Will New Pots, Caps and Switch Make My MIM Strat Sound Better?

[ampmadscientist]

That new SG spoiled you.

That new SG spoils everybody.

 

[Cadorman]

That new SG spoils everybody.

So true. Just play a Strat or a Tele without plugging in and then do the same with an SG. Huge difference.

 

[Jeff Hudson]

Just as the title states, please weigh in on this question. Thanks!

if you have components out of spec yes it can, upgrading to higher quality pots ( true audio taper) lower tolerance caps, making sure your shielding is proper can help it just depends on what you are after. sounds like you need a face to face discussion with a tech and develop a plan.

 

[Jeff Hudson]

Can you explain in what way the guitar sounds bad at the moment. Aspects of guitar tone are dependant on the individual who owns them. What are you hoping to change in the sound of the guitar.

You can change the eq of a guitar with capacitors to skim off some of the low end.
Pickups will certainly make a difference. Are you using the stock pups? What is the configuration? With Strats you have the luxury of changing the scratchplates to change configuration.
I have a HSS Charvel that I am tinkering with to make a balanced pickup set that works for me. I am now happy with a Tone Zone in the bridge, but the singles need sorting out (rails that came wired as parallel and split).
Are the switches faulty, crackles, drop-outs, etc.

As for wood. That is a minefield. I have followed many discussions on this subject and watched YT vids that claim to support or debunk the wood tone theories. I am of the opinion that there is certainly crap wood out there and guitars with crap wood are irredeemable. But as to the tones created by different good wood varieties, I cannot hear any difference, even with headphones, though admittedly YT vids suffer from audio compression. Some claim to be able to hear differences, and they may be superhuman. They may also be deluded and have too much money to spend (thinking Hi-Fi audiophiles here).

Rob Chapman is one who claims to be able to hear differences and has a theory that different wood varieties subtract from the sonic spectrum of string vibration, not add. So a bright wood (maple?) is actually absorbing some lower frequencies, and mahogany dampens high frequencies?

For me a guitar has to feel right to my finger first. I can dismiss a guitar in about 2 minutes of playing if it is not my type of guitar (though a bad setup is easy to spot too).
Next comes acoustic sustain and dead spots. These two elements are fixed and no amount of modification can help turn these around for me.
Pickups and amplification are the main tone changers for me. The differences they can produce are massive compared to anything else.

my personal theory on the whole wood deal is a little different, what I think everyone is chasing is called tone matching I found this while reading a article on Stradivarius. what it said was the builder would take a tuning fork and start testing all the premade parts before putting together. by listening to the individual pieces by themselves with a vibrating tuning fork on them they could tell which parts would work together and produce a better sounding violin. I think what separates the good ones from the not so good is all the individual bits working together.

 

[john hammond]

jeff hudson, interesting post.

i have this guitar, non fender copy of fender. usacg body. fender knoffler signature neck ( long story)
anyway, these knoffler necks like most necks are thin. I like real fat necks.
- there isnt a strat on the planet better than this fender clone, the tone is at the top level.
In an environment like this forum filled with a mix of voodoo, old wives tales mixed with people with a great set of ears , statements like the one before this sentence are merely (usually) an utter waste of time, for both the author, and the reader. ( consider here that many of the people that read your post don't even believe that the wood of a guitar makes the slightest difference)
Considering the above, i shall continue anyway.

i replaced the neck with a usacg fat neck, much fatter..same fretboard composition, same neck material , same tuners.
the love simply vanished.
the thing sounded wheezy and dull.
after i put the old neck back on, to my relief, the guitar was ' back'.
the crazy resonance, the magnificent harmonic content was back.
So thin neck it is.

It got me wondering, and one of the possibilities i came up as an explanation was not simply that the thin neck is better ( a deaf person could have told me that), but rather, what value does this neck actually have to me, or anyone who is seeking to improve tone?
Will the neck improve another body?
i came up with the same notion, the possibility that its the ' mix' that is important, not just one part of the wood alone.

edit, my findings could be viewed as some sort of pandoras box ( just pretend im not making any of this up or having a delusional episode)

If the ' sum total' of parts theory isn't the biggest factor when describing the defining elements of a great sounding guitar, does neck would ' matter' more than body wood?

if the ' sum total' of parts theory is to be followed..
- how many average guitars are there out there waiting for a magic guitar neck change?

