what makes a good sound for electric guitar?

[be3z-v-]

can someone tell me what makes a good sound for electric guitar? is it the pick ups, strings or the body shape?or other things?

 

[subversion]

the amplifier- it's a make/ break component. you can plug the most renowned guitar into a lousy amp, it won't save your day.

 

[be3z-v-]

then what is the point of people modding their guitar and buying some expensive guitars if the sound doesnt help so much? o.0

 

[subversion]

after liking what you hear from an amp, people refine their tone to sound as unique as possible. that's where pickup swap comes in, etc.

 

[zax]

hmm , well everything contributes to the how the guitar would sound in the end , i dont worry too much about amps , cause im not dragging 200 watt marshalls wherever i go but for thu guitars , depends on what sound you want , fenders are made out of alder which gives it its distinctive shape glassy sound , gibsons are usualyl made out of mahogany and the top out maple , maple is too heavy to be used for the full guitar . fenders necks have a maple base and a rosewood top , or prefebly the whole neck is maple . sharper sound thou , depend what you like , then pick ups , telecasters and strats come with single coils usually but along the way some genius thought of putting more powerful humbuckers in them , the typical fenders are still single coil based , again boils down to taste , the early gibsons had p-90 single coils in them , called soap bars , les paul juniors and melody makers still have em on , and the bfg too . most les pauls come with a more powerful humbucker and that gives it that distinctive tone . im not too sure about ibanezs cause i've never used one , neither will i ever . personal preferrence there

 

[kahuna]

i tink that 60% of the tone comes from the overall built of the guitar(pickups,body material,neck etc.)u dun see a classic SSS strat sounding thick and creamy like a les paul do u?at least i havent

hey zax not only the melody maker and LP jr hav soapbars,some les paul classics also hav P90s as in the 56 reissue(i tink) theres one at sweelee retailin at about 7+k

 

[be3z-v-]

well, does body shape affect the sound?

 

[zax]

body mass does , shape can be associated with mass , density = mass/volume hahah , oh yeah and lots of other models have p-90s too but in general those les pauls have em , the jazz masters too

 

[kahuna]

yea zax is rite body shape can hav a thicker sound if the density is there

 

[deathism]

a good sound is subjective..

really..


wad u like may be wad i hate..and vice versa

 

[zax]

TOTALLY AGREE WITH DEATHISM THERE , you captured my train of thought

 

[be3z-v-]

lol, so this is linked to physics? hahaha

 

[zax]

well isnt everything haha

 

[Crawldaddy]

Hmm.

In my quest for my ideal "screamin' lead" tone, I used to listen to loads of classic rock, with the classic LP / SG into a cracked marshall stack kinda tone. I suppose due to my continued exposure to such a tone, that is pretty my go-to yard-stick in terms of dirt tone. My favourite clean electric tones come from country and blues, so I won't really go there.

Question: do you have a favourite guitar sound?

IMO, the trick is to have a sound that is pleasing to the ears. If you feel that maybe the people whom you would be playing to might not like that sound, then adjust accordingly lah. And yes, since sound is subjective, maybe what you need to do is listen to more music and move forward in that direction.

 

[cold_static544]

ITS BODY SHAPE LA.

must look cool can alr.

 

[almondx]

Body shape does affect the sound even if mass and density is the same.

In terms of body shape, you can have a very dense and heavy doublecut but it will not nail a singlecut sound. Try getting a flying V to sound like a all mahogany les paul. Both set necks, same body woods and same scale length. Sound is similar but something is missing - some low end chunk maybe? This is due to the lack of wood around the neck joint area of the V.

 

[be3z-v-]

alrightt.. thanks guys =)

 

[subversion]

if you acquire a good amp, everything else becomes tolerable- you simply don't mind playing anything.