He did a great job demonstrating Tone Air at the end of the video. Clearly american made air, probably made with oxygen from the 2020's, maybe late 2019, definetly not 1930's, the smog really clouds the high end. I'd like if you could A/B MIM/MIJ/MIA tone air, for reference.

I’ve always bought my guitars based on 3 factors: does it feel good in my hands, does it sound good to my ears, and finally does the look grab my attention to make me want to pick it up. That’s all there is to it.

This made me feel so great about having a $120 squier. All I need are great electronics which are already on their way, and a setup.

Saw that video a few days ago and thought it was awesome! I think the saying "you can't use reason to argue people out of a position they didn't use reason to get in to" applies very well here.

I'm a pro audio engineer & producer that's been paying my pricey NYC bills w/my craft for over 20yrs, so nobody is going to tell me I have an issue w/my ear. He gets all the tones in his examples to match very closely to the Anderson. It's not perfect, but all the major characteristics are there. If you didn't already know b4 the video; it's about the pickups, hardware, & build type. "Tone wood" is a bullshit marketing ploy & nothing more.

Wow, surprising how all the ELECTRIC and ELECTRONIC components make up for all the sound of an ELECTRIC guitar

As a professional scientific researcher, I think that Jim did a great job. Anyone can poke holes in his methods and design, but look at what he achieved. Jim’s video strongly affected my recent guitar purchase of a PRS. Jim has achieved something great.

When it occurred to me that there are great sounding guitars made from plastic, Masonite, which is basically cardboard, and sawdust held together by glue, I realized the notion of tonewoods for electric guitars was nonsense.

He won the internet with this video. We can all go home now. Unfortunately the “muh tonewud” true believers will mostly double down.

I cant believe it took till 2022 for this magnificent experiment to be done this well. I watched it this morning and then got recommended this. Great breakdown of a great video.

After years and years of flipping gear and spending thousands and thousands of dollars, my tone test is: would you hear a difference in a noisy bar with loud people and clanging beer bottles? If not, it's probably negligible in the big picture.

I was convinced that tonewood should make a difference because after all, that's what 90% of the guitar is made of. Upon seeing this, it really changed my perspective. Not that I've ever purchased a ridiculously expensive guitar because of the allegedly "high quality tonewood" used, but I sure as hell won't be doing that now. Thanks, Dylan!

This was never in doubt for me...it’s the basic physics of how electric guitar makes amplified sound, ie a moving conductor (vibrating string) in a magnetic field (pickup magnets) generates current in a coil (pickup windings)...the current generated is the musical signal...it’s fantastic to finally see someone demonstrate this...proof you can mod a partscaster or Squier to sound exactly as good as your favourite Custom Shop Fender if you get the same pickups and wiring harness and setup the pickups heights exactly the same...same strings gauge (because the conductor and its position in the magnetic field of the pickups matters to the current/signal generated). Again, the physics of the system also suggest that the type and presence or absence of the body & neck tone woods will contribute to more or less sustain of the string vibration, and therefore note longevity, as distinct from tone...🧨🧨🧨

Um, the Honda engines of that year used a lesser quality metal, leading to an uneven balance and therefore completely changes the tone vibrating through the bench. Plus everyone knows benches made in 1990 use a cheaper quality wood. I make sure all the benches I use are pre CBS.

Leo Fender used similar "air guitars" to voice his pups. Electric guitars rely on electric signals, that's about it. Control the signal, control the sound. This is good to know. It means you don't have to destroy a rainforest, or pay a premium for something that doesn't really matter. Good hardware + Good Electronics = Good Guitar. (bolt them on whatever you want)

I always get overwhelmed when looking for a new guitar, but this has massively changed how i look at it. It’s so much simpler than so many people make it out to be.

