Best video ever! Everybody now knows tone wood doesn't matter. It's the color of the guitar that makes all the difference. Red guitars have a warmer sound than blue guitars. :)
@philgallagher15 жыл бұрын
Don't forget the thickness of the paint and also the polish you use. I heard Gibson were trying to push a polish that they said improved tone! These people are literally snake oil salesmen.
@paulcalmond5 жыл бұрын
Totally agree and I think you may agree that red guitars with nitrocelluose lacquer have even more warmth than red guitars with polyurethane lacquer!
@mateodelcastillo71865 жыл бұрын
Daniel Villasana funny. It’s far more important to have decent pickups than wood
@mikewhitfield29945 жыл бұрын
Mateo Del Castillo I dunno, at my age having wood is a lot more important than any pickup. Guitar pickup anyway. ;)
@joesycamore28995 жыл бұрын
I thought blue was a cold colour till I discovered Mystique
@vivekbooshan99545 жыл бұрын
Number 11: Hair Length
@sickb22005 жыл бұрын
#12: Beer
@DMSProduktions5 жыл бұрын
#13 your sexuality!
@AlexusDelphi5 жыл бұрын
I will say that hair length can effect confidence, so it can have a roundabout way of effecting tone. I'm definitely more confident when I have long hair for some reason.
@brianjones84325 жыл бұрын
#14: Tattoo's
@56davidwright5 жыл бұрын
#15: pant titeness
@kevinnashiscool15 жыл бұрын
Koolaid I thought you had a glass of wine for a classy discussion on tone wood.
@DarrellBraunGuitar5 жыл бұрын
😄 Maybe next time!
@AJbassist5 жыл бұрын
i though the same
@jebreski5 жыл бұрын
That’s exactly what I was thinking, lol
@Supperconductor5 жыл бұрын
Yeah, thought it was going to be about cork sniffing and all.
@Nomadwriter5465 жыл бұрын
Flavor-Aid! The Jonestown cult used grape Flavor-Aid, not Kool Aid!
@RobertBakerGuitar5 жыл бұрын
I'm not ready for this......
@draganm78235 жыл бұрын
Santa, Father Christmas is real; its the spirit, the feeling of Christmas. Lets play nice boys, life doesnt ways have to be a confrontation as there are different levels of understanding humor. Darrell was right, be did start a fight lol.
@_nickoustic_79235 жыл бұрын
Dragan M careful man... you’re stepping into logical territory here and that’s always dangerous lol
@gp85hkg5 жыл бұрын
Hahahah...this fight was started about 5 years ago by Will (".)
@armandofernal29533 жыл бұрын
It has been two years... ready now?
@DarrellBraunGuitar5 жыл бұрын
Pro tip: Don't worry about "budget" woods ruining your tone, or hoping that "hand selected premium wood" will give you magical tone :) Rather, here are 10 or so of my favourite practical ways to shape your guitar tone into what you want! Enjoy!
@tonydrozdjek5 жыл бұрын
Why don't they make speaker cabinets out of tone wood? Thats where the sound commes from. Right?
@bryanbrett60375 жыл бұрын
I agree basically 1000% you are so right I wish everyone had your insight!!
@royalcat105 жыл бұрын
But... "Budget" woods are almost always extremely soft. Basswood, Pine, Agathis, etc. Accidents happen, and usually a drop or two is enough to do some notable damage to them. Woods like Mahogany typically will stand normal wear and tear that is to be expected. It's just a more efficient investment to go for the woods that are typically a bit more expensive, even if you believe there is a minimal tonal difference. Unless you're into the whole relicing look, of course. And this also explains why cabinets aren't typically made of tonewoods. They're more concerned about the longevity of the cabs, since cabs see much more bumps and bangs than a guitar will under normal use. So they just use pretty tough, but common, woods to make them.
@bryanbrett60375 жыл бұрын
@@royalcat10 I should Gove the caviout that I build my own speaker cabinets and analogue amps just for fun.
@bryanbrett60375 жыл бұрын
Sorry for the Spell check dullsnitt!
@geetarguy7775 жыл бұрын
Leave it to Darryl Braun to take the most controversial guitar topic ever and make it a smooth, relaxing yet informative video about it.
@Hickalum4 жыл бұрын
Ramsey Hildebrand ; Spot on . A genuine guy with his feet firmly on the ground. Unlike those 'celebrity' Angels sent from heaven to float above us as we weep at their celestial magnificence.
@henrydiaz720 Жыл бұрын
It wouldn't be controversial if the gullibility level and discernibility of most guitar players weren't sitting in the nose bleed seats.
@philipboug5 жыл бұрын
"A thin strip of rosewood or maple on your neck" Hahahahaha… Brilliant!
@conner14665 жыл бұрын
How dare you sir
@kenmasters0075 жыл бұрын
Glasses Braun should have his own show... Sounds like he knows what he's talking about
@tonepilot5 жыл бұрын
The only reason I care about wood is how nice an exquisitely finished neck or body looks.
@adam38395 жыл бұрын
Pick choices. Size, Shape, Material, Thickness. The pick you use has a greater influence over your 'tone' or 'sound' than many people consider. A variety of Picks is a cheap way to change things up. Also cheaper to collect picks than guitars, amps, pedals, etc...
@DarrellBraunGuitar5 жыл бұрын
Great point! 👍
@eddyguizonde4015 жыл бұрын
i like my thick and large nylon picks, and few of my friends like them. we sound different. coincidence? i think not. i tend to overload the trebles on my amp, and i use nylon picks with a very slanted attack, both combined give me grit but not harshness. when i do pinch harmonics, they really squeal. when i tap, it rings out. when i strum, it sounds perfectly balanced. screw the jazz 3's. i like my picks like i like my sound: big and roomy. one thing i really can't stand are metal picks. they sound harsh, they're slippery and they eat through strings like a fat kid in a candy shop.