I think this needs to be studied, more experiments.

 

[dragonvalve]

A guitar no matter how much it costs or who makes them is a very individualistic "entity" in that the sound is sum of its parts. And the parts can be generic parts but the guitar by luck of the draw just sounds best the way it is stock.

It is often that musicians start looking at a musical instrument as if it were a car, thinking if this heavy duty part is added, it will perform better. Not true.

Going with the "sum of its parts" theory, it would be hit and miss changing parts. And the more parts you change at once, the more confusing it can become as to what made the change.

I changed the Fender MIJ pots, caps and switch to a (Oak Grigsby switch, CTS pots, Orange Drop cap) on my MIJ Fender Superstrat and it changed the sound for the worse and this was with an old 70's Dimarzio Superdistortion bucker in the bridge. I ended up putting back the old Japan parts as the newer "upgrade" parts brought out tones that were not favorable to the guitar and my ears at least.

The best approach I've found and Malmsteen might agree with this as this is what he does or did when he has the chance is to play 10's of guitars of the same model until he finds one that he likes vs getting the first seen and expecting an upgrade will work. Doesn't always happen that way.

The wood body/neck marriage of that particular guitar resonates at certain tones and putting pickups, bridge, pots, caps and switch there is a myriad of combinations that is not easy to approach to get a better sound or response.

Wanting a Dinky Strat but not spend a lot, I went through 10 Charvel CX391's at a store all in the same dark blue metalflake color.. Found one that was better to my ears and fingers than the rest.

I have not changed pickups, pots, cap, switch and the bridge is a Floyd made by Takeuchi. I did however shield the inside cavities of the guitar with brass sheet. The shielding did change the response of the pickups but it wasn't a bad change IMO. The pickups are the Jackson pickups HSH configuration: 2 Jackson J-55 humbuckers and a J-110 single coil.

Since I went through the 10 units, did I find the better guitar with the better body/neck? The better pickups through the stock pots, switch and cap, bridge? Or the whole thing together, "sum of its parts" which encompassed all the parts together on that particular guitar that just happened to be the luck of the assembly?

Of course you can do what you want, but keep in mind that the pros when they get their guitars worked on, some guru-eared tech has voiced their particular guitars and not a panacea one-size-fits-all approach and with their tech talent revised some parts filling in the voids where the guitar was weak.

Then there's the tone of the player's fingers to consider. Your hands on Billy Gibbons' guitar isn't going to make you sound like him.

I would change parts incrementally and play the guitar for a while to hear the differences under the playing/amp you use.

Guy's like George Lynch will build guitars by himself, selecting woods, sanding and shaping them and adding parts rather than by parts en masse and expect things to change off the bat.

Your guitar is not a car motor!

 

[john hammond]

Going with the "sum of its parts" theory, it would be hit and miss changing parts. And the more parts you change at once, the more confusing it can become as to what made the change.

-it would be hit and miss until you scored the big one.
just change one part at a time.easy.

 

[ampmadscientist]

It's really silly.
The companies that make all these parts want you to think that changing parts is going to change the sound of the guitar.
And they have told you that so many times, that many people believe it....
But sadly it's not really true.
You spend all kinds of money / change all kinds of parts and pickups but you never get what you expected.

People believe this about changing transformers in amplifiers too...but you are going to reach the same conclusion after your money is gone.

 

[Nik Henville]

The companies that make all these parts want you to think that changing parts is going to change the sound of the guitar.
And they have told you that so many times, that many people believe it....
But sadly it's not really true....

...well ...some parts will "change the sound"...
But whether that change is "good" or "bad" is entirely up to you.