I watched Jim's video and commented on it as well. My background is electrical engineering and I have said this forever. This is why I buy less expensive guitars, set them up myself, and replace the pickups with good ones. One of my favourite guitars is my Squire Afinity Tele that I put Fender Tex Mex Tele pickups in through my Traynor YGL1 amp on the USA mode. This is my default sound and to me nothing beats it.

LOL. This guy went through a lot of extra work (forgetting about pup height and electronics), but I totally applaud his tenacity. Good scientific approach - find the problem, document the problem, fix the problem.

The Air tone depends on the conditions like: polution, humidity, global warming, and oxygen levels.

Hey Dylan I saw Jim's video the other day and it was very eye opening, he could have been a scientist in another life lol. Your video and commentary was a perfect pairing to his video. You've expanded on his points and translated what it all means. Thanks Bro!

Dylan, thanks for highlighting his video. I watched it not long after he uploaded, and I thought it was fantastic. He explained what many of us have been trying to tell people for ages. And at the end he played the ultimate AIR guitar!

Thanks Dylan, this just confirmed a lot of things that I already knew. The pickup height, right pots plus the player!

Dylan. Thank you so much for covering this topic regarding 'tone wood' and all the pieces that go into making the sound that emanates from a guitar. This was a super vid. Please keep doing what you do. Love your channel. Cheers from Canada.

Brilliant! Thank you Dylan! What a great and insightful video! I LOVE it when things get de-mystified like you and Jim do. I always knew that the importance of so--called tone-woods was minimal. But this demonstration is a real eye-opener for many...or so it should be! Kudos guys! 👏

In the Queen set at Live Aid, Brian May broke a string and picked up a Telecaster for a minute. It sounded like the same guitar. - as far as I could tell from watching it on youtube.

Hi Dylan. I've been a professional guitarist for over 30 years or more, and I have a pretty decent collection of guitars. I am firmly "in the camp" that the tonewoods make absolutely no difference to the sound of an electric guitar at all. If you fret a note on a Les Paul's abalone fret marker for example and fret a note on the wood, the tone is no different whatsoever - and the same can be said for all the fancy maple tops etc. The only thing that can affect the tone is the parts that the string actually touches when you just strum across the strings without fretting anything. Everything else is purely cosmetic! Tonewoods play a big part in the sound of acoustic guitars, but none in the sound of an electric.

Thanks for turning us on to this, Dylan. Interesting AND entertaining. After 40 plus years doing setups and repairs, I always tell players that any factor CAN make a difference, but you might not be able to hear it. If it sounds good to you...it's good.

Loved your video and analysis and the way you encouraged us to watch the original video as well which I will now do. This is the proper way to do a reaction video. You added something new and elaborated on it with your own opinions. Subscribed.

Most of my guitars at this point are SX strats that have had all the hardware and electronics upgraded and professional setups and they play great and sound great and stay in tune like a champ.

Great job on this Dylan. His load in and set up time must be a killer when he's gigging that last rig. Unfortunately folks have brought over what they knew to be relevant in the acoustic guitar world to the electric guitar world. Where neck and fretboard wood and of course body wood make huge differences in acoustics it just doesn't play out in solid bodies. Then having most high end builders and custom shop folks perpetuating the myth doesn't help a thing.

I am so grateful for u, Dylan and Jim from this video u are reacting to for opening my eyes to the importance of pickup height. Ive had a 7 string Schecter for years now and i always hated its tone, but love the way it feels, looks, and great construction. Ive been contemplating buying new pickups for it, but decided to try messing around with the pickup height after watching this video and boy did it do the trick. The pickups were so high that the output was distorting even into the cleanest of the clean amp settings (JC40 so arguably the cleanest amp u will find. Lol). I lowered the height quite a bit and now my clean tone on this guitar sounds phenomenal. Now im going to try messing around with pickup height on my PRS SE 24 Custom to see if i can fine tune it more to my liking.

I had already watched the video and I completely agree with you. I'm glad you made this presentation, as it supported what I thought. Excellent work from both. Greetings.