@sobrevida1575 жыл бұрын
"Cheaper to collect picks than guitars. . . " Brilliant!
@SaxJockey5 жыл бұрын
If anyone could do this subject justice, it is Darrell with his methodical approach. The comments in this video reminded me to try some thicker picks (because the pick I use was flexing too much when fast picking). I was surprised that a pick of the same material but nearly twice as thick produced a noticeably warmer/rounder tone. The thin pick produced much more highs (or less lows). Although I liked the thin pick, the thicker pick produced an overall nicer balanced sound. Is there a good technical rationale why a thin pick produced more highs (or less lows)? Maybe something for Darrell to evaluate and demonstrate the differences. Update: Thinking about it, the thin pick maybe produces less volume on the lower pitched strings (flex of pick gives way to string force), so the result sounds like more highs (when it fact it may be less lows). Anyway, the thicker pick produces a better balance for me.
@alanyerington15425 жыл бұрын
But, don't let any of that interfere with your desire to own all of the guitars.
@mikewhitfield29945 жыл бұрын
Alan Yerington lol Yup. The most important thing about a guitar is whatever one can point out as being different from all one’s other guitars.
@gillesgenete95985 жыл бұрын
@@mikewhitfield2994 my wife says she didn t see any difference between my guitars : " they all have 6 strings!"
@chrisstrong37485 жыл бұрын
@@gillesgenete9598 get a 7 ;)
@mikewhitfield29945 жыл бұрын
Gilles Genete lol Mine says the same. “Don’t you have enough guitars?” “Honey, I recognize all those words but when you put them together like that it’s just gibberish.” Guitars aren’t like keyboards. Guitars are art, and they have souls. Besides, I only have twelve. Nobody could mistake that for enough, right?
@dontderockmeriz45465 жыл бұрын
Tone is also affected by how full the beer sitting on the amp is.
@billyperry30595 жыл бұрын
I think it's more about how empty the beer is.
@rizqibayumantari67694 жыл бұрын
Every high end amps I know have an active small refrigerator inside them to keep a can of beer. If your amps doesn't have that device, I'm pretty sure your amps must be low budget Amps.
@MARS-GREENH0USE4 жыл бұрын
Im here waiting for info as a lead bass player. Thats where the real test is. Low tones are the true tone. Regular guitars can blend together more as highs can be hard to decipher
@acecarolino1014 жыл бұрын
Im going to fight you for that lip smacking sound, not so much on the tonewood debate
@MrDokek5 жыл бұрын
For number 3, I would have also made this a 2 part. Not only does the way you pick change the tone, but the pick material, shape, and thickness! I'm always surprised at the difference whenever I try a new pick.
@216trixie5 жыл бұрын
I'm surprised he didn't include pics. I am amazed by the tonal variety with different types of picks.!
@RealGengarTV5 жыл бұрын
Two words; tonewood picks. It exists
@ExplicableCashew5 жыл бұрын
Going from a nylon .73 Dunlop pick to a carbon fiber 1.36 Dunlop Jazz III and then back is basically like switching from Fender to Gibson and back. Then again, I have a Fender that sounds darn close to a Les Paul regardless (tele deluxe, raised humbuckers, eq'd into oblivion)
@dantesaliba85335 жыл бұрын
I agree
@pastorkev7775 жыл бұрын
@@RealGengarTV it does and doesn't always follow rules as to what we expect will be brighter, etc.
@RobertHohan5 жыл бұрын
Oh I would love to see the faces of people when they realize they didn't catch the difference between a high-class hollow-body electric and a solid pressboard guitar. That would make for a good "reaction" video!
@willowsparks45765 жыл бұрын
Robert Hohan a hollowbody guitar has more feedback - thats it
@lutti72385 жыл бұрын
First of all, I didn‘t even noticed that it was more than one Guitar 🤣
@maulanaibrahim72863 жыл бұрын
Paul Reed Smith would be one of them
@johnzias2843 жыл бұрын
eliminate all the effects and play them through a Twin Reverb. Then compare.
@MilesTippett5 жыл бұрын
AMEN. My absolute favorite guitar is my '93 Korean Squier. PLYWOOD!
@BlazemanGuitarX5 жыл бұрын
People should pick their woods based on stability, weight, and looks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@wilsonsguitarlounge82445 жыл бұрын
London Mule I fully agree
@croc38625 жыл бұрын
I like darkwood fingerboards because of how they feel
@pastorkev7775 жыл бұрын
Weight is a huge factor for me, if the guitar plays great, resonant well and sound balanced acoustically then it is a blank slate to modify how I want with pickups.
@goddessintriptych70465 жыл бұрын
Yep- good enough reasons to buy certain woods imo
@Leo_ofRedKeep5 жыл бұрын
I do. I just bought a guitar because it has a lovely flamed neck.I also bought a mahogany Ibanez because the figurations on the body fit nicely with those on the rosewood fingerboard. I have passed on good sunburst Squiers because the obvious joints in the body made them look ugly.
@74dartman135 жыл бұрын
That press board has to be made from ground up Honduran mahogany, grown on the south facing side of a lush mountain forest, to sound that good!😂👍😎🎸🎶
@BellTunnel5 жыл бұрын
Yeah, “tone wood” only applies to acoustic instruments. I one thousand percent agree with this video. It’s crazy that people are so ardently devoted to the idea that fretboard material, etc. makes a discernible difference on an electric guitar. I think luthiers and brands like the idea of tone woods because it provides a unique, significant category around which to define quality and price. Well finished frets aren’t nearly as sexy and marketable as AAA flame maple. It’s hard to really sell basswood, but Brazilian rosewood is traded like a precious metal, so it must sound amazing.
@merlingallagher44845 жыл бұрын
You forgot the type of pick. Thicker picks or picks made from different materials sound very different.
