Where Does The Tone Come From In An Electric Guitar - Reaction Video

A Tonewood Video - Reaction video
The Original Video - • Tested: Where Does The...
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Dylan Talks Tone Recieves Commision From Some Of These Links

[@theyoganath3073]

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.

[@mackk123]

The place of origin of the air makes a big difference

[@cjdubuisson]

Lmao!!!

[@JeighNeither]

You left this same comment on the original video.

[@cjdubuisson]

@@JeighNeither We should carry around our own air so our guitar sounds better... Lmao..... I can't help it...lol

[@felphero]

You also need to consider what kind of wood that table was made from

[@railmastercnr]

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.

[@jamierodriguez3554]

Exactly what I do, simple, effective, ftw...lol

[@JohnDoe9764]

Nailed it 100 %

[@JuanDavidBedoyaR]

Amen

[@joejohnson8966]

And it always will be.

[@paulneeds]

The first for me. Everything else can be changed.

[@scottakam]

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.

[@pumpdumpster]

"you can't use reason...", that is extremely well said, thanks for that! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@scottakam]

@@pumpdumpster I got if from Neil deGrasse Tyson. Not sure if he borrowed it from someone else!

[@davidreineke1758]

That works for the “anti-tonewood” argument also.

[@Antman-cy8ch]

@@davidreineke1758 Exactly.

[@the_algorithm]

You cannot reason with the unreasonable, is what I like to say The moment someone challenges you to "change their mind", they just stated you cannot no matter what evidence you present You cannot force someone to change a belief Cognitive dissonance is strong in the force

[@JeighNeither]

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.

[@ThaRealChuckD]

Let me guess. You only play solid bodies.

[@PippPriss]

@@ThaRealChuckD That's the point. We are not comparing acoustics or hollowbodies. Let me guess: you paid way too much on guitars and are now frustrated. :-)

[@akkudakkupl]

@@PippPriss yes he is 😂

[@JeighNeither]

@@ThaRealChuckD Uh, wtf dude, we are talking about electric guitars? And no, I play everything from resonators to classicals, so perhaps you should stop projecting your issues in the comment section?

[@Sankeyite]

Well . 😂😂That didn't take long!

[@GeoffZalot]

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.

[@SirCarcass]

What convinced me was a video I saw where a guy make a strat out of corrugated cardboard, with a strat neck and electronics, and it sounded exactly like a strat.

[@therealdeathyyy]

Dano U2's from the 50s.. incredible guitars. Totally agree.

[@neonlights_12]

I went down a DIY guitar rabbit hole a while back and saw guitars made from resin, Legos, cardboard, sheet metal, stone, concrete, colored pencils, and glass, and they all sound good. No one better or worse than the other thanks to the high end pickups they'd put in the finished product. Only one that stuck out to me as noticeably different was the all glass one, but that had a glass neck and fretboard as well, not just a regular neck stuck on whatever custom body.

[@brendanm6921]

@@neonlights_12 You've clearly been watching a lot of burls art. Love his channel.

[@jessISaRicePrincess]

The only thing that this kind of small details like woods, shape, and finish matters are acoustics and they are very subtle already on acoustics so in electric it dare i say almost if not detectable

[@KarklinPumpkin]

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.

[@NeinFeline]

Same, just now. 3 months later 2022 🤘🧐🤘

[@Jbuginas]

1000 upvotes

[@marpsr]

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

[@davidjairala69]

He's a shill for Big Carbon Fiber

[@DennisAlvarezMusic]

@@davidjairala69 That's really funny! Carbon Fiber acoustics sound great IMHO, although a bit different.

[@bassyey]

It's all about pride at this point, they can't back out lol

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

But why can't epeople who hear a diffnce enjoy music? Like do we have to fight?

[@darricshhh]

We cannot go home because of people like Paul Reed Smith and Nuno Betancourt are still believers. Once they are convinced (and their ilk) the work will be done. Or we just wait for them to quietly pass.

[@davidkyle5552]

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...🧨🧨🧨

[@thejakefromstatefarm6768]

Well said

[@EpictheEpicest]

To be fair, Les Paul built his first electric guitar from a random 2x4 and added body wings later so people would believe that it was a guitar. In the 2015 movie "It Might get Loud," Jack White builds a 1 string guitar from a piece of scrap wood, pickup, and a jack. I knew a guy who built guitars out of shovels and broom handles he found in the garbage. Players have known forever that tonewood is BS, but big companies try pushing their agenda because it's what makes money

[@thejakefromstatefarm6768]

@@EpictheEpicest wood can get crazy expensive! So really it’s a good hustle. You just have to know when you’re being hustled. I know about the log and the whole story of the les pauls origin. I’ve also seen “it mght get loud”. You have to admit though les pauls definitely became a thing of beauty since the log. They’ve had their ups and downs over the years but they’ve always looked great. The key to playing les pauls is looking at every one of them that you can find for sale in your conceivable travel range and buying the ones that have the qualities a good les paul should have.

