Time to play "Let's hunt and kill" the guy who STOLE TONY IOMMI'S GUITAR!

[Seshmeister]

Sorry, disagree - while they may not have soundholes, and some solidbodies DO have acoustic chambers, btw - their inherent acoustic qualities are amplified, which is why no two sound exactly alike, and because they are also wooden (in the majority of cases) instruments, their tone does improve with age. So they are similar in that respect. As they say, it takes a guitar 5 years to figure out it's not a TREE anymore...

You know more about it than me but I think maybe the pickups or the amp or effects or the EQ in the desk or the room itself are maybe more important than the wood.

There are so many variables I don't really understand investing so much in just one apart from heart ruling the mind.

[jhale667]

You know more about it than me but I think maybe the pickups or the amp or effects or the EQ in the desk or the room itself are maybe more important than the wood.

There are so many variables I don't really understand investing so much in just one apart from heart ruling the mind.

Yeah, you have to be pragmatic about it past a certain point, agree. Sentimentality and a comfort level with a familiar instrument can inspire better performances, though.

But the wood itself is the foundation of whatever the pickup transmits that then goes on to be amplified, processed, whatever...and there are cases where you can't polish a turd (cough, plywood, cough).

I still think the guy that stole it should have his sack crushed with a hammer...

[Diamondjimi]

I still think the guy that stole it should have his sack crushed with a hammer...

Agreed!!!

[Seshmeister]

I still think the guy that stole it should have his sack crushed with a hammer...

Absolutely.

[GAR]

I think maybe the pickups or the amp or effects or the EQ in the desk or the room itself are maybe more important than the wood.

They are, but as a rule you can't help the guitar string sustain itself in the mix, that happens on the wood. The denser it is, the longer it will sustain.

EVH for example does not like string sustain, so he prefers basswood or alder - they're softer woods but they resonate acoustically and he's demonstrated in interviews how he practiced without an amp because he could hear it without one.

The reason he likes maple fingerboards when rosewood looks better (which is about the hardest wood used for guitar) is for the feel when he frets the neck. Maple resonates poorly, but since it's really hard and dense it transfers string vibration very poorly allowing the energy in the string motion to dissipate very slowly = sustain.