@curtwuollet29123 жыл бұрын
Yes, the finest are made by cutting up your credit cards
@bradferguson98404 жыл бұрын
My favourite choice of guitar body is concrete. I call it ‘tonecrete’.
@a.khaosnarine91185 жыл бұрын
Lovely video. I personally believe Amps and Pickups are the real factors of tone.
@insertanynameyouwant53115 жыл бұрын
Picks as well.
@gorgon97865 жыл бұрын
..try fingers...
@foadrightnow57255 жыл бұрын
I totally agree. There are so many other factors that influence tone more significantly than wood. Not to say wood has no influence on tone, but it's certainly not as much as some claim that it does. Good job on illustrating that point so well. And good advice on choosing an instrument that plays well and sounds good, regardless of the brand or price!
@rayross9975 жыл бұрын
Those glasses make you look super smart. I am highly suspicious that the whole "tonewood" idea was started by guitar makers to charge more for their instruments. Thanks Darrell for another excellent video.
@pablosorbara22805 жыл бұрын
I don't think so, it was probably due to the fact that wood is actually pretty important on acoustic instruments, the logical thing to think was that it had to affect the electric guitar's tone as well.
@gregdayley46535 жыл бұрын
Just want to say. I love your new intro. The pick slide makes me smile way more than it should :) Love your videos keep it up Darrell! Thanks for keeping it real!
@DarrellBraunGuitar5 жыл бұрын
Thanks Greg!
@danielkreft5 жыл бұрын
I love the fact the pick is a Dragon's Heart pick.
@billmiller71385 жыл бұрын
Red Gretsch with gold hardware, I don't care about the tone, it looks like it'll sound great!
@DarrellBraunGuitar5 жыл бұрын
It's a real beauty and sounds great :)
@sunburstfinish91075 жыл бұрын
To add to my earlier post, to my knowledge only one robust scientific study of electric guitar tone wood has ever been done. (Although there are few dodgy student papers circulating.) This showed that tone wood has no effect on the timbre of an electric guitar. This has flown under the radar for some years, probably because it was originally published in Portuguese. This was 'Sobre o acoplamento corda-corpo em guitarras elétricas e sua relação com o timbre do instrumento'. (String-body coupling on electric guitars and its relation with the timbre of the instrument.) By Rodrigo Mateus Pereira(1), Albary Laibida Junior and Thiago Corrêa de Freitas, and published in Physicæ 9, 2010, pp. 24 - 29 Abstract. (Translation.) Nine electric guitar bodies were built in the form of the Telecaster model by the author RMP. These were assembled using the same neck and pickup assembly. Once each body was assembled two strings of the electric guitar were mechanically excited and the sound, obtained directly from the instrument, was recorded for later analysis. Also recorded was a musical piece played with each electric guitar. These sounds were analysed via a Fourier transform in order to obtain the component harmonics of the sound, these harmonics are responsible for the timbre of the instrument. The harmonic spectra of each electric guitar were compared to each other and there were no significant differences between them. Thus the variations of timbre of electric guitars, according to the results obtained here, depend on other factors than the wood of the body itself, a fact that arises from the absence of a significant coupling between the string and the body of the instrument. Also proposed is a modelling of the string-body coupling, which shows that only a negligible amount of energy from the vibrating string reaches the body of the instrument and that a smaller amount still returns up the string.
@JeanLoupRSmith5 жыл бұрын
The whole tonewood debate has always baffled me, I can understand it related to acoustic or classical guitars but for electric guitars it's really down to weight and looks more than tone
@XxYngwiexX5 жыл бұрын
I fully agree
@redstrat12345 жыл бұрын
Perpetuating the tonewood myth to a gullible guitar buying public makes guitar manufacturers and hi end luthiers a lot of money - they won't easily give that income stream up by saying the wood doesn't matter. And the big guitar manufacturers have large promotional and advertising budgets to convince you that it does.
@Leo_ofRedKeep5 жыл бұрын
Solid body guitars appeared in the 1950s. The "tonewood" debate did not appear until ignorant fools were given the Internet to expose and share their "thoughts". That's the only fact you need to know about it.
@redstrat12345 жыл бұрын
@@Leo_ofRedKeep Nope - I go back way way back before the internet and there were opinions and arguments about the benefits or negatives regarding types of wood used for guitars up and down the music shops and practice rooms in the UK - maybe where you are located was different.
@Leo_ofRedKeep5 жыл бұрын
Of course, the same ignorants and gullible were talking elsewhere before the Internet but guitar manufacturers, those who really had the means to find out and an interest in real advantages didn't care. They put their money in humbucking pick-ups, in comfortable shapes or in more resistant materials. Leo Fender moved to rosewood fingerboards because he didn't like the look of worn out maple.
@StephenGLynch5 жыл бұрын
31 guitar manufacturers dislike this video.
@KennethACrashwaggonMusic5 жыл бұрын
Well, PRS at least. Most others, not so much.
@KeepTheGates4 жыл бұрын
It's crazy how many manufacturers push tonewood on their customers.
@mk_rexx3 жыл бұрын
@@KeepTheGates While s of luthiers, carpenters, builders, or random people with power tools are making guitars out of anything
@iganpparamarta88133 жыл бұрын
152 now
@kennethchou43843 жыл бұрын
@@KeepTheGates when you're selling something people don't need, you need every reason possible to tell them that they do.
@NickMusselle5 жыл бұрын
I love your honest apraisment of guitars, realy informative. much appreciated. thank you
@mishastone5 жыл бұрын
Very cool channel, straightforward content and no stupid humor, you just got a new subscriber.
@DarrellBraunGuitar5 жыл бұрын
Thanks! Welcome to the channel!