[@PartyChicken407]

However ‘sustain’ is a complex waveform and not a sine wave, so the harmonics can lose energy at different rates, which means the decay is not linear across all frequencies…. The construction still matters.

[@twopaste]

That's the simplest layer of it mate. Remember resonance? I also agree that tone wood doesent quite matter, but having some kind of sustaining body or cavity is extremely important, and regarding the air guitar example that was actually the tables. Ultimately, for me it's definitely the setup, quality of pickups and electronics, and quality of construction that actually effects tone.

[@roses7541]

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.

[@bluwng]

Learn to look at any device as a system. Look at input , output and what impacts it in between. Use logic stop listening to others. Input is string vibration, output is signal at output jack, the in between is pickups, switch, capacitors and resistors ( tone pots). No wood in that equation.

[@MaxPower-js1sk]

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.

[@UltimateEngineering]

"But PRS said tone wood matters! Bro you are wrong and I'm a PRS Fanboy who is buying over priced exotic wood with strings. " Joking aside. I do believe that the material makes a difference. But this only depends on the (density) mass. The strings give off energy to the body and get some of the energy back. But I think that's irrelevant and only measurable. The mass of the body is much higher than that of the string. In addition, the body is usually in contact with the human body, which also absorbs the vibrational energy. All in one - tone wood doesn't matter. - professional german engineer.

[@watersnortmoment3734]

@@UltimateEngineering When actually tested, tone wood does have a difference, it's just so miniscule it's well beyond human comprehension.

[@guidorussoheck2100]

I dont know much but i believe nice wood is important for acoustic instruments. For electric is more of a premium thing and keeps the value of the craft ​@@watersnortmoment3734

[@rosewoodsteel6656]

If you like the PRS, buy it. They are extremely well made and easy to play guitars. Many models are also beautiful? What's wrong with that?

[@jasonjansen9831]

"professional scientific researcher" lol. Just FYI nobody in the field of scientific research would say that.

[@KarlKarsnark]

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)

[@popcornsniper]

Then no one would pay more than 300$ for an electric guitar. Pickups cost almost nothing, same pots and frets. So don't expect any firm to sell electric guitar for more than 500$ if wood doesn't matter. It matters for some people.

[@andrewmcintosh2703]

@@popcornsniper There'd still be a legitimate market for expensive guitars, because there's more to a guitar than tone. There's ergonomics, the get job, nice paint jobs, quality control, quality of the individual parts (like a good floating trem), etc. An expensive Ibanez Jem is made with basswood, just like a lot of cheaper Ibanezes.

[@ryanpetriello3461]

@@andrewmcintosh2703 How the instrument feels to play and how it resonates can affect how you play it. Also flamed maple tops are badass.

[@tonybrijeski4912]

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.

[@chillpillology]

the pickups on the cheap east asian kit weren’t necessarily bad. they were just 1000 miles from the super hot wound noiseless vintage stack. The “cheap” ones were prob 5k-ish vs 18k(!!) on the duncans. Also the duncan magnets are alnico 5 vs im guessing alnico 2 on the cheapies. But they didnt sound bad to me just different.

[@jimmythefish]

I have Custom Shop 51 Nocasters in my Mexican Tele and it sounds awesome.

[@Nghilifa]

Yup. For me, if it ain't in the circuit, it won't affect the tone (as much). That's how I generally view things (setup, such as string action, fret levelling etc aside). I have a trio of CS 69 pickups in my Mexican strat (Alder body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fretboard), and it sounds K I L L E R. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

[@jimmythefish]

Conversely, I swapped the bridge pins from plastic to bone on my D28 and heard a clear difference. I think everything makes a difference on an acoustic because the thing itself is amplifying the sound.

[@tonybrijeski4912]

@@jimmythefish An acoustic can be thought of as a mechanical sound so anything in the physical realm on the guitar will have some sort of effect on the tone. An electric is just that - an electric signal which cannot be influenced by wood. Mechanical things can be influenced by wood - ie. amp cabinet as it has an effect on the mechanical vibrations from the speaker, acoustic wood top, etc.

[@-DILLIGAF]

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.

