This one's for Deeaa - !

[tjcurtin1]

Deeaa, you'll find this interesting! Seems the wood and shape of an electric guitar don't make a difference...!

http://guitarsquid.com/posts/university-students-research-shows-that-exotic-tone-woods-dont-make-a-lick-of-difference-in-the-overall-sound-tone-purists-beware-you-wont-like-what-you-read/12171/?frame=1

[deeaa]

Heh, thanks!

Yeah I pretty much agree, woods and shapes per se don't make much a difference at all if any. Construction like material layers, scale etc. make some difference as do most things directly connected with the strings vibrating...even the type of lacquer used has some effect and I'm inclined to think even that has more effect than what woods exactly are used.

In fact it's surprising to me it's still seen as a big revelation, since there's been guitars made of carbon fibre, aluminum, wood pulp and whatnot for ages already and they sound just as good or bad as any other similarly built guitar.

Still, it does not mean I wouldn't choose good woods for my guitar simply because it makes sense in other ways. Like rock maple makes a good neck because it's stable, not because it sounds great. Even better, make it out of 3-4 pieces and it'll never warp - not because it'd sound better, but the glue seams are stronger than wood and because the grain direction can change and keep it from warping.

Ash, alder, mahogany...all sound just as good as any other material but also are all either very cheap & easy to mill but mechanically OK, readily available and take on finishes well, so I'd use them nevermind if they sound better or not. Pine is too soft and oily, spruce is difficult to cure and bends in thicker slabs, etc. etc.