Subculture Science Research Group Regular Meeting No.3 Wood for electric guitar or anything else? -

Conversation style

R: Something about Fender being forced to stop using ash wood

R: I heard that Fender had to stop using ash wood because of climate problems in the southern United States.

R: I was wondering, what’s the point of wood in an electric guitar?

tarky: What do you mean?

R: It doesn’t seem to matter what material it’s made of, but it’s a problem.

tarky: Oh, I see. To sum it up, from the performer’s point of view, it makes sense. But from the audience’s point of view, it doesn’t make much difference.

R: Oh? What do you mean by that?

tarky: There’s a difference between your recorded voice and your actual voice, right? It’s weird, right? It’s like that, when the wood is different, you feel slightly uncomfortable about whether the tone you imagine is sounding right or not. That’s where the feeling of playing changes.

R: I don’t feel that way with the trumpet.

R: I don’t feel that way with the trumpet, but I feel individual differences with the electric guitar.

R: What do you mean by individual differences?

tarky: Even with the same model number, there are subtle differences between guitars. For example, the condition of the neck is easy to see the difference. Japan is not a very friendly environment due to humidity and temperature differences.

What we talked about

I heard that Fender and Ibanez are in trouble because they can’t get ash wood anymore ¹.
- Pre-sale price might be high.
  - From a business standpoint, this is good news.
  - They’ll be able to keep the lumber in the warehouse.
    - Lumber goes through a drying process called seasoning.
    - Some use a drying room to do this in a short period of time.
    - Raw wood contains moisture, which changes its properties.
R’s Question Is there any wood or anything that affects electric guitars that much?
- If you do some research on wood, you’ll find that it’s mostly hardwood.
  - Is it dense and strong?
  - Softwoods grow fast, are easy to grow straight, and are used for building materials
  - Hardwoods are slower growing and therefore somewhat more difficult to harvest
  - Why do you care about such lumber?
- Tarky’s answer
  - Fender was originally founded with the concept of making electric guitars at a low price.
    - Ash wood was probably the cheapest wood available at the time.
    - As rock guitars became more popular, people began to believe in them.
    - Because Led Zeppelin’s guitars were cheap at the time? ²The ones I bought are now pre-priced among fans
    - There are also signature models
  - The lumber, or rather the individual, varies. Neck condition is very individual.
    - Seasoning has a big influence
      - Japan is hot and humid, which is not kind to wood products
    - It is important to buy a tuned instrument from a music store.
  - Players feel very stressed when they cannot get the tone or response they want.
  - Many players value raw sound
  - The vibration of the strings is amplified by the body and transmitted to the pickups. The way it sounds is unique.
  - However, these are only from the player’s point of view, and there are many sensory aspects to it.
  - From the consumer’s point of view, there is not that much difference.
So, tarky sold his guitar, why?
- I was joking about selling it to pay for my trip back home, but I sold it because I haven’t been able to touch my partner of 10 years lately, and I wanted him to go to someone who can play it more.
- What’s it like to sell it?
  - The music store I sold it to will maintain it and sell it to me.
- So is that a minus?
- No, it’s a plus. If it was clean on the outside, it might have sold for a higher price.

Next time

[Subculture Science Study Group, 4th Regular Meeting, Sake and Wood](https://www.subcul-science.com/post/20210605subcul/

R: Liquor and wood have a lot to do with each other.

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Subculture Science Research Group

Subculture Science Research Group Regular Meeting No.3 Wood for electric guitar or anything else?

目次

Conversation style

What we talked about

Next time

See also