[@TheMemagNeman]

Would you hear a difference in studio and when playing the guitar? Sure you would.

[@niaralosusa]

@@TheMemagNeman ...if the guitar is completely isolated from every other sound, perhaps. In the real world there are other sounds competing for space (drums, keyboards, other guitars, bass, room noise, etc) so the "difference" is negligible.

[@TheMemagNeman]

@@niaralosusa Of course, average listener will never notice a difference on a gig, they rarely focus on specific instrument anyways. When tone is great, everyone will enjoy it even through the mix. Okay, but why would you ever test-compare guitar tones in noisy environment? If his tone test is to play the guitar in a noisy environment then he is not looking for guitar tone finesse. Tiny shift in certain frequency can make your guitar cut through the mix. On the other hand , might as well pick bass vs electric guitar, cause even overdriven tele vs overdriven LP will sound "the same" in all that hiss and noise. Then the same philosophy could be applied to anything, say pickups (which matter a lot, right, not negligible component of guitar tone). Will you notice a difference between a cheap chinese humbucker vs SD Antiquities? Probably not. Then nothing is relevant tone wise , on a guitar.

[@TheMemagNeman]

@@christopherbeddoe406 Yes, so? You can sound like Billie Eilish in studio , as well. We are talking about fundamental guitar tone, not post-processing of signal.

[@niaralosusa]

@Memag Neman ...it is very important to also test a guitar in noisy environments (such as in a band situation) because that is typically where they are played. Concerts aren't played with each instrument isolated in its own sterile anechoic chamber. LOL!! There is the size of the room, the number/types of instruments in the band, the size of the crowd, the sound reflections from the walls, etc. A guitar will sound very different in a quiet room versus a noisy club or other venue. Also, the sound/tone you create in a band setting often sounds terrible when isolated. As I previously said, a tone "difference" between two guitars in isolation will likely never be noticed in a noisy environment, such as a live concert....which is a good thing!!

[@Ryanvatz]

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.

[@Dram1984]

I can't believe he used Japanese engines. Everyone knows America make the best toneEngines.

[@PaulCooksStuff]

Throw in a mention of Gibson "good wood" apocryphal era and you win a goldfish.

[@therayven3147]

And the motor oil needs to be 10W 30 for the best sound... also, with it being an "air" guitar, the air quality and density also play a factor in tone...

[@williambartholomew5680]

Lol If only, one of those was an XR650, doesn't get better than that!

[@vincentcuclair5522]

😂

[@AndrewLewisHowe]

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.

[@jacksmith4460]

yeh it is but here is the issue with these "scientific tests". If it was a true scientific test, a much bigger sample size is required. I would say you need guitars that are made exactly the same , in the same finish etc but with different wood options. The variables need to be controlled, so that includes the setups, string gauge and age, amps and cabs used, which might also require constant temp or humidity conditions. It becomes pretty murky pretty fast. I am still yet to see anything approaching a true scientific test of this , with thorough variable isolation controls, and a large sample size (probably 50-200 guitars are needed, maybe more). Also many pro players would also be needed to test each guitar themselves, as well as straight up freq response etc via tools. Also both blind and labelled tests would be required to work out how much is affect happens in the mind of the player and is illusory. Having said all this, it certainly seems to be the case that the wood is a small amount of the tonal composition, but there are enough other variables that could be skewing this by virtue of adding up, and potentially masking wood tonal differences, which is why the sample size needs to be much much bigger, as the average tonal properties of each wood type could be gathered and then compared. Until someone actually does this, its basically one stage removed from anecdotal (which is still important). It may be closer to the truth and a scientific conclusion , but not much. Having said this I do think Pickups, Bridge and Nut and Tuners being the biggest factors on the guitar, seem to clearly be the biggest factors, its a matter of just how big that the scientific test would answer,and whether we can perceive this (this part of any test is very hard because they need to test people with trained ears in both general audio and most important, professional guitarists, testing random people would not tell us much. Average players would tells us quite a bit about most guitarists, and pro players would establish how far that perception can go, and possibly explain if you can ever get good enough and have trained enough ears that its a big enough factor to notice

[@wordragon]

