question on tone of V-type bodies

[withmyshadow]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

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As for comparing RR1 to SL2H, RR1 in general has more focused upper-mids, SL2H has overall "bigger" tone and better cleans (even if neck PU is replaced with SH-2), but has a bit muddier lows. For me their tones relate to each other as SG and LesPaul respectively.

Kelly is a different beast on its own.

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thanks,
that makes sense to me.
I always thought RR1 should sound stiffer because it doesn't have a cut away.

[Chrisb]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

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This crap again? I thought we stomped this shit out.


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Well I have to agree with him. EMG's kill tone and sound sterile. You don't have to agree but its a fairly popular opinion.

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

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Bridge affects attack and sustain qualities, but doesn't has much impact on a tone itself.

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If you're ever out this way stop by. I have two Firebirds built by a boutique builder, they feature the same body & neck wood, the same bridge pickup, same neck carve, same nut, same headstocks, same tuners, etc., even the S/Ns are only a few numbers apart. One has a rosewood fretboard and a Floyd. The other features a TOM bridge & maple top. You'd expect the rosewood to add a bit of warmth to the former and the maple top to add a bit of brightness to the latter but the opposite is true: the Floyded guitar is *far* brighter while the TOM guitar is much warmer. It's not a subtle difference, it's night and day and precisely the opposite of what you'd expect given the difference in top & fretboard woods. Something is responsible for that difference and I'm ruling out the difference in fretboard & top woods since the difference is the opposite of what those should produce. Thus I'm left to conclude that it is the bridges that are responsible for the dramatic difference in tone.

[Drake S.]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

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This crap again? I thought we stomped this shit out.


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Well I have to agree with him. EMG's kill tone and sound sterile. You don't have to agree but its a fairly popular opinion.

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I am a Constant Emg user , & I agree they do kill tone. I use them because with the digital gear I like to use I like to create my own tones. I think this best works with Emgs. I have an Esp custom with a swampash maple body & a rock maple neck , so it's gonna sound semi bright with some decent bottom end. I put a Dimebucker in the bridge & a Scorcher rail in the neck, I wanted High out from this guitar, & it screams! My Warrior Pros I put 85s in the bridge & SAs in the neck spot.

[Sunbane]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

I will not argue whether EMGs kill tone or not. The thing that annoys me is just how people say that EMGs sound the same in everything. It's simply not true. You DO hear differences from wood types, bridges, etc. If you'd put EMGs in a toilet seat, it would sound like a toilet seat with EMGs in it. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

At one point I got my hands on a bolt-on Explorer that I discovered was made of plywood and sounded like shit. I tried all pickups I had in that one, and none would cure it - including a set of EMGs. I later discovered that the stock pickups that I salvaged from it were actually pretty decent. A typical case of "shit input -> shit output". I have also noticed how my EMGs sound slightly different in my regular players. Some guitars are perfect for them, while others aren't.

HOWEVER - EMGs do have a typical sound. They will not sound like a Duncan or a DiMarzio however much you try, as they just don't distort the same way. The EMG-81 is indeed very sterile and dead sounding. IMO the other models are much less so, but that's a matter of taste.

And I'm not an EMG bigot either. I actually prefer passives more these days.

[quakana]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

FYI My king V rings way louder than the soloist

[metallicarocks]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

I really don't think construction matters much in tone. It does play a small factor I'm sure, but is very minor. So many other things would make the guitar different.

Do you ever hear anybody say "Yup, that sounds like a V guitar for sure. Couldn't tell ya what kind, but it definitely sounds like a V"?

[quakana]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

Maybe not while plugged in but type of wood, density of wood and shape sure does when it is unplugged. I had a PRS with a solid indian rosewood neck and one maple and the IRW neck rang way louder than the maple neck

[Chrisb]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

Rosewood is incredibly resonant, so thats sort of an oddball analogy but I agree with what you say. I think it definitely matters unplugged. The custom shop Charvel I want to get I'm gonna get the entire thing made out of Cocobolo (a true rosewood) with tone chambers to reduce weight but with the tone chambers and the all rosewood construction I bet it will play incredible when unplugged.

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I am a Constant Emg user , & I agree they do kill tone. I use them because with the digital gear I like to use I like to create my own tones. I think this best works with Emgs. I have an Esp custom with a swampash maple body & a rock maple neck , so it's gonna sound semi bright with some decent bottom end. I put a Dimebucker in the bridge & a Scorcher rail in the neck, I wanted High out from this guitar, & it screams! My Warrior Pros I put 85s in the bridge & SAs in the neck spot.

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I agree 100% with every single thing you said. For some guitars EMG and setups EMG is the way to go. Unless the guitar is made out of a non tonewood it will sound nice with an EMG but Sunbane I think you are only half right because while a toilet seat or plywood guitar sucks no matter what you put in it. The EMG will always sound pretty much the same in any tonewood. This has nothing to do with bad design in fact its BECAUSE of the design. The same is true of Duncan Livewires. The only exception to this I hear are the new Mustaine pickups which were designed to be more responsive to the guitar they are put in.

[withmyshadow]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

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FYI My king V rings way louder than the soloist

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thanks,
that's surprising.
I want my first usa select jackson so bad it's like that old VW new beetle commercial. it's growing on my head like a tumor.
I always thought it would be an RR or KV because there are so many SL/DK type guitars out there but nobody does a V like jackson. do you think jackson headstock looks better with a V body than SL?

[quakana]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

The Jackson Headstock to me looks good on every Jackson. To me its kind of a trademark, but now that you mention, it kind of matches the finlays and a RR or V better, but looks great on all of em. If you sit down and play alot a V or a RR can be a little weird.

[Carbophos]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

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FYI My king V rings way louder than the soloist

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Yeah, RR also seems louder and/or like more gain, because of upper-mids emphasis. It's just human hearing is more sensitive to these frequencies. This is the key point to "cutting thru" tone and that's why totally scooped mids is all wrong and sucks [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Sunbane]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

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The EMG will always sound pretty much the same in any tonewood.

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A question: Have you ever had two different guitars with EMGs in them and A-B'd them through the same amp, at the same time? I have, and to my ears there are distinct differences in attack, sustain and frequency curve. However, structural differences like fixed bridge vs. Floyd are playing an even bigger part than tonewoods IMO.

[Chrisb]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

At the same time no but sequentially yes. An ash body warmoth and a mahogany bodied schecter. Same exact sound. Both were non trem. THough the schecter was of course string thru while the warmoth was a Schaller 475. I honestly think its not that the pickups don't work with the wood I think its do to the high output and active nature of EMG's that they cover up the subtle differences of various tonewoods. While this is more noticable in passive pups. I should also note that this was played through my home amp, it was not a high quality tube amp so its definitely possible that on a better amp the differences would be noticable but then again I think alot of guitarists don't have those kind of amps anyways.

[Carbophos]

Re: question on tone of V-type bodies

...and a lot of guitarists max out gain and scoop out mids killing the tone totally [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]