Had myself a long run in with some of Bob Colossi's fans over at Gibson - they all believed putting his heavy bridge pins with abalone inserts would improve the tone, end of story. I ranted 'till I was blue in the face that, yes, heavier pin WOULD change the sound. The increase in mass WOULD increase the brightness, decrease the bass and increase the sustain slightly, but, but, but...
Every guitar is different, every player is different, one man's "brighter" is another man's "harsher". One man's "bass" is another man's "mud". And even the slight increase in sustain would work for one player and not necessarily for another. And as for looks, I love his abalone inserts - others prefer rosewood, ebony or polished brass.
The "change" would very likely happen... but whether the player would like it is a totally other thing. Just changing stuff away from the original design, with no understanding of the whys and wherefores, is a mugs game - and the more expensive the item you are tinkering with, the more foolish that gamble is.

Step 1) What change, sound-wise, are you after?
Step 2) What means are available to achieve that change?
Step 3) What else might be compromised by the change?
Assuming you are clear about these aspects...
Step 4) Can the change be reversed without any penalty if it doesn't work out as expected.

Assuming you have all that covered, go ahead - or just swap the thing for something designed to do the job you want...

 

[Matthews Guitars]

The thing about strats is that the pickups are very mechanically isolated from the body, being hung off that giant piece of plastic we call a pickguard. As such, pickup tone is going to be more of a factor than body wood choice, by a large margin.

Yes, wood choice most definitely affects tone, but it's more in general terms based on the general characteristics of a species rather than "This mahogany top sounds magical, and that one sounds like a pickle covered in silicone rubber". Being no stranger to building guitars, I pick woods that have favorable tonal attributes.

The fact is that every piece of wood absorbs string vibration. Which frequencies of vibration are absorbed most quickly and which ones are absorbed more slowly have a very real effect on tone and sustain. Woods that are less lossy (absorb the vibrations more slowly) contribute to sustain.

 

[john hammond]

As such, pickup tone is going to be more of a factor than body wood choice, by a large margin.

So, when i take the loaded pickguard out of one strat body, and take that same neck too, and put it all into another body, use the exact tuners, same pickup height, same brand and gauge strings..set that guitar up and it sounds as different as night and day to the other body..then its the placebo effect or just auditory delusion?

When i see comments like this from people i think 3 things

1) I wish there was a standard that people had to attain, some sort of regulatory mechanism which would hopefully stop people from advising other people on matters they have no actual understanding of

2) that person is going to be hell embarrassed at what they've printed in these forums as they evolve in their musical lives.

3) why is a person who is tone deaf messing with guitars? ( if you think pickup tone is more of a consideration than wood choice, you've either never played or messed with guitars, or you're tone deaf)

 

[Matthews Guitars]

I've been building guitars for over 30 years as a hobby. I've had a number of Strats and generally have never found that I have any reason to keep them.

I've worked on a great many more.

I will say that, yes, absolutely, there are a few strats where body tone is a prominent factor in their sound. But if you're swapping out one 5 pound alder body for another 5 pound alder body, don't expect a major difference in overall sound. However, if you're swapping out a six pound baseball bat ash body that has all the resonance of a louisville slugger for a 3 pound basswood body that rings like a bell, yes, you're going to hear a heck of a difference!


I'll stand by my statement that pickup selection is MORE of a factor in overall tone. On the guitars I build, I pick woods that have attributes I think will work for the tonal qualities I am looking for. I've been pretty successful at that. Some of those woods are pretty darned expensive, and some of the alternatives with similar characteristics are dirt cheap. I'll use either.

 

[john hammond]

you believe whatever you want to believe, all you're doing, and teaching others to do is make pickup manufacturing companies wealthy.

for anyone else reading this, think of a guitar body - and whats attached to it ( its actually the neck and wood body combined) as a color...different pickups merely reproduce different elements, or hues of that color...they can never produce a hue that isn't in the original color.

if you have a shit sounding body, the better the pickups you put in it, the more shit you'll hear.

edit - As nik has pointed out, add metal to the mix, and you will hear metal

 

[paul-e-mann]

So, when i take the loaded pickguard out of one strat body, and take that same neck too, and put it all into another body, use the exact tuners, same pickup height, same brand and gauge strings..set that guitar up and it sounds as different as night and day to the other body..then its the placebo effect or just auditory delusion?