Love this vid, Darryl Braun has a similar comparison where he keeps chopping away at a guitar between sound tests, barely a difference. Add in stories like Satch playing a squire or EVH playing a steinberger with rusty strings, they still sounded like them. Play what you want and can afford, have fun, practice and play!

I damn near spewed my drink all over the room when you said, “He didn’t even tap-test it! I call BS!!” Ha! I laughed so hard. I watched that video of Jim’s last night and thought the same as you. “Oh boy! This is gonna rustle some internet feathers!” He clinched what I have believed for years. Good idea doing a reaction video. Nice one Dylan!

Great video, thanks for shedding light on this subject!

I've watched many of his videos. Dedication to bringing forward just the facts on whatever he is doing is top notch.

This is great! I liked when you said, "ding ding ding!" Where to draw the line at too subtle to matter is probably a personal choice. But in terms of bang for the buck, this makes a strong case for correct setup and good pickups. It's really nice to know that I can make some of the most effective improvements to a guitar's sound with some allen keys and a screwdriver.

This is amazing. Absolutely brilliant. I have been on the “tone wood doesn’t matter” train for years.

Love it! Probably the best reaction video to the best guitar gear video I've ever seen. (Coincidentally, I watched Jim Lill's video just yesterday.) I have a small mastering studio and spend countless hours going over tiny sonic details to get the best sound possible -- often kicking a mix back to fix problems. In 20+ years I think I've asked for a change in guitar tone once. From a gear perspective, most of what guitarists obsess over (me included) almost never make or break a performance. It's great to see such an honest and meticulous test. My humble opinion: tone = player, speaker, pickup, setup, then amp (in that order). Everything else tends to be a wash.

Thnx so much! MassCool reaction vid, between the 2 of you, I think we can finally put the old 'tone wood' thing in the shallow grave it deserves! I've been arguing with people for years and now all I need to do is direct them to this vid. I'm glad I finally found your channel, as almost every vid you've done has been helpful. Thnx again and keep it up!

I bought in to tonewood for a long time. On an acoustic I can still get behind some of the tonewood conversation. But on an electric guitar I look for a guitar with the pickup routes, neck feel and weight I am looking for.

Exactly! People in the cigar box guitar community figured this out pretty quick, and got really creative with builds. I saw one guy shredding a shovel guitar. Literally made out of a shovel. DIY instruments can be a great hobby, and people sell them for hundreds of dollars.

I just watched this video after doing some research for my keyboard warrior battle with some folks on another video of yours about PRS and “tone woods”. I know it’s futile, but still a great video and I loved your reaction. Thanks!

Wow!!! Love this, and thanks to both of you.

The fact he was able to make the scrap wood guitar stay in tune long enough to demo it is amazing in itself.

Acoustically or unelectrified all those other factors do come in to play sound wise. Also anything that effects feel and vibe I would argue effects the sound because it effects how you play and enjoy it which greatly effects tone. But electrified, pickup and pickup height have the biggest changeable factor in tone. If only it was this easy to narrow it down with amps

Love the breakdown! It's all in what you do with what you have and how you tweak it and how you play it! Keep up the good works!

Your summary is so good, it is from the heart as a musician. Nobody listens to music through an oscilloscope!!!!!! I have been saying this for forty years, used the same guitar for almost everything, changed the effects to model a particular feel and sound. But of course I have always understood the electronics! Nerds 0 - Musicians 1 !!!

The guy is as much a pure engineer as he is outstanding musician.

In the past when purchasing guitars from online retailers I buy 3, adjust them (setup and pickup height) and test through same amp etc… Invariably, to me, there is always one that sounds and feels better - then I send 2 back and keep the one I like. Now I know this is subjective but how does one account for the differences in tone and feel? For my part I believe I pick the guitar that gives most immediate response ( usually the most acoustically loud) I believe that “feel” of a guitar is what influences my playing the most and thus, as the mantra goes, “ tone is in the fingers”. I believe body and neck materials influence how acoustically loud a guitar is and so for my part body and neck construction (including the wood) is important to the feel and thus the tone that comes from me.

