Guitars tone changing over time

[RocketRalf]

It's not Voodoo, it's well documented in string (bowed) instruments: well played Stradivarius violins sound huge, while the ones that have spent their lives as museum and collectors pieces don't. Wooden instruments do age when played.

 

[straycat113]

I would believe this would affect an acoustic more than it would an electric guitar, though I do believe that wood aging over years will play a role. But I think the biggest point is that it is mental, when you buy a new guitar it is not broken in and has a stiffness to it. Play that guitar for a few years and it breaks in and the bottom line is you play it so much better that more than the tone the playability is what makes it seem extra special.

I am not one of those guys that buy into these theories of unfinished pup and trem cavities allowing the wood to breath, once a tree is cut it is dead and their is nothing breathing especially at 180 decibals lol.

Funny just yesterday I recieved the new issue of GW that had an interview with Eric Johnson who said he has sold off every vintage Strat he owned except one as over the decades the magnets in the single coils weaken and just cant deliver the power he needs for the music he plays so he is using all new gear. Their is an 8 part Youtube interview with vintage guru George Gruhn who says that the tone is not even close when it comes to a modern vs a vintage acoustic guitar, but their are so many electrics made today that can hold their own with the holiest of grails from the vintage age.

 

[ScreaminFloyd]

Eric Johnson is such a great player. If anyone would know when to change something around it would be him. I'm in such a happy tone place right now and if anything changes the first thing that gets changed are the strings. I write down all my settings, Pedals,Amp tone settings and the date. I have a lot written down. Sometimes I have gone back with the same equipment and i think " What was i thinking?" I think a lot of has to do with mood and the weather.

 

[Eilif]

There is definitely something going on with the wood. I was playing some ukuleles today at the local guitar shop. They had some Kamakas that were 40 years old, along with some brand new ones. Same wood, same instrument model, same manufacturer. The sound of the older ones just blew away the new ones, like night and day. My jaw dropped at the difference.

 

[ScoobySteve]

I'll take the middle road, not only cause it seems to make the most sense but because it has to be a culmination of the total variables.

I love Eric Johnson. He's my favorite guitar player, but his legendary AVM tone came through vintage 57 strats. Wood aging DEFINITELY has merit. I've been playing and around piano's and violin's all the time. Had the pleasure of seeing Itzhak Perlman live many times. Wood based instruments age, and they definitely age with playing. Anyways back to EJ. All his albums since AVM (excluding VI) like Bloom and Up Close are outstanding records, but don't have that insanely nit picky attention to small variances in tone. When EJ moved away from his vintage strats, his tone changed drastically, a large part due to the fact that he's not so obsessive about the perfection of his gear. Even though his signature strat is designed heavily around his favorite 57 strats they dont produce the same tones. "Virginia" and "Faye" are the two popular ones Faye has an interesting story because it was stolen decades ago and he received it back many many years later. He sold it because it didn't sound the same. After so many years of being played, or possibly unplayed, it didn't age with the rest of his arsenal and he sold it.

One getting comfortable with every teeny-tiny nuance of the guitar definitely has something to do with tone, but also wood, being a very rigid structure on the cellular level definitely will change through the repeated sonic bombardments it receives every time you play it. The paint will cure. The glue will set and age. The tone block, the top wood, the body wood, and the neck pocket will all marinade together, and depending on how you shape it, create a unique sound.

But... I'll check back in 5 years later after I abuse my 25th some more.

 

[OU812]

What I wanna know is how all these relic jobs that are coming out (cheap and expensive ones) will look like in say 20 years time.

 

[guertzi]

It's not Voodoo, it's well documented in string (bowed) instruments: well played Stradivarius violins sound huge, while the ones that have spent their lives as museum and collectors pieces don't. Wooden instruments do age when played.

+1

The more an instrument is being played, the more it will "age" soundwise.
I recently had the opportunity of playing an original vintage Str*t from 1957 that hadn't hardly been played over the years.
To my ears it did not sound as good as my custom made Str*t which is only 5 years old but which I played a lot during that time.

My Luke II still changes its tone, it almost seems to "open up" with each month of playing. The tone gets bigger and rounder somewhat - for a lack of better terms.

 

[Sosomething]

I think the wood just gets used to being a guitar after a few solid years of playing.

 

[metalmarty]

So difficult this one...wood changes, magnets change, amps change (tubes, elco's/caps), SPEAKERS change with play and importantly YOUR EARS change significantly over time...Nearly impossible to pin it down to a single variable. All you can say for sure is: yes, the overall sound of the guitar changes over time

 

[straycat113]

One other tidbit to throw in, everyone has this idea myself included that for some reason every vintage guitar is going to sound killer. I cant count how many interviews I have read of the Gods of guitar who all say the same thing - like anything else their are a lot od vintage dogs and the biggest high profile players all pass on tons of vintage guitars until they find a keeper. I do not own a guitar older than 85 but my mind would probably play tricks with me if someone plugged in a 50s or 60s whatever at first just from the awe factor. My friend Mike that owns Maggio Music in Bklyn and has been raised in the store and has heard it all in his 49 years was telling me not to long ago tha a guy walked in with a raggedy case for a repair and when he opened it he was floored that it was a 59 Les Paul Burst and was saying how the owner made no big deal of it, and said what good is owning one if you dont play it. After all was said and done to me about the WOW factor I asked him if he played it and he said yes that the guy plugged it in and let him rip when he was done. Bottom line I was like well--- and he said he really was not that impressed tone wise, so go figure.

 

[metalmarty]

One other tidbit to throw in, everyone has this idea myself included that for some reason every vintage guitar is going to sound killer. I cant count how many interviews I have read of the Gods of guitar who all say the same thing - like anything else their are a lot od vintage dogs and the biggest high profile players all pass on tons of vintage guitars until they find a keeper. I do not own a guitar older than 85 but my mind would probably play tricks with me if someone plugged in a 50s or 60s whatever at first just from the awe factor. My friend Mike that owns Maggio Music in Bklyn and has been raised in the store and has heard it all in his 49 years was telling me not to long ago tha a guy walked in with a raggedy case for a repair and when he opened it he was floored that it was a 59 Les Paul Burst and was saying how the owner made no big deal of it, and said what good is owning one if you dont play it. After all was said and done to me about the WOW factor I asked him if he played it and he said yes that the guy plugged it in and let him rip when he was done. Bottom line I was like well--- and he said he really was not that impressed tone wise, so go figure.

Played a lot of vintage strats, some absolutely STELLAR and quite a lot of no-no's. There are lots of new strat's that are equal or better then a lot of those old ones. That said: the best Strats I ever heared were an original '57 maple board and '62 rosewood. Played a '61 LP transition with PAF's that was pretty good and a lot of late 60's ones, but the best LP I ever played was an original run Gary Moore signature (like 2000/2001?). Go figure . The good vintage ones were all VERY well played BUT does that mean they sound better after all these years of playing or because they were better in the first place so they got more time . There's a mint '60 burst on Ebay, first thing I thought was "why the hell is it still mint"