I'm also not so sure about this. Some guitar books claimed that wood doesn't affect tone in electric solidbody. The pickups are what really matters since the coils on the pickups translates the string vibration into electricity directly.

Then again, lots of expert guitar player insist that wood does affect tone quality.

I don't doubt that wood affect playability, especially the fingerboard. However, my logic dictates that wood doesn't affect tone since the pickups are not microphonic (at least in good electrics). Anyone got a better explanation?