Amazing! Thanks for having the cajones to do this.

Thank you for bringing this to us. Fantastic experiment.

I love tonewoods because some of them are extra pretty ;) really good reaction to an excellently done video! Please keep hammering away on the point that playing and HAVING FUN are the most important things about holding an instrument. I've been playing guitar, bass, and even occasionally piano (really my first instrument) for decades off and on again as a hobby. I am terrible, my technique is sloppy, and my odds of getting a record dealing are probably continuously declining into previously unknown negative territory. But I like playing music, hell I even just like making noise, and we need to get back to that just being fine.

Once the pickup and pickup height were matched, the biggest difference I could hear was the tight versus loose neck pocket. Even then, it was SUBTLE. I have been a guitar nerd for almost 2 decades, and I can say that this has been one of the most definitive tests I have seen on the tone wood debate. If you aren’t playing clean jazz or a miked up acoustic all the time, where even then it is a fairly subtle difference in tone, it doesn’t really matter at all. I think the best advice to take from this is to have fun and “play” music/guitar.

Excellent! Thank you for sharing. Have a blessed day.

Great video and information. Thanks.

Pickup height is critical. I had Fender Strat with Texas Specials and hated them with the factory set up. But someone suggested lowering them which I did and the results were pretty striking.

It proves that the argument for expensive guitars is how they feel and look rather than the materials they are made of affecting actual tone. A nice guitar makes you want to play it more - but sometimes the "worst" guitar is the right one for the sound you want.

Great points in the video Dylan! My experience bears this out in a different way. I played music at variuos venues for over 35 years. My progression was 68 Princton Reverb to Deluxe Reverb to JCM800 with vintage 4x12 then to ultra chorus and finally the last 5 years I played through a Peavey Rage practice amp with a mic into the pa. Hardly ever used pedals. Mostly just a 68 Tele straight in. We played mostly country and classic rock. People never ever ever once complained about my rig excepting one bar owner who made me hide the amp so customers would not see it. Fair enough it is a show after all. At multiband benefits and various jam sessions a lot of us would talk tone during off stage moments. I found that most musicians liked the good gear for familiarity, comfort, and consistency. Very few people I met playing out were that picky about gear, they just had what worked. NONE of the audience ever complained about my sound. I think they were too busy drinkin and trying to hook up. In a live setting you cannot really hear a whole lot of nuance anyhow. Also a lot of times you don't have as much control over your sound as most people think. You got to make the best of the constantly changing situations; sound man or no sound man, who is the sound man? Your own or a hire. What kinda floor and walls? Outside? How many people? Noisy main supply. How close is what you hear on stage to what the audience hears? On and on and on.... Just get some gear you enjoy and try to have a good time. It is supposed to be fun isn't it? If top shelf gear makes you happy, then get it and have a good time. I could tell a difference in the good stuff from the cheap, but to me it wasn't worth obsessing over. Although that JCM800 was really sweet, just too damn heavy. This and Lill's are must 2 watch videos! James

I know this is a year old. But I love Jim and I love your channel, Dylan. So I am stoked to watch this whole vid!

no measurable difference on electric guitars. But it helps sell a lot of expensive guitars to the guitarded.

He did a great job. And I'll say this... I've wanted to build my own partscaster but was really afraid that no matter what I did, it would sound like shit. Feel is a totally different story obviously but I think I might do it now.

I’m currently saving up for a top of the range bench,this video really helped👍

Thanks Jim and Dylan. That was great! I loved the Air Guitar. Pickups and Pickup height are critical. Even a small change, like 1/4 turn of a pickup height adjusting screw, can make a dramatic difference in tone. Will be going to Jim's Channel to watch the entire video. 👍😎

The guitar isn’t just a “sound generator”. It’s an extension of the player.

