!!) but not one that I know a lot of mechanics or actual physics of.
I for one will be checking this thread often.
Thanks for bringing it up.
Hmmmmm