@wombat65 жыл бұрын
the whole "listen to an artist you've never heard of and try to guess their tonewoods" is an argument I've been using for YEARS hahaha
@shkedovb5 жыл бұрын
Quick recap (but watch the whole video): 1. Amp EQ section 2. Amp speaker upgrade 3. Pick angle and location of picking 4. Tone knob on guitar 5. Pickup selector 6. Mic location on amp when recording 7. Guitar effects 8. Pickups type and height, and electronics such as pots 9. Fresh strings 10. The biggest question of them all, watch vid.
@rayschoch58825 жыл бұрын
Love it! Thanks, Darrell. I especially liked that last comparison. I have an '86 Squier Strat, made in Japan, and an '18 Danelectro 59. Both have single coils (different styles, but still, single coils). Do they sound a little different? Yes, if you listen very carefully and have a pretty sophisticated ear. Is the difference enough to matter? Not to me. Tone woods might make a difference with an acoustic (I have a couple Ovations, too, with spruce tops and plastic bodies), but for an electric, I think you're spot-on. It's amp and pickups, strings and picks, technique, etc. As you demonstrated with the cut-up Squier Strat a few videos back. The wood does almost nothing for sustain OR tone. Nice work!
@merchantxix5 жыл бұрын
Tone wood Darrel is my spirit animal
@TheToneLounge5 жыл бұрын
I think a lot of us believe certain myths about guitar because they are perpetuated by our peers and our heroes. I use to be a fervent believer in the whole "tonewood" debate, until I started to swap out pickups, electronics, tubes and speakers from my gear. I quickly realized that it is the sum of all the variables that contribute to your tone. Number one on the list should be the player. If you have bad technique or you are sloppy, no amount of gear will save your tone. Great video as always sir, keep putting these topic videos out, I really enjoy them.
@aevoguitars25765 жыл бұрын
g8 podcast, very true. mick ronson once said.. " the sound is in your fingers, its how you pluck it" in a thick northern english accent. three things i want from a g8 guitar 1.: playability( no fret buzz, nice neck etc) 2: g8 looks,balance, ergonomics etc 3: reliability, solid construction etc pickups and electics can always be changed at a later date!
@oldguysguitarvlog1835 жыл бұрын
Another brilliant "mythbusters" segment! Great stuff. So much good information and for those that are stuck on the "tonewood" argument, and a lot of food for thought. I will say, that I am a "tonewood" believer. Not in the classic sense where I think it completely shapes tone, like some people, but I do believe it is at least part of the equation. Maybe not the majority, but does at least play some part. Especially in the higher end instruments that use real quality cuts of wood. I can say this because I watch a lot of Wildwood Vids where Greg Koch plays seriously high end instruments on the same amp with the same settings month after month. Ultimately, I think Frank Zappa said it best. "Shut up and play yer guitar!" Peace, and to a healthy and happy New Year, Darrell!
@bwgti5 жыл бұрын
To be fair - Greg Koch could make a rubber band wrapped around a potato sound pretty good.
@HBSuccess5 жыл бұрын
@@bwgti And he'll be the first to tell you so !
@DigiPal5 жыл бұрын
I red in forums about the Richlite replacement for ebony about guys saying that their bends are smoother with Richlite, others say the contrary. Go figure...
@bwgti5 жыл бұрын
@@HBSuccess - so true...
@oldguysguitarvlog1835 жыл бұрын
@@bwgti LOL indeed!
@davidkastin42405 жыл бұрын
Outstanding video Darrel. How Dare You Sir. 👍
@marcolalama67295 жыл бұрын
Simply fantastic. Thanks for being straightforward and authentic
@thefloop2813 Жыл бұрын
This was absolutely legendary sir. If you dont have a mic, and dont use recording software or modeling solutions (they do still exist) Then the same applies to where you sit in the room in relation to where your amp is. Sit with the speaker pointing right at you, its going to sound a lot brighter then if you're sitting off to the side of the amp somewhere.
@STAY-GOLD-VINYL5 жыл бұрын
ENOUGH WITH BS TONEWOOD.
@cocoelpsicologo5 жыл бұрын
Scale length is also very important imho
@daddio3075 жыл бұрын
So is spelling!
@butteredbiskit34975 жыл бұрын
absolutely
@Lemon_Productions_TV5 жыл бұрын
daddio307 imho = in my humble opinion
@lolaa22005 жыл бұрын
@@daddio307 so is respect ! Seems like it never came to your mind that youtube is an international space with people from all different languages. And most of us make the effort to use English (your mother language i presume ?) to be able to communicate more broadly with each other. So yes we don't always use English as well a you but we make the effort to use it. Next time you think you are a smart ass because you can point at languages mistakes from someone else please think about in how much other language you could have done better !
@daddio3075 жыл бұрын
@@lolaa2200 My apologies. I meant to be silly but was thoughtless.
@josephc4172 жыл бұрын
Darrell's face when he takes a sip of Kool-Aid! 😆
@bjdenil5 жыл бұрын
My guess before I watch it: 1) Technique 2) Player's Understanding/knowledge of Guitar 3) Rhythm 4)Pickups 5) Feel of the instrument 6) Properly intonated saddle and working tuning pegs (Maybe this should be #1 but at first I thought that would be a given 7) Amp/effects 8) Electronics 9) Proper setup, string Hight and rounding of fret ends 10) Body shape/design
@bjdenil5 жыл бұрын
Ok, I like your answers better... :-)
@tekkau25 жыл бұрын
Reaaaaally useful video for breaking myths ,thank you a lot ,bro
@JonBakerMusic5 жыл бұрын
But... But... That purple heart stripe clearly makes my tone sound more "purple" right?! Right?! 😂😂😂
@Reginaldesq4 жыл бұрын
You poor deluded fool. All us smart guitarists know that the purple acts as a filter and removes the purple tone leaving a mellow orange tone :)
@BinauralBacker5 жыл бұрын
Biggest way to change your tone on fretless bass, move your fingering hand. It's hugely obvious on that instrument. I honestly did not know about that pick angle trick which was really cool! Too bad I can't pick...