When i see comments like this from people i think 3 things

1) I wish there was a standard that people had to attain, some sort of regulatory mechanism which would hopefully stop people from advising other people on matters they have no actual understanding of

2) that person is going to be hell embarrassed at what they've printed in these forums as they evolve in their musical lives.

3) why is a person who is tone deaf messing with guitars? ( if you think pickup tone is more of a consideration than wood choice, you've either never played or messed with guitars, or you're tone deaf)

you believe whatever you want to believe, all you're doing, and teaching others to do is make pickup manufacturing companies wealthy.

for anyone else reading this, think of a guitar body ( its actually the neck and wood body combined) as a color...different pickups merely reproduce different elements, or hues of that color...they can never produce a hue that isn't in the original color.

if you have a shit sounding body, the better the pickups you put in it, the more shit you'll hear.

Be nice Johnny...

 

[paul-e-mann]

I've been building guitars for over 30 years as a hobby. I've had a number of Strats and generally have never found that I have any reason to keep them.

I've worked on a great many more.

I will say that, yes, absolutely, there are a few strats where body tone is a prominent factor in their sound. But if you're swapping out one 5 pound alder body for another 5 pound alder body, don't expect a major difference in overall sound. However, if you're swapping out a six pound baseball bat ash body that has all the resonance of a louisville slugger for a 3 pound basswood body that rings like a bell, yes, you're going to hear a heck of a difference!


I'll stand by my statement that pickup selection is MORE of a factor in overall tone. On the guitars I build, I pick woods that have attributes I think will work for the tonal qualities I am looking for. I've been pretty successful at that. Some of those woods are pretty darned expensive, and some of the alternatives with similar characteristics are dirt cheap. I'll use either.

Dont mind Johnny he can get excitable if he didnt take his medicine, he speaks his opinion as absolute sometimes but he means well. Thanks for your input, lots of opinions are welcome.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

I'm not even going to say he's wrong. I get what he's saying and I agree with him...to a point.

EVERYTHING is subtractive in a guitar. There's a maximum limit to the harmonics and sustain that the string itself is capable of.

EVERYTHING else in the guitar, from the tuners, nut, bridge, tailpiece, and pickups, to the wood choices for every part, and the finish and strap buttons and screws, is subtractive,
to one degree or another. Some things are LESS subtractive, others are MORE subtractive. Generally for tonal purposes we want to use parts that are less subtractive.

If you have a body and neck that are just DEAD in the bass notes, putting in an overwound humbucker like a Seymour Duncan Invader isn't going to bring all that bass back. Oh, it might help a little. But Johnny is right in that, basically, you can't add back what is already completely gone.

In my estimation, pickup choice is an important tonal consideration and so is wood choice. As is everything else. You can have great pickups and great sounding woods and lose the game by putting in a garbage bridge that sucks sustain out of every note and every pitch.

 

[john hammond]

in the interests of education, to explain this basically never-ending debate between people, lots and lots of people...i'll say one more thing on the matter.

While its true the tonal properties of the guitar are based on all the elements of components on that guitar, whether brass is used, whether stainless is used, what pickups are used etc..

the common denominator that supplies the very bulk of the tone, and the only element that retains the fundamental elements of that guitars tone as you change the other ( what i call ' minor' ) tone generating ( or more importantly sometimes, tone cancelling or filtering) elements...is the neck and body woods.

when gibson sell you a heritage series 59 burst for 10k, they dont put 10k pickups in that thing..they use selected timbers, special timbers. ( and nitro-cellulose, i believe).

it is well documented by suhr and prs ( and you can hear it, their top level shit is fiiine) that they grades wood for tonal properties, leaving the tippy top grades for their top shelf stuff.

you simply cannot build a guitars tone on the hardware, electronics, or tuners, or pickups, what you're doing while trying to do that is push shit uphill ( literally if its a dog of a body/neck)

An exception is if youre trying for a flat response..in that case find the deadest piece of wood you can, put in your fav pickups and enjoy the sound of metal guitar strings.

