Myths and Truths
One of the things I really like about guitar folks is their belief in magic. There are so many urban legends, myths, assumptions and magical thinking that they sometimes play a bigger role in the purchase of a vintage guitar than the science (and reality). So, let’s have some fun with them. And don’t take my word for what is myth and what is real. I only know what my eyes and ears tell me and that might not be the same thing that you get from your eyes and ears. Let’s start with ears.
Old wood sounds better than new wood. Real. Old wood grew more slowly making for tighter grain and more density. New wood is is generally grown much more quickly making it less dense. Since sound travels through a solid better than through a liquid or a gas, it makes sense that old wood is more resonant. Another factor is moisture. The moisture in new and old wood is, I believe, about the same at the outset. But old wood has had more time to dry out and, again I believe that dryer wood is more resonant than moist wood. “Roasting” of wood kind of proves this to me.
Ebony fingerboard has more “snap” than rosewood. Myth. First of all, there isn’t a whole lot of either in ES guitars (and most others) so the idea is that there is a difference in the actual tonal quality of the wood. True if the guitar is made from this wood. But a thin piece of ebony isn’t likely to change much of anything in the tone department. I believe most folks think the snap has to do with the response of the strings when pressed down on a piece of ebony rather than rosewood. Actually, you’re pressing down on the frets, not the wood. I have pretty good ears. I don’t have perfect pitch but I have a well developed sense of frequency, timbre and pitch. I’ve played dozens and dozens of ebony board ES-355’s and hundreds of rosewood board 335’s. I don’t hear the snap. Maybe you do. More power to you.
The fingerboard on this ES-355 is ebony. It is harder than rosewood and a bit smoother too. The question is whether it actually has an effect on the tone of your guitar. I think not. The conventional wisdom is that it enhances the highs thus imparting more “snap” to your notes. I think not.
White PAFs sound better than black ones. Myth and Real. This is my theory and I think it makes a lot of sense. The amount of wire wound onto the coil of a PAF varied immensely back when they were made. There was no stop mechanism on the winders. The person operating the winder stopped when the bobbin appeared to be full. Most winders would likely stop well before the bobbin was totally full because if they went to far, they had to stop and unwind the excess wire or start over. I’m sure they had daily quotas and didn’t want unnecessary delays. Err on the side of caution as it were. The wire was dark brown-almost purple and the bobbin was black so it was hard to see just how close to the edge you were when winding the pickup. Enter the white bobbin and the same dark wire. Now the winder could see much more clearly how much room was left on the bobbin thus allowing for more turns and a “hotter” pickup. I have measured hundreds of PAFs and the white ones are consistently higher DCR. That doesn’t necessarily make a better sounding pickup-there a lots of factors but it certainly makes them different and, to my ears, often better sounding. Note-it’s a theory not a law. Perhaps the musings of someone with too much time on his hands.
This stripped ’59 ES-345 was my main player for a few years. It had three extra holes in the top and a load of other issues but it had a pair of factory installed double white PAFs and they sounded glorious. But did they sound glorious because they were white?
I’ll do one more and this, by far is my favorite. Early Marshall cabinets have a rather distinctive grill cloth. Jimi Hendrix often used these cabinets with the “pinstripe” grill cloth. It’s kind of fragile and it’s become somewhat mythical. Mythical grill cloth? Well, apparently there are folks who believe that Hendrix’s distinctive guitar tone is due to his excellent playing passing through this “mythical” grill cloth. Is it possible for grill cloth to influence tone? Maybe. I don’t know but if it does, I don’t believe it would be to the extent that you can actually hear a distinctive difference. More likely, some grill cloths are more transparent than others so maybe some tone could be impeded by an overly dense cloth. But c’mon, Hendrix’s tone is because of the grill cloth? Hey, you know, I have this bridge in Brooklyn and it’s for sale for cheap…I can make you a deal…
Who knew that the Stratocaster was the Breakfast of Champions? But Jimi’s real secret weapon is the “pinstripe” grill cloth. Without it, Jimi was just another picker.
I’m sure there are lots more of these guitars driven myths and if you have one, send it to me or make a comment. I love this stuff.
Here are some more “truth/myths” I’ve seen often
old pots sound better than new pots.
nitro resonates/breathes, and poly strangles the tone.
old tuners sound different than new ones
Fun topic! I would add in new pots vs old pots…I lean towards real for those…often times the older pots seem to have a bit more nuance up and down the tone knobs. More dramatic differences between each number. They generally feel a bit stronger.
All good ones. I think I’ll do a Part 2.
That’s a good one but I lean the other way.
All good ones. All myths although the nitro/poly thing might have some truth to it. Or not.
Feel like another good one to discuss could be new vs vintage hardware especially the bridge / tailpiece…if you want to get a guitar a little lighter do you sacrifice tone by putting an aluminum Faber combo? I did on a 1980 LP Heritage and didn’t notice a change, but perhaps others have.
A myth that could lead to tragedy was the old Southern belief (I first heard it as a kid in New Orleans) that a pair of rattlesnake rattles would improve a hollow- or semi-hollow-body guitar’s sound. My brother-in-law came within an ace of getting bit by a rattler trying to get a set of rattles for me. YEOW!!!
Andrew mentions the nitro/poly comparison. I lean toward believing that nitro allows for a more musical sound in most cases. May be wishful thinking on my part, I admit!!!
Well at least one of you “myths” seem to be very real to me. I do believe that ebony fretboards sonds snappier than rosewood fretboards. Or actually I would say that it tends to sound more brittle than rosewood. You are of course right that the strings should touch the frets, and not the wood. But that this excludes the wood from the tonal equation is not right. Why?, well the frets are seated in the wood. I hear a distinct difference between a Les Paul Custom and a Les Paul Standart. And the main difference is the fretboard. If I take ten of each, I will prefer the Standart almost every time, and the main difference is the fretboard. I have also seen en excellent video from Warmoth, where three of their Stratocaster necks are compared. The necks were identical, except for the fretboard. One was a maple neck, without a seperate fretboard, one had a rosewood fretboard, and the last one had an ebony fretboard. The differences was clearly audible. With regard to finishes I also believe that there is a clear difference. I very much prefer nitro over poly. I do not know if it is because nitro is harder, of if it is because poly finishes tend to be much thicker than nitro, but the difference is clearly audible to me.
The Custom has a big old slab of mahogany on the top whereas the Standard has maple. That might have something to do with the different tone. The much smaller ebony profile doesn’t make any difference to my ears. I have a 1960 ES-335/345 that got a custom factory ebony board and it sounds like a 335 usually sounds.
Your ears are much better than mine. With regard to the Warmoth test: Was it done using the same neck and changing out the fingerboard? Same body? Same pickups? If I did a test with three identical necks and fingerboards, I’m betting they would sound different. No two pieces of wood are going to sound exactly the same. I’ve had dozens of slab board 59-62 Strats over the years. They all sound similar but they definitely don’t sound the same.Same goes for all the 59 335’s I’ve owned.
Myths, legends and mojo! One myth I abhor is a beat to death guitar sounds better. Unlikely! A carpenter doesn’t abuse his or her tools. Why would a musician? Treat your guitar and amp right and they’ll return the favor with years of faithful service!