@gittarpikk3 жыл бұрын
Holy Cow!...I have been picking for many, many years, did realize that the pick angles, etc made SOME differences, etc, but that simple little pick demo was amazing.!
@WeZte5 жыл бұрын
my guitar has a maple fingerboard and has a sweet, sirup-like tone :)
@fluroflash28035 жыл бұрын
Sorry... You failed to mention the most important part of tone. Colour. I'm all about tone colour
@jakebaldwin81605 жыл бұрын
Fluro Flash I thought you were gonna ask him to play some rory Gallagher
@GuitarQueero15 жыл бұрын
Source: Billy Corgan
@lone-wolf-14 жыл бұрын
Fluro Flash Yeah, have the same opinion. Nobody talks about the tone color, the voicing. That comes from the wooden construction.
@VoloviaUk2 жыл бұрын
Absolutely. On an electric guitar the most subtle, if any, tone modifier is the plank of wood is made off…
@olenfersoi88872 ай бұрын
I agree with all you said, but there are a few more things to consider: 1. In addition to the pots & pickups, the tone capacitor (& resistor) changes tone, by reducing bass & mid-range heard, as well as moving the resonant peak. Pots & caps only sound like treble is increased, but it is an illusion from there being less bass. In fact, passive components virtually never increase anything...only cut it...with tone controls mostly cutting that resonant peak. 2. The amp's equalizer controls are active components, that can increase as well as cut the level of frequency bands. BUT, having just bass/mid/treble controls ignores the most valuable control, which is the ability to boost the 1 or 2 "presence" bands, in between mid & treble (...what we may hear as a mid-range boost). Amp mfrs know this, which is why they add on a huge surcharge to have presence controls on an amp (...even though the component cost of a few caps, resistors & a pot or two is just a few bucks). For that reason, I think the most valuable pedal is an inexpensive 5-band equalizer, with a builtin audio interface to ensure that a clean signal goes to the amp. 3. One other crucial pedal is reverb. Even a little bit...too little to be obvious...improves the richness of overall tone. Spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on pedals, before a hundred bucks on the two I mentioned, is ridiculous. 4. Huge tonal differences are achieved by splitting/tapping humbucker coils, and by having the option to combine humbucker coils &/or entire pickups in either a series or in parallel (or a combination of both)...easily accomplished with push-pull pots &/or the Freeway (10-way) switch. 5. Another valuable mod is to add a simple true balance pot, so you can mix the ratio of bridge to neck output, rather than being stuck with either being fully on or off. 6. Finally, every guitar should have a treble-bleed, unless you never turn down the guitar's volume below "10". I know you don't prefer TB's, but that is ridiculous, since, again, they have no effect at all when the guitar volume is not turned down at all...especially if you install a "no load" volume control.
@Endstation935 жыл бұрын
I agree totally with you that tonewood don't have a drastic effect on tone. But i have the feeling that it has a big influence on the feedback you are getting from your strings while playing. I always can tell you, if i like a guitar or not when it is not plugged in. And that is an important factor which drives my playing style and my creativity. I may be wrong of course. But pure tone, i totally agree, that there are more important factors and that it is impossible to "hear" different wood types as every piece of wood of one woodtype is different so... Btw very nice and informative video. I'd like to see more of those in the future. And ofc merry christmas and a good new year :)
@ianbarnes14065 жыл бұрын
Totally agree. Have played £1000+ guitars that have zero resonance when played acoustically
@mikewhitfield29945 жыл бұрын
Ian Barnes Doesn’t that make sense though? Every combination of wood species, density, and weight has its own unique resonance characteristics which reflect back into the strings, adding some harmonic richness. But that energy is robbed from the strings’ energy, so higher body harmonics (as a function of energy - a 5kg solid body will seem much less energetic than a 2kg hollow body at the same energy) will reduce sustain and string harmonics as a function of weight, material and length. So it seems to me that the higher a guitar’s cost, the less energy should be reflected into the body and back into the strings. In any case, I think Darrell has clearly shown that both wood species and weight have so little effect compared to all other factors as to be negligible. Maybe that’s not the case for the very highest talents, who can coax out that last little bit of tone, but I suspect that those virtuosos who swear by certain woods also play subtly differently when going after that particular nuance. (Or they’re trying to sell a particular guitar.)
@ianbarnes14065 жыл бұрын
@Tobias Harloff interesting comments. I guess because when I practice at home on an electric I do so without playing through an anpr so I'm very aware of the difference in feel of all my guitars, but any difference pretty much disappears as soon as I plug in!!
@mikewhitfield29945 жыл бұрын
Um, no. Two systems are either mechanically connected or they aren’t. If they aren’t, then neither can affect the other. If one can make the other vibrate, then it is in turn vibrated. There is no such concepts as threshold or terminal energy as you are using them. Threshold energy refers only to limits of detection or limits of disturbing the at-rest quantum state, which is incredibly tiny. Terminal energy refers only to the remaining energy at the event of interest. Thus we speak of a bullet’s terminal energy while still recognizing that the target necessarily transfer energy back into the bullet, heating it or even deforming it (if that energy exceeds the bullet’s plastic deformation limit) because no target is perfectly elastic. There is attenuation of course; the internal friction saps the vibrational energy so that what goes back into the strings is always less energy than the original excitation. But that is true of strings alone as well; strings on a massive base will not vibrate forever even in a vacuum. Many guitarists take advantage of this reflection by developing a percussive style.