I’ve found, the guitar you feel makes you look the best is usually the best sounding. All these ancillary arguments about budget and materials boil down to preference. I agree, the electronic components and setup thereto make the biggest changes. But the gear with the most playtime wins!

All pickups are indeed microphonic to varying degrees. Microphones, speakers and guitar pickups all use the same principle of coil, magnet and transfer of sound to electric current or in the case of the speaker, current to sound. Whether or not you can hear the varying degree of pickup microphonics in tone is the question. It’s definitely there.

This is the most amazing video on what effects the sound a guitar I have ever seen!

I have reduced hearing and tinnitus, and I could still hear a difference for most of the comparisons. But it's such a minor difference you NEVER would've heard if you weren't listening for it back to back. 90% of tone is in the player and electronics. Maybe 5-10% comes from the construction of the guitar, but it's not something you can hear in a musical setting.

I think you nailed this one. If you need to put the guitar down in a lab and use a robot and strip away every bit of distortion to tell the difference then it really doesn't matter.

I saw this before you did the reaction video and my first reaction was "Dylan needs to see this!'. What a great video!!!

Fascinating. Thanks for the knowledge!

Wood to me mattered in two scenarios: if it's too soft or too ugly. I don't like wood that's easy to imprint when bumped and I like pretty patterns. That's about it. Not even the weight bothers me all that much.

*grabs popcorn*

I wish I could thumbs up this more than once. I watched Jim's video yesterday. I love how methodical he was.

I saw that video. It was incredible! Very informative. That air guitar is crazy.

Awesome. To each their own, but this was just wonderful seeing a big dose of reality introduced to the church of guitar myths. Good job Dylan.

I think I have a theory why their are "tonewood" believers. When I was a kid in the 60's the word "tone" was layman's term for EQ. Today tone is used to describe sustain, attack, technique, distortion everything! Mr. PRS is a tonewood believer but one day he said something that makes sense. If you have a guitar with high moisture, resin, or just basic sponging, it can dampen certain resonant notes. I have had guitars where some notes were not as loud and would not even let a loud amp feedback. Sustain is the thing that some woods are bad at. The EQ is all in the pickup. I.e. tone...

I love that you reacted to this… I got into a tone debate today & had Jim lills video & knowledge in mind but was also thinking back to some of your videos & this video right here is the best of both. 🙏🏻🇺🇸✊🏻

I really appreciate this video, great work to the original video and to your work done on this one, well done.

This is absolutely one of my all time favorites! Good job gents! Thank you for squashing the myths! It’s in the hands, pickups, and electronics no doubt. I’ve owned enough crappy guitars to know!

2 identical Gibson SG's using same mahogany will sound radically different, I've tested this myself.

Saw his and love your reaction vid.. great stuff bro

I saw Jim's video and loved it. Great to see yours as well. It's like a peer reviewed journal article. Love it.

I've watched the original video & come to many of the same conclusions as Dylan did. HOWEVER my opinion is, the strings produced the initial tone & each of the other non-electric parts (hardware and wood) act as dampeners of that original string tone. None are better or worse just depends on what you're looking for (tonality wise). NOW as far as body finishes, choose what ya like (similar to colors).

Amp then pickups then everything else.

Love your videos. Love your analysis. Loved his video too.

I LOVE the videos that he has made. Makes you think about what really matters in a critical and non-biased way.

Moral of the story: don’t concentrate on “tone-wood” so much, but concentrate on doing a proper setup and more importantly, on extracting better tone from your instrument using your fingers (a.k.a. becoming a better player).

Wood is just really the platform to mount all the other components on. I think it needs to be a good quality wood mainly for stability and not necessarily for sound. It should be dried and stabilized so it will maintain its shape. Of course you want to apply a finish to the wood to protect it from the environment. And a good quality wood will take a nice finish and be very pleasing to the eye. I've watched a lot of videos on this subject and the differences in tone especially on electric guitars is very small as not to be a great factor. The components are the main factor.