@@jacksmith4460 -You are hilarious. He replicated the tone without the parts that are frequently said by manufacturers to give tone and justify their extravagant prices. That was his hypothesis. It wasn't to test every electric guitar and pickup. His conclusion is that, in his test to achieve the tone of his specific electric guitar, the features that were essential to achieve that guitar's specific tone were the final list at the end of his test. You redefining his test with a new hypothesis and criteria is actually wrong in this case. What is correct is if you wish to expand on his tests and test many guitars and many pickups, that would be your experiment, including a new hypothesis. But, his experiments still utilized the scientific method. The "variables" you are referring to are features he proved don't matter(finishes, wood options, etc.) to achieve the tone of his specific electric guitar, and if you read his lists carefully, he did control the setups, string gages, etc. It is also clear he played the guitars in the same room with each modification, so you can say he had the same environmental factors present at the various stages of his tone tests. His approach was very scientific. He controlled all of the factors that remained common through his tests. He even acknowledged that he didn't account for the pickup proximity in earlier tests. So, he went back and rigorously controlled this variable and redid some tests to find that it indeed mattered more than other variables then continued using that control to confirm his conclusions proceeding. Just because you are not accepting his list of what he controlled doesn't have anything to do with whether or not he followed the scientific method in his experiments and modifications. Many scientific experiments of the the 19th and 20th centuries that are accepted as fact, or science today, were done with less control. And, there are studies going on now, take COVID vaccines, that are being tested with little control and being pushed out and called "science". Science is not the domain of one opinion or one group's opinion. It is a tool that all people can use to find a specific conclusion to their questions.

[@qwertyzxcv123]

@@jacksmith4460 you just don't want to admit that you've been duped to buying expensive guitars due to their wood. Dummy.

[@niaralosusa]

@Jack Smith ...your logic holds true only if you believe that wood makes a difference with en elecyric guitar. The video proved that you don't even need wood to get a great sound. LOL!!

[@geoffreybrown8895]

I though the same at first. I don't think he forgot anything. I think he wanted to actually demonstrate some scientific method and problem solving skills by showing how rigorous you must be to objectively examine something as subjective as tone. Also, how the difference in the circuit between pickup and jack so dramatically changes the tone and response.

[@3days2retirement]

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!

[@SirSneakerPimp]

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!

[@jonahguitarguy]

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.

[@lukeyduke79]

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.

[@nickagervasi]

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.

[@jimmythefish]

Yup. An acoustic makes sound in a completely different way.

[@deadoctopi5070]

@@jimmythefish exactly. Luthiers don't spend all that time "tuning" a guitar top because it's inaudible. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@c.r.blankenship9040]

It definitely makes a difference on an acoustic - the best example of how much being the extremes of wood vs. carbon fiber vs. metal cellos and violins. They all sound very, very different. It also makes a big difference with drums - again, the extreme example being a wood drum set vs. an acrylic drum set. They sound totally different.

[@nickagervasi]

@@deadoctopi5070 Yep! Some of the sound of an acoustic also comes from the bracing, body size, shape, top wood, back wood, side wood and everything else. They pretty much all make a difference when you are talking about something working to project sound. So that is why I mentioned it. On an acoustic I still will hear out the tonewood conversation because I think there is something to it. But on an electric, like I said, any more I believe in finding something that can house pickups you like, that you like to play and that you like to look at.

[@TedSchoenling]

On an acoustic tonewood is very real. it IS how the sound is being amplified.

[@fezmey6117]

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.

[@ScottfromBaltimore]

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.

[@epicmage82]

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.

[@JazzRockswithAdam]

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!

[@devinwilliams4038]

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

[@ChrisSchaffer]

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.

[@vladimirpoutine7522]

I love nice looking woods to but that's about where it ends. PRS invented the idea of 'tone woods' for electric guitars as his sales pitch. He even admits it in an interview somewhere here on KZbin.

[@vanessajazp6341]

At 2:00 The first manufacturer on that list is probably PRS, as "tone wood" is the core of their high-priced marketing strategy.

[@93greenstrat]

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.

[@vorpalblades]

It's amazing how many people never adjust the pickups. I've been playing 35 years, have literally met no one else who has done it. Mind-boggling. But they'll go through 2-3 sets of pickups. Speakers also make a huge difference.

[@vorpalblades]

It's amazing how many people never adjust the pickups. I've been playing 35 years, have literally met no one else who has done it. Mind-boggling. But they'll go through 2-3 sets of pickups. Speakers also make a huge difference.

[@orryfishburne5326]

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.

[@ChrisHendrix117]

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!

[@hendriksevecke761]

Thank you so much for all your videos. I watch them while reworking my good old beloved hohner Steinberg paddle. Killed the trem. And you explained me the principles of electric. I already have a match of SD’s.

[@alexhuevera939]

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

[@malcolmhodgson7540]

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 !!!

[@InZomnia365]

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.