@tobiasharloff98075 жыл бұрын
@@mikewhitfield2994 Um, of course! Bridge, saddle and frets act as a kind of treshold because they reflect by far the biggest part of the string vibration and in the same way they reflect vibrations from the neck and body. Mabe I use the word treshold in a wrong sence - I am nativ german speaker not english. Bridge, saddle and frets act like a verry hard, dense and massy steel target would act in your example: It would reflect your bullet and not, or only transfer a verry little amount of the energy to something which is beond the steel layer. The idea that the resonance of a guitar, which You feel with your hand and body, the energy, which comes from the strings, travels through the guitar in your body, travels back through the guitar into the strings and effects there something what has not been there bevore is nonsense. Wherefrom comes this energy? Right! It comes from the strings and is absorbed by your body. Below the line you loose energy and the only possible and observable effect is a loss in sustain. This is, by the way, also the only effect which was messurable under sientific terms (Prof. Manfred Zollner, Prof Hellmut Schleicher) Or as Prof. Zollner expressed it: " Again it is verified, that resonance may delight the tactile sense of the guitarist, but beside this only effects a loss in sustain:"
@achimdg63355 жыл бұрын
Now honestly, you have the vibrato of your ST set up floating, the pick ups on the ST are attached to the scratchplate, now doesn't this eliminate a lot of the impact of the "tonewood"? And a second thing, I think swamp ash has such a beautiful woodgrain, it's a sin to have a solid finish on a swamp ash body.
@madcapx Жыл бұрын
1) Tuning Stability. 2) Pickups. 3) Strings. 4) good cables. 5) good amp. 6) Practise.
@BrianBrazilHarmonica3 жыл бұрын
The thickness of the pick changes the tone too, along with all the other things you mentioned. The thickness of the pick changes the pressure of the attack on the strings.
@jeremybeckerman26245 жыл бұрын
Tonewood Darrell needs to calm down a bit. Can I have that guitar used for number 5, by the way?
@polyphony2505 жыл бұрын
That black korina is stunning indeed!
@kirkscobey30315 жыл бұрын
I recently got a Squier contemporary strat HH. Its poplar! CVs pine or alder. I also have an old Hamer in some sort of mahogany. They are all bolt onstage and all sound awesome thru my Vox
@jeanniehicks52405 жыл бұрын
I have a Hamer it’s the best playing guitar I’ve ever.....
@darreneden3 жыл бұрын
That was brilliant Darrell, thank you. I learnt so much about tone 😎🎸
@bldlightpainting3 жыл бұрын
You made some very good points, that while body and neck material and type of construction does have an effect on tone, it's way way way smaller then these many other things that you mentioned, which other things could be added to this video as well. So bottom line, don't be obsessed about what your guitar is made of, but pay attention to your playing and some of these other things that were mentioned.
@joetowers48045 жыл бұрын
Tonewoods? How about tone glues?: I once read on a forum that a guy had bought a goldtop Les Paul ´59 reissue which cost him (I think) around 3000 dlls. When he got it, he was dissatisfied with the toanz, so he had it shipped to a "specialized" luthier shop. They trashed the finish...sorry, "reliced" the finish, drilled a hole in the neck, steamed the neck off the body, sanded off what I bet was less than a millimeter of glue joint and rejoined the neck to the body using hide glue, - you know, just like Granddaddy's Les Pauls were made- which cost over 2000 dlls to get done. When he got it back, he reported that he now was closer to his dream tone than ever before. He claimed that the negligible amount of hide glue made it sound "truly vintage".
@PeterDad605 жыл бұрын
Joe, Hide glue is used in making wooden instruments so they can be steamed apart if they develop a bad crack, and then repaired. Also, violins are made using hide glue so if you every drop it, it shall shatter-come apart, rather than break the hand carved individually made pieces for the top, back, sides, neck. I know as I have built 2 violins and own 3 more and studied violin with a Julliard School of Music Graduate and I can read classical violin music. Anyway that's what I think. -Peter
@joetowers48045 жыл бұрын
@@PeterDad60 I know hide glue has its uses in instrument making - I wasn't disputing that. Are you saying hide glue holds any tonal properties rather than mechanical? What I said is that subjecting a brand new guitar to (what to me at least seems to be) an unnecessary surgery to separate the mortise and tenon holding the neck and body together in order to replace microns of one type of glue for another and claim this makes the tone more "vintage" is hardly anything more than self delusion. By the way, many of my preconceived notions were changed by reading online guitar luthier forums, written by people who have built guitars (which are the instruments I mentioned originally), common sense, and experience. An acoustic violin is very different from an electric guitar...I hope that's a moot point. I also learned music at university and now I'm dabbling in music production. What was the point of your post, I wonder.
@butteredbiskit34975 жыл бұрын
hide glue is more repairable that's all. it does deteriorate faster and it's harder to work with. maybe minute tonal differences to titebond type glues.
@joetowers48045 жыл бұрын
@@butteredbiskit3497 Ah, you think the hide glue was applied at a cost of over $2000 on a brand new guitar to make it easier to repair? Ok. This video is about debunking the importance of tonewoods on ELECTRIC GUITARS. My example was of an ELECTRIC GUITAR. The amount of glue to make the bond durable between the two points of contact must be minimal, otherwise it would be prone to shifting, twisting, etc. I am not going to discuss whether less than a millimeter of a type of glue makes a guitar more or less vintage sounding. That is just ridiculous.
@butteredbiskit34975 жыл бұрын
@@joetowers4804 no its sold as tone thing I know better. personally I would want a set neck guitar hide glued together just so it's easier to get apart that's all.
@rodriguezelfeliz46235 жыл бұрын
Ive found the guitar of my dreams And then it got discontinued
@rzeka5 жыл бұрын
There might be a guitar kit you can buy somewhere online that you can build one out of
@aproctor19684 жыл бұрын
Well done. I agree with your approach. Put the right pickups in an electric guitar made out of iron, plug it into a nice tube amp, and I think most folks would be hard pressed to tell you it wasn't "tone wood." Pickups are detecting the vibration of the string, not the body in which they sit. The case of acoustics is a completely different story.
