So if wood type (what are we really talking about here - probably material density and consistency of density througout) is a key factor - or any factor - in a guitar's sound, this is because of something to do with the resonance of that material, yes?
In that case, I have the following questions:
- If fretboard makes a difference, why do people not give too much thought to laminate tops? Apparantly the 'laminate top' of the fretboard is important, but not the laminate top of the body, yet the body wood DOES somehow effect resonance? Seems odd.
- And in the same vein, if the laminate top DOES make a difference, or if we are to believe that layers of material can effect resonance, why don't people make a huge stink about pickguard materials or pickguards effect on sound? I would think there would just as many discussions on 'what pickguard should I choose to go with a Nailbomb'? as 'what pickup should I use with a maple fretboard?'.
- The amount of that wood should also be a factor if the type is, yet no one talks about tone when deciding on a guitar with a carved top, tummy cut etc.
- To go farther down the rabbit hole, if the resonance of the wood is a factor, then anything effecting that resonance should be taken into account. Anything touching the guitar will effect vibration - the leg it rests on, the shirt you are wearing, how hard you grip the neck, the humidity of the room you are playing in, etc etc.
I don't know. Personally I think that the way the guitar is put together is much more important than the wood it is made from when it comes to the sound it will produce, let alone the strings, pickups, amp etc. The extra money you are paying for a high end guitar can be justified more by the assembly process than the core materials.
Not unfair or unintelligent questions, but the answers probably wont please you:
There are no clear answers.
With guitars we're talking about structurally transmitted vibration, and resonant feedback through coupling. Geometry (shape) also has a pretty significant effect, but imo/ime its structural transmission and coupling.
Take the case of the fretboard. Lets say you have a 2cm thick neck and 5mm of it is fretboard. Thats 1/4 of the neck. More, in fact, given that its pretty much rectangular in profile, whereas the rest of the neck is curved.
A veneer top takes up much less of the proportion of the body. It will be having an effect, but its hard to say how much other than 'less'. A full 18mm top will have a lot more effect, and thats were a good LP gets a lot of its tone from.
Heres another thing though; the mounting of the bridge. With the transmission through the whole neck youre getting the whole neck to vibrate, but if you have a bridge with deep posts, then you will get less resonance from the top, proportionately speaking, than you would if you have some sort of more-or-less surface mounted bridge. String through is as least thought to affect it similarly (but I'm not convinced. Maybe).
Then theres structural, as well. Even a veneer can change the tone quite a bit if its a very rigid wood like ebony. You can do the same thing with necks; a neck thats just a chunk of mahogany Vs one thats all mahogany but has been cut into 3 parts and the centre one flipped round. That is a much more rigid structure, it will sustain better and likely have better high end transmission even though the material is the same (more or less).
In your conclusion, youre onto something. My number one guitar (made by Legra Guitars' Bob Johnson, along with my number 2 guitar) is based heavily around both; we chose woods for their generic tonal characteristics, and then the guitar was designed so that its assembly/structure transmits vibration as well as possible. Worked too, utterly stunning instrument.