[@TedSchoenling]

put it in a mix and tell me if you can hear a difference.. betcha can't in the mix.

[@madaxe79]

The funniest part for me is, I watched his video when it first came out, and now, years later, I’m looking for it again and this comes up, and it’s like a “see I told you so” moment for me. I’ve got a Squier Tele that I’ve spent a tonne of time on, it plays absolutely amazingly, but sounds like crap plugged in, so I’m looking for the right pickups, and this just proves (again) that Pickups are the most important sonic upgrade you can make… but playability is the most important upgrade if you want to consistently sound good.

[@freakbiker]

My first question is always "Why is there NEVER an ugly piece of "Tonewood"? If it's truly about better tone than you'd think ugly AF pieces would find their way in with all the nice flamey birds eye pieces.

[@vanessajazp6341]

A number of years ago, some guy made a similar video about guitar tone, debunking the whole tone wood myth. At one point he actually constructed a guitar body out of a cinder block and compared it on a frequency analysis to a regular guitar that had the same pickups, strings and hardware. There was no no difference.

[@johnstevens3567]

This is so cool, to me this says "Buy a guitar that feels great to you, and inspires you to play" you can pretty much make it would how you want later.

[@mikelundquist4596]

I used to fill in for my old band, and the their guitarist, who is a really good player, had great gear... Dr. Z amps, Fulltone pedals, PRS and custom shop guitars. I took my MIM Strat and Tele, my Blues Deville and my $350 pedal board and try to sound as good. Not really match his tone, but compliment it. I never got anything but compliments, from everyone, band and fans. Success, in my mind.

[@marcoangels]

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.

[@carlosalves4444]

I watched this as soon as it came out, and Jim has cracked the Tonegate debate for ever.. Also there is a guy who builds a stratocaster guitar body out of concrete and puts a a wooden neck on it. It makes for some seriously great conversation.

[@wyssmaster]

There was another guy who made identical bodies from different woods, which all accepted the same neck/pups rig, so literally nothing changed but the bodies. I showed it to a coworker who is a HARD tonewood believer and it did NOTHING to sway him. I hope most people aren't like him, but there are still many who will never be convinced.

[@radoslavivanov7782]

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).

[@stephpicher]

You're a wise man. I keep listening back to Seasick Steve, with his salvaged material Diddley bows and found/broken guitars, because it's fun, it's musical - it rocks. Cheers,

[@kensimmons3356]

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.

[@CAGED1702]

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! 👏

[@brushstroke3733]

I just got my first pair of replacement pickups (Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates) and finally understand how much difference the pickups make. The sound comes mostly from the pickups, indeed.

[@lfaf9509]

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.

[@Guitar88]

Nice reaction Dylan! I think that there is another important factor in consideration even if both guitars have The same model, The Pickups aren't 100% equal,and that is what impressed me The most! Cheers

[@DMSProduktions]

I saw this vid last week! Very interesting! He really got that tone 'air' going!

[@photorealm]

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

[@noodletribunal9793]

his newest video about how NOT EVEN THIS MATTERS(to some extent) because of the fact that all guitar weve ever heard has been 1. recorded through a mic or mics(close mic to amp) 2. run through the mixing and mastering process and 3. heard through whatever device you listened to it through is even more intense lol. its the best argument for "just make music" and it even got through to an obsessive perfectionist like me. well, it helped a lot, i still worry, but thats just me. we should just write and play music! is the main point of his series. oh and save money

[@kay5676]

Just about lost it when you said vintage engines 😂 Finally the missing piece for the search of tone has been found. Off to a garage now

[@ViolentLee]

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

[@vincentcuclair5522]

The variation in strumming argument is brilliant too, some people apparently hate their guitar tone because they strum differently from when they tried it while buying 😂

[@RobScenity]

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!

[@caseykittel]

this is one of my favorite guitar tone videos ever. I have to say though - I think a lot of these things affect the "feel" of the guitar for the player, but that's not the test. the test is the sound through the amp. that's mostly the darn pickup. should have known.

[@ChronicMetamorphosis]

I heard a difference in the first air guitar demo, but Dylan and Jim are right, its negligible. Not worth paying a premium for. Consider this, if tonewood mattered as much as some claim, why didn't Leo Fender use spruce or cedar, a wood traditionally used in acoustic instruments for centuries? The people who advocate for tonewood, I'd be interested to know if they tune their guitar by ear. If they can't do that, I wouldn't take their opinion seriously, and before someone cusses me out as an elitist, do some research and practice the skill yourself. Also, I'd be interested in what a professional classical violinist hears, or even a conductor. Being around those people opened my ears to a deeper perception of sound that I wasn't aware of.