@marknijenhuis5 жыл бұрын
this channel is BRILLIANT! I looooove to watch all the marketing blabla smashed to pieces en to see what's really affecting tone, playability, etc.
@landonbailey5 жыл бұрын
Good stuff! I still always mic my amp demos. 🇨🇦👍🎸😁
@DarrellBraunGuitar5 жыл бұрын
😁👍 Hope you have a very Merry Christmas my friend!
@SuperJBrowne5 жыл бұрын
I have a MiK ply body Squier strat that sounds almost identical to my US strat.
@Rick-uu5yo5 жыл бұрын
I can't believe you didn't mention the location and proximity of lay lines, star signs (Zodiak), sun spot activity, length of hair, size of personal record collection, stance while playing guitar... I could go on.
@Im_Not_A_Dad5 жыл бұрын
I used to be one of those "always rosewood fretboards!" kinda dudes and after swapping the neck on a guitar for a beautiful rosewood neck I quickly realized that there was almost zero tonal differences. The only difference I did notice was the change in a feel which was almost insubstantial in comparison to a good setup. Basically, from my limited, airheaded experience, there is definitely a difference in sound and mostly feel, but if you aren't happy with your tone it should be one of the last things you consider checking. Double bump on the speaker change if you want a massive tone change.
@DBSG19765 жыл бұрын
I have two questions when buying a guitar: What are the pickups? Is the guitar Daphne Blue or Surf Green? You are right about mastering the EQ on your amp...your advice is always on point, thanks Darrell.
@jaimis53775 жыл бұрын
@@RyanGamesYT i think this person was joking... they could google guitar pickup and get an answer way quicker if that wasn't the case
@matthewwinter57805 жыл бұрын
@@RyanGamesYT he said he wants to what the pickups are before he buys a guitar/Ie alnico or ceramic PAF modern...what have you. He did not ask. What are pickups
@jackallen62615 жыл бұрын
Daphne Blue or Surf Green? No just get both!!, lol. I have Daphne Blue Tele and a Surf Green Jazzmaster, lol
@DBSG19765 жыл бұрын
I own six guitars and by choice have swapped out the pickups on two of them...so my question is, what pickups does the guitar come with and is it worth swapping them out. I wasn't clear with my comment.
@DBSG19765 жыл бұрын
Jack Allen You own two very beautiful guitars! I own 2 Daphne Blue Strats, a Daphne Blue Jackson Soloist, 2 Surf Green Strats, and a Specific Ocean Charvel San Dimas(Sparkly Surf Green). All have Maple Necks, except the Jackson has rosewood.
@zeoalexo5 жыл бұрын
Lol "putting down the Kool aid".
@johnroberts8385 жыл бұрын
Hi Darrell, Brilliant Video, If that does not settle the Tone Wood debate I don't know what wood! I remember in one of your Videos you saying that PUP's are 90% of your Tone👍👍👍 That aside the Comfort of the Neck is so important and a very Presonal thing for each Player. Excellent advice as always 👍👍👍 . I hope you and your Loved ones have a Great Christmas/Holidays and an Awesome New Year, stay safe. Melbourne, Australia ♥️♥️♥️.
@fieldworthyairsoft14365 жыл бұрын
From personal experience, once you plug a guitar in, or especially use any effects; you can literally bolt a neck to a 2x4 (I’ve done it) and it won’t matter. Your skill and technique are the most important things.
@aidanfriedfeld88895 жыл бұрын
You forgot the most important factor, making a good guitar face. Jokes aside I think tonewood makes a different it’s just more subtle than people would like to believe. I usually choose my wood based on weight feel and look more than anything tho. Also strings make a huge difference in tone. Flatwounds vs roundwounds is a crazy difference.
@ChrisRash5 жыл бұрын
Robin Trower and David Gilmour. Great tone and great guitar faces.
@donicsm76845 жыл бұрын
Me: How dare you, Sir! Darell: “Me: How dare you, Sir!” Me: Exactly!
@MetalSlug1424 жыл бұрын
When it comes to electric guitar , only thing that really matters is the amp
@brianmckenzie13185 жыл бұрын
That was excellent!!! THANK YOU! As an intermediate player, going out and buying something expensive exotic wood guitar will not help my playing, as I just need to practice!!! Tonewood is just like associating guitar body shapes to specific genres of music!
@torahwarrior24425 жыл бұрын
You forgot to mention tone paint...a black strat sounds more like david gilmour and a red strat sounds more like mark knopfler....proven scientific fact...tons of data
@jonhattanrai5 жыл бұрын
Tim Watson and a white strat sounds more like Albert Hammond JR... or Ed O'Brien?
@coopertrost38165 жыл бұрын
tonewood snobs and wine sommoliers are cut from the same mold
@Ten80pete Жыл бұрын
Darryl, I trusted you man! I studied for 3 years to master the art of sonic engineering (no, Chris Chan was a Sonicologist, totally different), and even built my own amplifier out of fairy wings, Ent roots, and a magnet made from the core of a supernova, designed the most accurate on-board EQ Certified Perfect Tone Recreation by Ronnie James Dio, Elton John, Pavarotti, and one of the guys who wrote the music for the TMNT Coming Out of Their Shells Tour. I threw my guitar away, and my tone got considerably better. It's just so hard to hear, it's almost like I should have kept my guitar, but... nahhhh, you know what you're talking about, I trust it just takes a few years for the tubes to warm up. Probably shouldn't have built them from Molybdenum.
@silvioschurig7495 жыл бұрын
Totally agree - I think if we are talking tonewood, the speaker cabinet probably matters more than the wood on the guitar, especially because it is right at the end of the signal chain and whatever it produces doesn't run through the whole signal chain ... unless we're talking about recording ...
@samueljett78075 жыл бұрын
*_H O W D A R E Y O U S I R ?_*
@klaymeister5 жыл бұрын
How dare you sir?