the only way to fundamentally change the tone of a wooden guitar, is to change the wood, or cut it down, little by little..as evidenced quite spectacularly by what evh did to that exploror.

building cosmetic knocks offs, or close cosmetic knockoffs is one thing, building amps that look the part is one thing, building guitars and amps that SOUND special, is not something that everyone can learn, or has the spare ten years of listening to learn before you even pick up a metal cutter, a saw or a block of wood.

years ago, when gibson were getting pummeled for some reason..chambers?..something like that, a friend who owns a guitar store rang and told me to go check out this 59 reissue that someone had ordered from gibson..not expecting much ( i wasnt a gibson fan) i went down there, and the two things i remember are...a fat neck...and probably the best mahogany tone ive ever heard in my life, period. ive tried so many LP's since then, and only one was fit for purchase, i bought it for my bro who was after one. Gibson i believe, do not fuck around with their top shelf stuff

edit - there are two factors inside the tonal superiority spectrum.

1) frequency response
2) dynamic response

frequency response is easy to understand, dynamic response however is a beautiful and sometimes rare quality..the guitar ' throws' sound.

these are the two factors that matter, and if your guitars have both these qualities, it dont mean shit what pickups or hardware you have on them, they'll sound amazing.

 

[Hgvhgvyvutvy]

Just as the title states, please weigh in on this question. Thanks!

Ok, I TOTALLY DIDNT READ ANY OF THIS THREAD. And since I'm on a plane and bored (too afraid to sleep in case I die in a fire and don't notice), I'll try and offer some input. Its all subjective and this is all, just, like, my opinion man..

But ..

MIM is a decent strat. Especially the more recent ones. I mean they are generally excellent. Anyway, changing the components will change the tone, for the better or not - that's entirely subjective.

The way I think about guitar tone:

Every instrument design/scale length/materials has a certain EQ. That's a huge debate and wide scope of factors but simplified it breaks down to too bright or too dark.

Identifying that is something you will likely already have done, hence the post ..

So if its too bright, which if its MIM and has ceramic pickups (older models now), will be as simple as putting some more traditional alnico pickups wound to ~6k-9k. Job done. Leave everything else alone.

If, like many people, you have jumpered the switch to allow for a tone control on the bridge pickup, the choice of cap material has a very subtle impact on the end tone: again, simplified, it's usually 'sharp' or 'soft' sounding or somewhere in between aka the 'sweet spot'.

The value of the capacitor in tandem with the value of the potentiometers determines overall EQ of the guitar: need it darker, up the value of the cap, need it brighter, lower it. Same goes for the volume pot: need more highs to come through on 10, up the value etc. 250k does plenty, but you can go to 500k or more if it doesn't. I've never needed to use anything other than the standard Fender specs for pots and caps. Since most of us will be using valve amplifiers, its academic to tweak the tone using the amps EQ rather than hard wiring the guitars. Your MIM start comes with 'correct' value pots and cap stock.

No need to change those unless you are changing the pickups to some kind of 'extreme' or otherwise intending to turn your strat in to something other than a basic S-S-S strat.

Cap values wise: typically this isn't as scary or as complicated as it sounds. Millions of guitarist over half a century have thoroughly tested every conceivable combination and the consensus is that 99.9% of guitars sound 'correct' to 99.9% of guitarists with 0.01–0.047uF caps. Guess what? 99.999999% of everyone uses .022uf or .044uf caps. The vast majority use ceramic caps e.g. orange drops. That will be precisely what is already fitted to your MIM strat. So don't sweat it.

Personally I would say that strats often fall in to two extremes, depending entirely on what and how you like to play your guitar.

1. "Traditional". Floating or non-blocked trem & lighter strings (9s or 10s). This is how your strat is shipped from the factory and everything on it is spec'd for this style.

If you have an older MIM with ceramic pickups these can be a bit brittle and lacking in the 'warmer' tones we associate with alnico: just fit standard spec alnico pickups.

Fender make a boatload of different types that range from chimey/vintage sounding to warm/thick sounding. Depending on what you want to play, if you are 'traditional' e.g. blues, blues rock, hard rock, folk, country etc etc.