[@shreyashverma9753]

You just gave the whole of "rational " guitar community the argument to put forward for tone wood fans. If you can't tune guitar by ear don't even bother.......... Tbh I think the denser the wood the better and I just think it would really help if the bridge was on the same piece of extended neck wood, to get more sustain.

[@ChronicMetamorphosis]

@@shreyashverma9753 😉

[@vorpalblades]

The only reason those woods were originally chosen was the large surplus of lumber from furniture manufacturers that was readily available. Not for "tone" reasons.

[@vorpalblades]

@@andrewbecker3700 yeah, I was there.

[@dougburchfield7364]

@@andrewbecker3700 Mahogany is still used because it's still abundant and cheap. It stays in shape due to its density, like maple. Early highly prized Fender Esquires and Telecasters had pine bodies (great "tone wood"). Ash and Alder were used later because the pine was prone to splitting and cracking. Gibson used Mahogany due to their pipeline for acoustics using that wood for back, sides and necks. It's a fairly soft wood so ebony or rosewood were used for the fretboard to help with neck rigidity. "Tone wood" for electric guitars is a non-factor for actual tone.

[@steelman774]

I like how this video doesn’t debunk the Epiphone Les Paul vs Gibson Les Paul material shootout, but it does lean towards one scratching their head. I wonder if Dylan will make a reaction to it as: “There are physical build differences between Gibson & Epiphone Les Pauls, but if you replace pickups (and possibly their associated hardware) and set them up the same, then the sound you get will “match” … from a guitar player perspective.” This would cross promote his videos on the comparison AND the ones on potentiometer comparison as well as the other assorted hardware in the circuit, but ALSO his business as a builder of pickups… which are now arguably the second most important part of a guitar sound behind the Player themselves. (Cool factor being a close third though.😎) Awesome video!! Keep the content coming!

[@Fostext]

Love the original video and love your reaction Dylan! I’ve often talked to my Dad about this stuff over the years, and at the end of the day some guitar players think their strap will affect the tone.

[@christophernoia5197]

When it comes to finish, I just like nitrocellulose for how it ages with me. I’m not hard on my guitars, but when I really bond with one I don’t want it to look new forever and I don’t really want to buy a relic. If I find a relic I love, cool, but that’s not the end all be all. Ive been playing my first high end and main acoustic, a very special Gibson j15, almost daily for about 7 years now and you can tell. I bought it new, but now it has character from my playing because of that nitro finish aging. Similar story with my 2014 american vintage 65 reissue jazzmaster in Olympic white. There’s cracking, checking, and wear on the finish from years of playing it constantly. Eventually these guitars will look like the vintage pieces I lust after and can’t afford, but from hundreds of hours of me playing them. I love that. Do I hear a difference from the wood “breathing”? No.

[@jaredstig]

I figure the 3rd guitar maker he got a response from was Mr. Paul Reed Smith. Paul did a Ted talk back in 2013 where he explained the electric guitar is subtractive. So the strings vibrate when struck. That vibration in the presence of the pickups magnetic field generates a signal which is then passed through the volume pot and tone stack. Keeping those aspects the same in the same context the sound produced is the same, the only variation in tone is then the context and the player. The context then being the construction and makeup of materials (tonewood, bridge, nut, frets, etc.) and the presence of the amplified sound feeding back into the strings. The tone then lies within the player to apply the musical notes which match the the resonance of the guitar materials in the presence of feedback creating tone. So in isolation the source of tone is the strings, pickup and electronics, and the relative position of the pickup to the strings. Everything else is subtractive. The difference lies in the context(player, guitar construction and materials, and the venue).

[@slicksalmon6948]

Jim Lill’s videos are genius. Thank you for supporting them.

[@cattledog5464]

I am very happy to know this information and have always agreed. That is why first thing is Pup height and go from there. Even new upgrade pups need to be set at the sweet spot.

[@Doug_Seidlitz]

Must be more to the story... Seems to me a Les Paul and a 335 with the same pickups would sound different...

[@misterknightowlsguitarrant6984]

But they wouldn’t

[@AKumar-co7oe]

pickup height is probably the differentiator

[@danielbarbieri8199]

It's very funny 😂 The last time I refreted my strat maple neck, I changed for stainless steel frets. I can hear the difference of this little detail. The same thing happened when I changed the neck itself long time ago. It was one piece maple. I replaced it with flame maple with glued maple fretboard. I was able to hear the difference. On my les paul junior, replacing the bone nut with brass made a huge difference. I could write a book on how every piece of a guitar can affect the sound... 😆😆😆

[@ivandel7788]

2x4 guitar sounds more treble, I think it is for the body size ? Maybe it is an air guitar but the bridge and tuners are between two tables and that gives resonance to the strings, right?

