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Well I'll add this opinion then:
I don't think the primary undesirable trait of working with pine has much of anything to do with tone. I am kind of picky about my finished work, and while knots can be plenty cool, bleeding seeping goo and discoloration from sap isn't something I appreciate happening for the following ten years. That is the primary reason ?I would think twice about using common pine.
As far as tone goes, I'll expand on what Fomhrach said.
About 90% of tome and timbre comes from the playing technique and where applicable, pickups, amp etc. About 8% might be the use of beer to even out the intonation. That leaves (a perhaps optimistic in some cases) 2% for tone wood. A truly great player might bring a listener to tears with a plywood Slivertone, while I make them get up and leave playing a $10K custom made piece of art.
Never forget it. Now get back to practicin'
Shoot! I knew I was doing something wrong... I have been doing "twang - twang" on step 3 and using more than one string for step 2. :-P
I have come to find out that the guitars I have been making lately are not everyone's cup of tea. But you know what, that's fine. I think it's like all the other stuff I make... I make it for me - what I like and think is cool in hopes someone will agree and want it for them self.
I would say the early guitar makers did the same thing, though I am not really sure. I'd like to think they did, but then things just got out of hand and they started Marketing their product (good for them, but bad for the knowing public who know the differences).
Btw, good to know about the yellow pine. I have seen vintage Silver Tones that were made out of plywood, but then again these aren't nearly as favored in the realm of vintage (high dollar) guitars.
I have been dying to make some semi- hollow body guitars. The one factor for not doing it has been time... the other has been indecisiveness on whether to use "good" wood or pine. Sounds like my mind is finally made up (initially anyways).
I am not building one of these (mainly because I don't have a joiner/planer and I think it will be easier to do out of a 1½ inch thick slab), but other than that, you get the jist of what I am thinking.
Step 1, place stick in box.
Step 2, stretch string over top.
Step 3, twang.
Isn't that all you need to do?
One thing is for sure. After building a few of these things now I don't know how they can sell any guitar for less than five thousand dollars.
;)
Sorry to go so far off topic folks. I'll stop there.
Cool guitars and good guitar setup is just something I am passionate about.
And....... (see whatcha done?)
I can tell you that though my Affinity Tele has a great neck, many things ARE different. It has a narrower neck at the nut than the Tele standard. The frets are med, not jumbo as a standard. The body is noticeably thinner than a standard. The pickup selector switch is DEFINITELY not the same one used in a standard. The jack is not the same. Pickups, different. (But they are all over the place on that, and for many, they are changed like flavors anyway.
Nut, weak toy quality fail.
You can make it work, but the standard Tele nut is wider and has different string spacing. etc, etc.
Does all of it matter? Nope. Is the Affinity a great guitar? yep. Is fried chicken better for lunch than great sushi? Depends on what I am in the mood for today. I can have fine sushi cheap if I catch some good fish. What's my point?
Nothing, its an endless and silly topic. But trust me, I know the details pretty well. I have setup probably 30+ and owned several of both models myself.
Well....
Yeah we can do it ourselves on the cheap, but I was talking market value to either sell or for those who cant/wont. I could do my re-roof on my house myself too, doesn't mean market value is the same as material cost. Apples to tomatoes.
And yes. Some of the most overvalued Teles of all time are the original vintage with bodies made of ......huh?
Southern yellow pine. Yep, ol' Leo knew his tonewoods. LOL!
Most over rated factor of all time on a solid body electric IMO. Body wood type. Some of it sure is purty though.........
Don't get me started. LOL.
People forget that the magic is in the fingers not in the guitar.
Having an expensive guitar is less likely to improve your finger skills than having a guitar built to..
Your finger reach scale length,
Your finger size string spacing,
Your right hand style of picking/plucking/strum string spacing and height.
Sure the guitar might be made in the 50s from fine wood or last week with high tech equipment but can your fat fingers pick out a string cleanly or your long skinny fingers get mushed up with a scale length that's a bit too short.
If you think your acuracy/speed might increase if the strings have a wider distance at the nut, isn't it better to play that guitar than one that John Lennon had in the photoshoot fom Mayfair when his hand was wrapped around a big hunk of wood?
Thanks. :)
Started by Justin Stanchfield. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 20. 9 Replies 2 Likes
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