mass = tone ???

[BrokenJera]

ok i have been hearing this for a long time but now i really have to ask.

so last night i changed the maching heads on my acoustic for the stock one to a set of grovers. the stock one felt light and flimsy when the grovers are heavy and very well made. well my guitar got an instant boost in tone.

i changed the bridge block on a ibanez strat once to a heavier one one and same thing instant boost in tone.

i have a guitar that weighs more than any other ive ever played but it sounds better than just about any othr i have played unplugged (its electric)


so what im wondering for the experts around here is if there is any real fact to this? or am i just hearing things.

[icicle]

Well, a sound engineer I once knew wanted to set his speakers in concrete. He said the increased weight would give the speakers something to push against so bass vibrations had more of a chance.

So it makes sense to me.

[Silimtao]

I'm no engineer, and make no claims to being an expert, but consider guitars and how and what they're constructed from- the type of wood, how the neck is attached, the type of strings you use- to name a few variables.

Some guitars sound inherently brighter, some not, and guitarists take that into consideration when they're looking for their sound. I have a Strat with a maple neck that sounds far brighter than my Strats with a rosewood neck. The bodies of each are also made from different woods. I believe these variables ultimately have an effect on the overall tone.

So, no, I don't think you're hearing things. The new machine heads, being of better quality may be allowing the strings to resonate better- hence, the "boost" in sound you're hearing. Just like the block you used- possibly the heavier block resonates with the body that much more, therefore the "boost".

But say, you had a guitar made totally of cement; will you get that boost? I really doubt it, as I don't think cement would be a good conductor of of the string vibrations. Maybe for speakers that icicle gave in his example, but I doubt it when it comes to guitars; I think of guitars and all that they're made of working in concert together as opposed to one piece working against something. Only exception I can think of, are semi-hollow, or hollow bodies, where a player might stuff the guitar to reduce feedback. In this case, I think they're trying to reduce resonance.

[icicle]

You could solve this by getting a lightweight guitar, lying flat on the floor to play it, then getting someone to add some weights to it as you play.

[Lordathestrings]

IIRC, Parker uses carbon composite necks for at least some of their models.

There was a guitar maker in the 60s that used aluminum bodies, but I don't recall their name at the moment. Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad used them.

[wastebasket]

I was curious so I did some searching and saw that Fender has produced aluminum body guitars in the past. I wonder what they sound like?