[@DennisAlvarezMusic]

This video prompted me to finish watching Jim Lill's video. Dylan, I've come to the exact same conclusion through my experience on this subject.

[@carpo719]

Thanks for covering this... I loved that guys video, and thought it really nailed it. I don't agree with ANY of the people who he shared as responding... My thought is: 1- Pickups (and their distance from strings) 2-hardware ..bridge and nut material (and strings) 3- hollow body can give feedback 4- that is it.

[@anotherstart1]

Enjoy your videos! Awesome spirit about you.

[@samizdat113]

@12:20 it looks like he is picking a little closer to the bridge. I didn't notice that when I watched the original video. Good catch on the hand position.

[@johnosborne3187]

"He didn't even tap test it." LMAO!!!!

[@johnnywatkins]

To be honest I’ve always found cork sniffing conversations about tone wood or nut material etc hilarious. For me it’s always been simple do I like how it sounds>do I like the way it plays>do I like how it looks. In that order and you can have what ever criteria you want that’s just what works for me.

[@ImoldsoIknowstuff]

I just loved this reaction video. It was very respectful. Well done. And I agree that his method of elimination was genius in its simplicity, and he wasn't guilty of confirmation bias. Just as a real Scientist should. I have been turning $50 Squires into expensive sounding guitars for years, by first determining what kind of sound the Guitarist wants, then with not much more an a set-up of the Guitar usually requiring no more than a different set of Strings, adjustment of pickups, and sometimes changing Pots and or Pick-ups. I'm only talking about, for Amateurs of course, but most other stuff is usually about feel of aesthetics. Also, I'm only talking about Solid Body Guitars.

[@lightfoot413]

All of us that are wanting to mod our guitars?? This is great information..Thanks for sharing....

[@nowhereweareagain]

If you like this you may be interested in the newest video Jim has put out in this series where he looks at where amp tones come from. i won't spoil the whole thing but I will say a tackle-box full of bread boards and guitar pedals is involved.

[@williamsporing1500]

I watched the video….it was very well done. Proved a point too.

[@rperry70]

I have built several guitars and chased a lot of items thought to help tone. Cherry wood, strings through body, on and on. I guess the first thing I should do is match pick up distance from the one I like the most! I can only imagine building custom guitars for clients that insist on things that you know make no difference. But the customer is always right.

[@jonbarnett9363]

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

[@jimmymurphy7789]

For the "Debate Continues" Dept. - FWIW : I also play Pedal Steel Guitar. Many years ago both myself & my Mentor were equally intrigued with Buddy Emmons & his EMMONS Pedal Steel Guitars. At the time I had a single-neck E9th ZB Custom student model & my Teacher had a nice MSA single-neck E9th. Neither of us had the $ for these expensive EMMONS Guitars, so we did the "Next Best Thing". That is - we both ordered an EMMONS Pickup ($50) "THINKING" that would instantly make our Steels sound just like an EMMONS.. Well -"WRONG !" What it DID do though was made my ZB sound like a bigger, fatter-sounding ZB Custom student model & my mentor's MSA into an even fatter, fuller sounding MSA than it already was. But neither of them sounded anywhere close to the EMMONS. So what did we BOTH end up doing ? Well, you guessed it - we saved our $ and later bought identical EMMONS D-10's (still have mine). Problem finally Solved, but is still a mystery why our $50 Emmons Pickups didn't do the Trick. There must still be a factor going on with materials, parts used (EMMONS has the solid Aluminum Necks - not the usual Wood), etc ? Go Figure 🤔.

[@VitorMachadoProf]

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.

[@onlyfromadistance7326]

The phase of the moon and time of day that the wood was cut for the neck and the body are MOST important factors for tone. More people should realize this!!!

[@stephenshoihet2590]

I hadn't watched your video yet and one of my buddies at work sent me a link to the original video.You're my favourite channel for no nonsense info on guitar stuff so it was fun to see you review this. This same debate goes on all the time in photography with different sensors and raw converters and like this, if you have to AB something to see the difference, there's not enough difference to matter... and again that's now how we do things, we season to taste, we don't try and make them all sound/look the same.

