Expectation vs Reality.

professorben

So I restrung my guitars tonight 
D'Addario 11-56 in Drop C ( yeah I know) 
one PRS Custom 22 Mahogany body and neck Maple cap, glued neck. 

And a PRS CE24 Alder body Maple neck bolt on. 

Both R/Wood boards, both same scale and bridges. 

Guess which was 'snappy' 'bright' and 'lively'?
Guess which was 'dark' 'thick' 'mid and low end heavy'

So the Mahog 22 was the bright snappy one, and the bolt on 24 was thick dark and fat. 

This is on open chords acoustically played, just the unplugged raw sound. 

Are my expectations broken??
i totally expected the exact opposite, Ie noticed the 22 sounds brighter but I always put it down to being more of a 'house' guitar and just getting played less than the CE so having less tarnished strings. 

RandallFlagg

Interesting. I find this with Strats when you play custom shop Starts side by side they can all sound slightly different and sometimes the rosewood boards sounds snappier than the maple. 

samzadgan

I kinda suspect it might be a little different plugged in? But maybe not. 

guitarfishbay

Possible reason is the shorter, therefore potentially stiffer, neck on the 22.

I find stiffer neck equals more snap and brightness, this is possibly more easily observed on bass... I have a strong preference for a reinforced or multi laminate necked basses for this exact reason. Plus you can usually get the action lower without buzzing on a more rigid neck.

When you tune lower with thicker strings you're also generating more energy into the guitar, so neck rigidity could again become a factor. Look at Blackmachines, multi laminate necks and sound powerful and punchy despite a very thin body, even in very low tunings.

There are always variables down to the exact piece of wood used, but my own experience is that more rigid necks are preferable for heavy rock/metal/downtuned playing styles, or at least my own playing.

Funkfingers

Assume nothing. Try things. Listen attentively. That is all.

guitarfishbay

RandallFlagg said:

Interesting. I find this with Strats when you play custom shop Starts side by side they can all sound slightly different and sometimes the rosewood boards sounds snappier than the maple. 

Setups matter too, especially when it comes to transient response.

I have shimmed all my bolt ons, the increased break angle contributes to snappiness IMO. General internet wisdom says you need maximum connection between the wood to get the best tone transfer... I don't buy it anymore, some of the best instruments I've owned have a neck pocket gap and a shim!

professorben

guitarfishbay said:

Possible reason is the shorter, therefore potentially stiffer, neck on the 22.

I find stiffer neck equals more snap and brightness, this is possibly more easily observed on bass... I have a strong preference for a reinforced or multi laminate necked basses for this exact reason. Plus you can usually get the action lower without buzzing on a more rigid neck.

When you tune lower with thicker strings you're also generating more energy into the guitar, so neck rigidity could again become a factor. Look at Blackmachines, multi laminate necks and sound powerful and punchy despite a very thin body, even in very low tunings.

There are always variables down to the exact piece of wood used, but my own experience is that more rigid necks are preferable for heavy rock/metal/downtuned playing styles, or at least my own playing.

Good point, I had not considered the shorter neck, as it's the same scale. 

professorben

samzadgan said:

I kinda suspect it might be a little different plugged in? But maybe not. 

Well they have quite different pickups. 

The 22 has a mellower more vintage set where the 24 has a louder higher output set. 

Id not noticed a great difference before when changing guitars while plugged in. 

HAL9000

I 'expected' that buying a black Strat would make me play like Clapton. The 'reality' was somewhat different.

WezV

guitarfishbay said:

Possible reason is the shorter, therefore potentially stiffer, neck on the 22.

I find stiffer neck equals more snap and brightness, this is possibly more easily observed on bass... I have a strong preference for a reinforced or multi laminate necked basses for this exact reason. Plus you can usually get the action lower without buzzing on a more rigid neck.

When you tune lower with thicker strings you're also generating more energy into the guitar, so neck rigidity could again become a factor. Look at Blackmachines, multi laminate necks and sound powerful and punchy despite a very thin body, even in very low tunings.

There are always variables down to the exact piece of wood used, but my own experience is that more rigid necks are preferable for heavy rock/metal/downtuned playing styles, or at least my own playing.

I would echo that.  Neck construction is crucial.  I used to favour the stiffer multilaminted neck with solid CF bars but now often limit it to 3-piece with hollow CF tubes.  I think it's possible for the neck to be too stiff and it makes the tone a little too direct, but that still works for some styles.

The best necks are those which work well under tension and setup can be controlled with the truss rod.... not those that are so stiff string tension makes no difference.  

richardhomer

HAL9000 said:

I 'expected' that buying a black Strat would make me play like Clapton. The 'reality' was somewhat different.

Did it make you sound like David Gilmour instead?

Bridgehouse

richardhomer said:

HAL9000 said:

I 'expected' that buying a black Strat would make me play like Clapton. The 'reality' was somewhat different.

Did it make you sound like David Gilmour instead?

I bought a CS Strat and it makes me sound like Justin Bieber.

paulmapp8306

My CU22 was darker than my CE22 which was snappier - but they were both 22 frets. Im guessing thats whats different here - that neck length.