I'd recommend sticking with the S-S-S configuration and go for some alnico 5 pickups with vintage pole stagger (not flat tops) with output around 5.5-6k for the neck and middle and 7-9k for the bridge (9k is my preferred).

Those can be wired in and leave everything else alone and you'll sound like most everyone who made a record using a strat in the last 60 years or so. Yes even Iron Maiden, Kossoff, Gallagher, SRV, Hendrix et al all used 'traditional' config strats. Heavy enough for most applications and still versatile enough to do everything in between. The reason why the stratocaster is rightly regarded as the greatest electric guitar design of all time (even tho I don't currently own one lol).

2. "Modern". Blocked or hard-tail strat and medium to heavy strings (10s-13s). This is how the strat evolved in to the super strat and the metal machine for modern music styles.
Most put a humbucker in the bridge (a full size one or a mini). In fact, the hard-tail super strat through a Marshall plexi is the quintessential 70's hard rock tone imho. If you don't go humbucker, chances are you will still opt for warmer and beefier single coils. Such as Fender has been shipping for some years now, like the Fat 50's and the even higher output models where you are getting back in to ceramic territory of really high output jobbies wound with 43awg and steel base plates etc. You can even fit mini humbuckers or rails etc. Typically you will want to up the volume pot to 500k but also, typically, the cap values stay the same.

Also bear in mind that most players (in my experience, yours may vary) don't put humbuckers in a strat because they like the tone over a beefier single coil, because there really isn't any better tone than a beefy single coil (lol). Rather they do it because they want a quieter gig rig. True story. Pedals can make anything sound like anything these days. Changing the hardware has become something of a niche hobby. Its for the sake of it by and large..

Anyway, if you are determined to go down this rabbit hole, its really not that complicated and its quick and easy to change pickups and components on a stratocaster - literally anyone can do it themselves with a flat surface, basic tools and some patience.

My own personal observations on strat setups:

Neck relief

The strat can literally sound like a bag of crap if its not setup properly. More so on the 7.25" radius boards, but I really can't over-emphasize the need for a good setup to get good tone out of a strat. In particular, 25.5" Fender scale guitars are HUGELY influenced by the amount (or lack of) neck relief. Too much or too little relief and you get dull, stiff, choked sounding chords and runs up the neck. Too much and you can feel like you are constantly chasing the note and having to exert too much pressure to fret cleanly. Generally though, most strats I handle are set up with little or no relief at all, even back bow. That's because Eric Johnson, who is a freaking savant genius, likes his that way. Not because its actually good for 99% of mere mortals etc. My mantra: "If in doubt, slacked it out." Just a quarter turn at a time, tune to pitch, you'll be astonished when you hit the sweet spot - and every single guitar has its own sweet spot. I promise you, they really do. You have to dial it in.

Pickup height

Neck and middle I'd say go for as low as you can without losing output. Bridge I always fret the last fret and aim to get ~2mm air gap between the top of the tallest pole and the bottom of the string. Needless to say but pickup height on a start is KEY to good tone. Its really important to spend some time experimenting with this. Also how you set your neck and middle in relation to each other determines your in between position tones. Experiment, because they can be radically different depending on how you like it. Also, since it isn't 1955 anymore, nobody really uses the middle position for much of anything anymore, so sacrificing good inbetween tones for a nice rhythm tone may or may not be a good or desirable approach..

Strings

Strats always sound best with 10-46 medium guage strings in my opinion for the vast majority of playstyles and genres. Especially rock: A and G chords smashed out over a dimed Vox or Marshall using 10's and a floating trem is tone heaven. However, I find they nearly always PLAY best with 9-46 e.g. a lighter top heavier bottom. Especially if its a long set or there's clean or ambient content. If you are rolling a dead straight neck and are in to your chickin pickin or your surf, I really like the light top heavy bottom sets e.g. 10-56.

