The Influence Timber Imparts on the Tone of Your Guitar

Many guitarists playing music today believe tone is all about your choice of pickup and one could argue that to some extent that is correct. But did you know the timber your guitar has has been constructed with can play a major role in your guitar tone? This article discusses the timbers typically used for guitar building and the impact they have on tone.

When looking closely at an acoustic instrument the vibration associated with the strings is reverberated from the guitar body without amplification. An electric guitar works in exactly the same way, however given that the reverberation has been distributed using a pickup into your amplifier it can be difficult to comprehend just how much of an impact it can have on your tone.

The thing to keep in mind is when sounds bounce from the surface of the timber the features of the timber can play an important role. Pickups work just like a microphone to some degree and you can certainly hear a noticeable difference between timber variations when practicing on your electric guitar unplugged. Try tapping on top of your pickup and you'll realize that the noise is most certainly amplified.

One reason why musicians don't always understand this argument is because there are a lot of specifics which influence your tone. When taking note of the tone of your electric guitar you need to take into account the pickups that have been installed, amplification and the thickness of strings. You should also consider the neck connection and not surprisingly the playing style as it's generally claimed guitar tone is in the fingertips. There are certainly many variables to contemplate. However if all is equal timber genuinely does play a large part in your particular guitar tone.

Tone woods are really just a type of timber guitar builders insist on for their tonal qualities when building guitars and are almost always a hardwood. What would this mean to you if thinking about procuring a guitar kit? If you find yourself considering basic level guitar kits such as a Saga Guitar Kit you may have limited options when it comes to timber due to the fact that these guitars for the most part have been built with basswood coming from Asia (a stable lumber for the purpose of guitar construction). However once you select a slightly higher price range you'll find more possibilities. Grizzly quite often are obtainable in solid alder with maple top and many guitarists think of this the very best combination of hardwood in existence for guitar building.