Does Tonewood Matter for Electric Guitars or It's All Just Pickups? Here's What Jason Lollar Says

[Wilmywood]

"There's also a lot of debate about whether woods in the guitar make any difference – believe it or not, it's hotly debated"

Master luthier & founder of Lollar Pickups Jason Lollar argued that different woods do make a difference in a guitar's tone, describing his company's rigorous testing practice as a case in point.

Making pickups comes much closer to exact science than art, and everything Jason Lollar tells Guitar World in a new interview seems to point in that direction. In his business, consistency is key when testing or producing a specific design: "If you wind one and come back a month later and wind another, you want them to sound almost exactly the same. It’s hard to do and a lot of people don't really know how to achieve that. You have to know what affects the outcome and what doesn't" Mr. Lollar explains.

The wood a guitar is made of presents one such variable, Mr. Lollar says, adding yet more proof to the enduring argument about tonewood. He explained:

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[GAD]

Play a mahogany slab guitar like an S60 or an SG and you’ll quickly come to the conclusion that they freaking rock unlike anything else.

Play an all maple Starfire next to an all Mahogany Starfire and you’ll quickly hear the difference.

 

[Rocky]

If it was just the pickups, wouldn't all guitars with the same pickups sound the same?

Examples - 1952-56 Les Paul Standard, 1946-56 Super 400 CES, Les Paul Junior. All identical.

 

[HeyMikey]

Of course it makes a difference. Some people like to argue just for the sake of arguing.

 

[Neal]

Even guitars built exactly the same, with the same pickups, in the same year, by the same people, sound different.

I own two Gretsch guitars, a 6118 Double Anniversary and a 6120. Identical in build. Made the same year (2004). Identical Filtertrons. Both made at the same factory in Japan (Terada). Both are all-maple.

Only difference is that the 6118 has no Bigsby and a space control bridge, while the 6120 has a Bigsby and an adjustomatic.

They sound as if they were made by two different companies at two different places.

 

[Rocky]

Even guitars built exactly the same, with the same pickups, in the same year, by the same people, sound different.

I own two Gretsch guitars, a 6118 Double Anniversary and a 6120. Identical in build. Made the same year (2004). Identical Filtertrons. Both made at the same factory in Japan (Terada). Both are all-maple.

Only difference is that the 6118 has no Bigsby and a space control bridge, while the 6120 has a Bigsby and an adjustomatic.

They sound as if they were made by two different companies at two different places.

They might have different bracing. Gretsch was using about four different styles then.

 

[Neal]

They might have different bracing. Gretsch was using about four different styles then.

Both bodies are identical, down to the bracing and sound post. The Annie is just a dressed down 6120.

I actually prefer the Annie.