Guitar cable

Get yourself a proper $30 low capacitance cable if you are sounding too dark. Fender custom shop cables, for example, are about twice the capacitance of the Gotham (gotham.ch) cable I use with my Les Paul. Same with those twisty cables: can be great for shaving off the highs, especially on ceramic MIM pickups ..
A cable swap can be the cheapest and fastest way to alter the EQ of your instrument without ever breaking out the soldering iron. Alternatively use a tuner pedal with a buffer built in like the Boss TU2 or 3 models. Can really help if your cables are super long or crap.

Saddles

Take some time to get your saddles dialed in right for the neck radius. Its hugely important. Rather than try and explain it all here's a guy who has already gone to the trouble of doing just that.



There's loads more, but if you are struggling to get a good/pleasing tone from a MIM standard strat, the chances are you are going to need to get it setup optimally first and then and only then would I start making decisions about how it does or doesn't sound like I want it too and making purchases and doing mods to correct that.

A final word on 'high output' 'blocked' strats: just buy a telecaster instead. Just my 2c!

 

[Matthews Guitars]

Bob Taylors's experiments with building the same model guitar using different wood selections, which resulted in guitars that all sounded a lot more alike than some people would have imagined, were very interesting from any point of view.

I am a tonewood believer, unquestionably, but THAT experiment showed that in acoustic guitars, design and construction techniques can reduce the effect of specific wood species selections in the overall result.

I don't build flattop acoustics. I'm a solidbody builder who occasionally dabbles in fully carved acoustic archtops.


One of my personal pet theories is that when it comes to guitar body shapes, symmetrical body shapes will have certain advantages over asymmetrical shapes.

I refer to the wave tank experiments that I have done in high school physics class. (Maybe you did them, too.) The locations of the resonant nulls and nodes at different frequencies is affected by the driving point in the tank and the shape of the tank.

If the tank (guitar body shape) is symmetrical from side to side then all the nodes and nulls will appear somewhere on the centerline of the guitar. If it's asymmetrical,
the location of those nodes and nulls will wander around.

I've found from personal observation that the guitars that seem to have the most consistent response up and down the neck, from string to string and note to note,
are those guitars that have more symmetrical bodies. And if their geometry is simple straight lines that seems to help even more.

Not surprisingly, I have found that the Flying V shape seems to be the absolute best guitar shape that there is from this perspective. I've played many that simply had
no dead spots on the neck.

Other very symmetrical shapes like the SG also perform very well in this regard.

Meanwhile, the asymmetrical Firebird and Explorer shapes seem to have (more often than not) major problems with some spots on the neck that are just flat out dead,
and you learn to avoid playing them in those spots. I used to have an Explorer that simply did not do A. A was its "wolf tone".

Guitars that are moderately asymmetrical like the common LP, Strat, and Tele shapes tend to have some unevenness in their response but it's not bad. But if you look for it, checking the sustain on every note, you'll find it.

 

[john hammond]

if you want a normal sounding guitar, the usual ritual of selecting/procuring/being given the guitar..then performing the upgrades are the normal things that happen.
you can build a guitar from scratch out of normal, unselected wood, even with wood reasonably selected for its tonal properties.
and the guitar will be good.( unfortunately, not always )

Im not after these guitars, ever since i saw the light ( heard the light ) i went after guitars that have such ferocious ( good) harmonic resonance, you can feel the notes vibrations swell not only as sound comes out of the speaker, but from the tips of your fingers as you play, through the fretboard.
the way these amazing things resonate ( and pass that resonance through to the amp) has to be witnessed to be believed.

what im talking about here can be attained randomly ( good luck, i'd estimate these jewels are about 1 in 200 guitars)
or, you can find the love by using methods that are lot more complicated than sending seymour your money.
The methods for selecting woods are well established ( finding someone who has the golden ear is another matter entirely) , but the method to selecting a guitar like this hanging in a guitar shop, is not.

if a person merely wants a guitar that looks good, then that person is going to be a happy person in relation to that. If a person throws the wood choice method of selecting premium guitars out the window, then that person is going to be a happy person as well, selecting guitars ( or wood to make guitars ) is like picking out a nice shirt off the rack to match the rest of his new outfit.
Be happy, people.