@YeeThirty5 жыл бұрын
Before the video even starts. 1. Action 2. Tuners 3. String gauge 4. A good set of saddles 5. A decent tuner. 6. A good properly filed nut 7. A decent amp (nothing too pricey.. a $200 stagerite tube amp is a good place to start and is based off of a fairly well known circuit. Easy to modify. Has spring reverb) 8. Speaker(s) 9. Decent quality instrument cabkes. 10. Decent quality speaker cables. (Poorly made cables can degrade if the limmits are exceeded. This can damage output transformers.)
@DvDick5 жыл бұрын
There are so many variables going into an electric guitar sound that the guitar material inevitably becomes one of those that you can neglect
@ShirouTheHero5 жыл бұрын
Can you hear the different between wood types, yes. Is it a big differencs, no.
@3cardmonty6025 жыл бұрын
There is no tone in electric guitar wood. It's all in the pickups, amp & its settings, & pedals. I've made a guitar out of a 2x4 and with good pickups & a good amp it sounds as good as any other $3500 guitar.
@crazyuncleduke80125 жыл бұрын
Same here only mine was made from a wooden wine box stuffed full of fiberglass insulation to keep it from feeding back.
@DanielTPeace5 жыл бұрын
Darrell "Mr. Guitar" Braun, once again another excellent definitive video setting the perimeters as to what affects the tone of an electric guitar. Tonewood is quite significant for an acoustic, but virtually insignificant for an electric, and you went directly to the amp right off the bat. Bravo!
@neilavolkov8124 жыл бұрын
His voice and smile are therapeutic
@216trixie5 жыл бұрын
Johan Segeborn has some videos showing the differences in woods in electric guitars. There is a difference.
@illyadass5 жыл бұрын
but the point in this video is that the difference is so small it doesnt matter. There is a difference, its undeniable BUT its so small it doesnt matter when compared to the other things on this list
@talon08635 жыл бұрын
Got Kool-aid?
@shawnerie5 жыл бұрын
Everything makes a difference - yes the tonewood does make a difference but you can compensate by these other things. Amps. Amp eq. Pedals. Pickups. I like to have a good tonewood so that there’s less to fix later on
@Bimmer20475 жыл бұрын
I agree it’s all what inspires you to pick up the guitar and play more/better. And if that is the tone wood for you then great!!!! But to talk down to someone trying to learn and be better at what they love because they don’t have the most expensive wood in there guitar. That’s just being a snob and I have no time for those people in my life. Be inspired play more and you’ll sound better!!!
@flamencoprof5 жыл бұрын
WRT to all the knobs and settings making a difference, I nerded out a few months back and came up with the below: - Just with the basic Tele with ungraduated Tone & Vol. reduced to say, 10 different levels, plus the 3-way pickup switch, we have 10 x 10 x 3 = 300 different settings. I just bought a basic Fender amp which has 6 x 12-graduated controls plus a 2-way Fat switch. This gives us another 12^6 x 2 settings, = 5,971,968, which x 300 from the guitar gives 1,791,590,400 possible combinations. Just let that sink in!
@oysteinsoreide43235 жыл бұрын
This is a good one, because it means that if you get one good quality guitar with good quality pickups and tuners and it suits your style of play it will be good for almost anything. It is more important to find the guitar that suits yourself most.
@user-fb2jb3gz1d5 жыл бұрын
Thank you for saying this and based on your vast collection of different woods, you have first hand knowledge on the subject I've been saying this for years but nobody believes me My motto is, if you find a guitar you feel comfortable with, don't worry about the hardware, you can upgrade it, the most important thing thing is to make sure you feel comfortable with the guitar, the upgrades will get you a great tone Then I say, figure out what do you like your amp to have.......fx loop, 2 channels, solo boost, separate eq....things like that Then once you find the amps that have those options, or get to as close you can, then try those amps out with your upgraded guitar, you'll find that sometimes, the most expensive one does not mean it's the best for you, sometimes you plug in and as soon as hit a chord..........its like the skies opened and the sun shines it's ray's right on you, sometimes you have to really really mess around with the eq knobs to find that sky opening sound Then once you got the amp, then experiment with pedals, just cause your buddy has a nice chorus sound, that doesn't assure you that you will get the same sound with that same pedal with your rig It sounds like a long dumb process but any person with years of experience with different guitars, amps and fx will tell you this Don't listen to those peeps who say, "if it ain't expensive, it sucks".....don't be those John Mayer types But if you have gone thru this process and find you feel comfortable with your expensive gear, then that's you but don't say your rig is for everyone or the best for this or that, no it's the best for you In the end, if you can't wow a person with whatever guitar in your hands..........you probably should practice more
@alexwr4 жыл бұрын
Literally everything about the guitar. If people have made resin and lego electric guitars that sounds great, it should be obvious that 'tonewoods' don't matter...
@jacoobyslaps5 жыл бұрын
In the test, I was able to differentiate between the pickups, but the wood, no. It really doesn’t matter. Thank you for this.
@ryankelsey96464 жыл бұрын
I couldn't agree with these more. I used to believe that tone didn't matter, it was just the notes you played, and it was either super clean or super overdriven high-gain sounds. Years of guitar experience and learning have thankfully proven me wrong.
@ryanrobinson23005 жыл бұрын
So happy that you’re close to hitting 300k subscribers, great to see you doing well ❤️🎸
@propyro855 жыл бұрын
I like certain woods and finishes because they look good. In an electric guitar there's so many things that aren't made of wood that have a much larger impact on how the guitar sounds.
@TedSchoenling3 жыл бұрын
I miss this content. I love your builds but I come back for this!
@bwgti5 жыл бұрын
I read I think a quote onlineto the effect of: however you feel about the sound of the type of wood your guitar is constructed of. No one ever take into account the resonant qualities of the bellies pressed against the guitar when being played.