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My thoughts on Tone Wood – Is it something to think about or a load of rubbish?
Introduction
Now, this is going to cause a lot of discussion and controversy! Let’s talk about tone wood! What are my thoughts on the tone wood debate? Do I think it affects the sound of a guitar? Is it even a thing in general?
There will be a lot to go through in this article. I will go through what people mean when they talk about tone wood, my thoughts on tone wood, and some other things that you might need to think about instead! It isn’t going to be a long article, but it is a discussion that I hear a lot, so I wanted to give my two cents on the subject!
Just to say again, these are my thoughts and opinions on the subject! I am not saying I am wrong or right, but in all the years I have been playing guitar, this is what I have discovered and what I think!
Does it matter?
Does Tone Wood matter? This is the big question that all guitarists have been asking for years! Does the wood that the guitar is made out of affect the sound of the guitar? No. I have always been firmly in this camp and will die on this hill! No, it doesn’t matter! I don’t believe that it affects the tone (that much, but more on that shortly). I also don’t believe that people can hear the difference.
As someone who plays in a band, I always think that the string vibrations get picked up by the pickups, go through the electronics, through my pedals, into my amp and out through the speaker (plus the mic if being recorded or going to front of house). All of these things change the tone, and people still believe that they can hear the wood! If tone wood was that important, all guitars would be made out of the same wood! All companies would want their guitars to sound the best!
More on does it matter!
To sum up how I feel about the tone wood debate, do I think it affects the tone? Yes! It does. However, a big but is that it matters so little, so little! So many things will dominate it in regards to affecting tone before tone wood even matters! If you are going around trying to find the perfect “sounding guitar” because of the wood it is made out of, then in my opinion you are wasting your time. You could be passing over some outstanding guitars just because of what they are made of!
I do want to say that acoustic guitars are slightly different! They rely on the wood to resonate the sound and project it out the sound hole, so it matters more for acoustic guitars. I believe this is a topic for another article!
What you should actually focus on?
So if tone wood doesn’t actually matter, what should you focus on? What does matter? Well, in my opinion, there are a few things. Don’t spend too much time thinking about “what does this guitar sound like?” Spend more time thinking about “how does this guitar play?” or “Does it have the controls I need?”
Buying a guitar by how it sounds can sometimes be a massive mistake! You will be using an unfamiliar amp, pedal, and even play differently. When you get the guitar home and play it through your rig, it will sound different! Which is to be expected! You can dial any guitar in. What you should be doing is focusing on how a guitar plays to start with. How does it feel, how does it play? Do you feel comfortable playing it? Do you feel “at home” playing it? If so, then it is the one for you.
There is more to focus on
The next thing that I would advise you focus on is the controls and features! What does the guitar have that you need? Switches and knobs! Does it do what you require? No point buying a single-coil Les Paul if you are after that Strat sound is there? I recently put out an article going over pointless features (Article here), this explains how people buy things because of features they don’t need. However, it goes the other way as well, buying things that don’t have the features you need!
When I am looking at guitars, I focus on wood for two reasons: looks and weight! I like my guitars light! All my guitars are very light and are made out of very light wood! I prefer this! The other reason is looks! If you want a guitar with a crazy nice type, then the wood type will matter! I normally find that the wood that looks the nicest tends to weigh the most!
Conclusion
Do you agree with me? Or do you think I am completely wrong? Please let me know, it would be interesting to see where you all stand on this debate! This is one of the two biggest debates we guitarists have (the other being Tube amps vs digital amps). Drop us an email or an Instagram message to let me know what you think! What I would really like to know is how many of you have bought a guitar because of its sound over how it plays.
As I said above, it doesn’t matter if you believe in tone wood or not, what does matter is that you buy the guitar you enjoy playing and that plays well for you! Don’t buy a guitar because the CEO told you it is built out of special wood (and has added £3k to the price for the privilege). It is your money, so buy what you want!
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