Thank you Dylan, and thank you Jim Lill for that genius idea and test, on proving rock solid, his points, so all purists, brand names, builders, luthiers, guitar technicians and us, that didn't took the time, effort, or idea, can learn. Take care.

Just goes to show you what a good set up will do for a guy! Love both your comments and his testing! Too cool.

This was fantastic. I’ve heard so much conflicting information. Paul Reed swears wood makes a difference. Clearly investing in pickups is the first priority.

We've known this for a while but, refused to accept it. The tone comes from the size of the headstock.......

this was great. Thanks for putting this together

The attack and technique of the hands inject a huge amount of influence. Love that this player made such in depth videos about tone, he has many others as well. Loved the 2 by 4 and the air guitar that was an eye opener

Wow! That’s great! That’s the worlds first lapless lap guitar. Now all I need to do is carry around two work benches with guitar strings strung between them. The point is, when you make a guitar with an actual neck and body that gets played everything does make a difference; precision construction tolerances, quality solid woods, hardware, pickups, an nuts (haha) all effect everything about a solid body guitar. Not to mention the guitar’s ability to stay in tune when playing. Maybe y’all just proved Paul Reed Smith’s point that it’s not what the wood and other parts add to the guitar sound, it’s what it doesn’t take away from the sound. I don’t like PRS but they do make great guitars.

When it comes to tone, there are many things that can affect it, and many things people think can affect it. The player and the pickups (position on the scale and height} and the amp (speakers play a large roll) are the absolute biggest parts of what a guitar sounds like. If you did it right, you could take a Telecaster body, with the wiring and pickups from a Stratocaster, and they will sound Identical. Or you could take a Strat and modify its scale to be 24.75 and slap in some Burstbuckers and the proper wiring and pickup placement and you wont hear a difference between that Strat and a Les Paul. The key to those is ensuring you have the right pickups and wiring and the pickups are at the same height and position between the two guitars. The wood its self plays no actual roll in the tone, how the neck connects to the body plays no roll in the tone, and if set up right even the bridge its self won't play a roll in the tone, the nut material wont play a roll.. I should point out that a badly cut nut will affect things as that will effect tuning stability and even intonation, and if the tuners slip then that will affect things as well, as your guitar is constantly going out of tune lol.. The video Dylan just watched, is just one of many videos that disprove the concept of tone wood, there are some metal channels that have done it with metal music, there are some more classic rock type that have done it, and then their is the video Dylan just reacted to. The concept of tone wood does one real thing though, it sells guitars for higher prices then they would otherwise sell for. People think the reason why one guitar sounds better than the other, is the wood that guitar is made out of, and thus the sellers and manufactures can get away with adding a premium onto the price for the wood choices. Its the same thing as cheap yellow paint, when it was first used on guitars it was a cost saving measure, and now it is sold as T.V. Yellow or T.V. White.. The same goes for Sea foam green, it was a cost saving thing and now people have been sold on the idea that these colors are premium when in reality they are just cheap paints lol. Put simply, if you can convince the buyer that some cheap part of your product makes the product so much better than others, you can charge way more for that cheap part. If a business has a choice between adding a 2 dollar part and charging 100 dollars extra for it, or adding it and charging 2 dollars extra for it, they will go with the 100 dollar up charge every time, and if they have to manipulate or lie to you to get you as the buyer to fall for a 100 dollar upcharge, then they will.. This is why Tone wood is pushed so very hard by big company's and even your local store, because like sex, it sells products.

I was actually impressed with this guy! been trying to do a gut swap and set up on a guitar and was wondering if his info was legit. glad your gonna react to this particular video!

I Really enjoy and appreciate your common sense evaluation this and most things guitar. Thanks Dylan