[@zevpass]

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

[@cleangoblin2021]

Damn. He really went above and beyond to prove something. So from what i gathered, i just need to just upgrade the pickus of my otherwise almost perfect construction of Tagima 530

[@emmanuellec6917]

Awesome! Just... AWESOME! And... thank you, of course!

[@aleksandrnestrato]

I like how Warmoth and a Swedish youtuber Johan Segeborn do their woodtone tests. Usually the difference is audible. However the difference is also quite small and if not an A/B comparison it could be easily misnoticed. I worry about another phenomenon in all this tone thing. People tend to have an enormous power over the guitar manufacturers by their expectations of materials an electric guitar should (or must) be built of. Or paint it should/must be covered with. Or... You name it. Guitar manufacturers on the other hand disinform people now and then. Sometimes due to their own misconception, sometimes purposefully with marketing in mind.

[@lazvt8469]

I recall Johan's concrete pillar guitar....creative....

[@aleksandrnestrato]

@@lazvt8469 Oh, yeah! :))

[@SrJurado]

Yup , everybody is conecting that to your tele-post stuff. Cool stufff!

[@bardpendragon7229]

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

[@jamesbutler1949]

Good electronics and a good teacher.

[@JH-ks9oi]

His reproducing a amp cab from a previous Nashville guitar player was great, I love his videos

[@jstewardjr]

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

[@smittypsrandomguitarstuff2106]

I just discovered this channel. Very cool stuff, Dylan!

[@fredvanderbeek5881]

Perfect example Was impressed with 2X12 Egnator amp/ bought it/ mostly used deluxe stratocaster/ liked the tone. Very familiar pickup sound. Very different sound from my 2008 Gretsch Jaguar Tan with TV Jones pickups. You would easily tell them apart hearing them without seeing them. BUT - When I would plug my Gretsch into my Egnator amp --- it sounded just like the stratocaster did. It was not amplifying the true natural tone of the guitars' woods, shape. The amp proved to be a waste of time and money. Long ago people said "Play an electric guitar without plugging it in for a while to see what it sounds and feels like before you buy it." For me, that has been very useful ever since. A friend told me search for articles about "Single knob single tube amp' and you willl understand it more." So - I enjoyed this video, watched the original too - interesting stuff - the magnetic field of that same pickup produces the same tone wether it's screwed into a 2X4 or a bench, just like the Egnator amp did which is why I sold it after 2 months. I have no idea how long a note or chord rings out on the Air Guitar or 2x4 he made but all good fun 😊!

[@peterschmidt9942]

I watched Jims video a while back and immediately thought of your telecaster fence post video. I thought the suspended bench test sound had more "open airiness" to it, while the Anderson guitar had a more "woody" sound 😂🤣 I think what people get confused with on electric guitars and "tonewood" is that some electric guitars naturally vibrate or resonate a little more. A guitars resonance can affect how you play it, changing the sound. Much like how Jim sounded a little different playing the 2x4 to the actual guitar. But it's the pickup that ultimately gives it the sound or tone.

[@Noodleboy56]

He posted part two today so now you've got another vid to react to.

[@fentonwinmill]

Where does the difference come from? The Player and how they interact with the instrument. I have a couple of electric guitars with the same pickups. They sound different, because I play different. One is more resonant and I can feel the vibration so I play differently.

[@lfscrazy]

"2x4 vs regular guitar makes near as makes no difference. They sound the same." We have different ears. I can hear a significant difference which would only be greater when listening in-person.

[@channingsmith7859]

Yes but when only 0.0001% of the population can compete with your elite hearing abilities, does it really make any difference in the real world? I mean it’s only like you, Eric Johnson and 3 other dudes who yell on the internet a lot who can “really” hear the difference, so what does it matter for the rest of us plebes?

[@lfscrazy]

@@channingsmith7859 I have 2 Les Pauls. Both have the same pickups, same electronics inside. They sound very different. Come over to my place and even with your plebe ears, trust me, you'd hear the difference. I'll make you a cuppa while you jam on them.

[@TheSourceAVDesignGroup]

I own 2 basses that sound exactly the same if I play the same but one has a neck that allows me greater ease on faster and on more complex material. Both Ebony fingerboards, both EMG loaded, both with mandolin frets. 1 has an ash body painted the other is a quilted maple. Same hardware on both. Same set up and string spacing. One is a C shape neck the other a D shaped. Essentially the body is a place to contain the parts you need. The neck helps you play your best but the electronics and you are what makes it sound the way it sounds

[@oliverlangrall2014]

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!

[@DylanTalksTone]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ArmandoLopez-qt6vz]

When I originally saw this video, I definitely thought of you!