Unplugged solid body: loud and resonant or tinny and thin?

[GlassBass]

i just started a similar thread in pickups section. that has been bugging me too.

[GlassBass]

I had an electric bass (keyword: 'had') that would resonate so much on an 'A' note (D string, 7th fret primarily, but also noticeable on the A string, 12th fret, et al) that all the vibrating energy would be sucked out of the string and the note died rapidly. I could feel the neck vibrate sympathetically with this note much more than with any other notes played. Talk about a sour note!

On the other hand my latest acquisition, an LP-style guitar, has the kind of resonance (body resonance instead of neck?) that gives it a mellow-almost-semi-hollow sound when played unplugged. The feel and the sound of it unplugged really were what sold me on that guitar. And I'm sure the body resonance contributes to the overall sound, amplified, as well.

So to throw another log on the fire, what effect does fixed- versus floating- bridge have on the sound? I have a friend who swears that the springs in his strat-style guitar give a "spring reverb like" vibe to his playing when he practices unplugged. Says they make the sound louder.

that a 7th fret thing is a particular phenomenon caused by intonation set too perfectly. i was just reading about it.

[David Schwab]

I have a guitar made from acrylic plastic. It's not very loud unplugged, but sounds great plugged in.

Generally the heavier he guitar is, the less sound it makes unplugged. Lighter bodies will resonate more.
Lighter/louder bodies also tend to be warmer sounding. If you call a bright guitar tinny, it means you haven't adjusted your amp for that particular guitar. If you have a guitar with humbuckers sounding bright, then think what a tele bridge pickup would sound like!

I'd rather have a bright snappy sounding guitar, than a dark sounding guitar. But guitars sound like guitars, they just don't all sound the same.

[David Schwab]

Sorry Steve, guess I misunderstood you. I usually do what I said above, press my ear against the upper horn, just above the pickup switch on a Les Paul, and that's actually my favorite guitar sound. Never have been able to find an amp or setting that duplicates it though...

Stick a piezo transducer in the body. You won't get that tone from the pickups, or a piezo in the bridge.

[Brock Little]

I think that the biggest thing that people are likely to forget in this age old discussion is that all pickups are microphonic, at least to a certain extent. It's one of the reasons that I prefer direct mounted pickups. Those tones and frequencies that are 'lost' to body resonance are not lost at all, and end up feeding back to the pickup.
It's also not surprising that some of the least microphonic pickups can also be some of the most dull and boring. EMGs sound the same, even if you mount them on a broom!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJypvxnFg2Q

[David Schwab]

I think that the biggest thing that people are likely to forget in this age old discussion is that all pickups are microphonic, at least to a certain extent. It's one of the reasons that I prefer direct mounted pickups. Those tones and frequencies that are 'lost' to body resonance are not lost at all, and end up feeding back to the pickup.
It's also not surprising that some of the least microphonic pickups can also be some of the most dull and boring. EMGs sound the same, even if you mount them on a broom!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJypvxnFg2Q

I have to somewhat disagree with this. I make pickups that are encapsulated in epoxy. The coils are wax potted first. They are screwed right to the wood of the body. When I'm testing these they are not encapsulated so I can make changes. I have heard them both ways. The only difference is with the un-encapsulated pickup if you tap on it with a pick you can hear it.

Also the small amount of sound getting back to the pickup (if any) that way is swamped by the signal from the strings. If you want to test this, screw a pickup to the guitar away from the strings and listen to it. I'll bet you hear almost nothing, especially compared to the direct string sound mixed in with another pickup. I think you might also find that the "body resonance" is something you won't like in your sound. It will create wolf-tones at its resonance.

The main reason direct mounted pickups (might) sound better is they are not wobbling around on their pickup ring.

To properly do the EMG comparison you would need to need an encapsulated EMG and un-encapsulated EMG in the same guitar. Since you haven't heard that, we can safely make the assumption that you don't like the sound of EMG pickups, and that has little to do with the encapsulation.

[Brock Little]

I admit I don't like EMG pickups for various reasons, probably aside from encapsulation. However, it's easy to test the microphonic properties of pickups, separate to interactions with string vibrations. My strat is currently strung up without the electronics in place. It's a simple matter of holding the pickups direct to the body, away from the vibrating strings. My pickups are all wax potted, and don't have any microphonic feedback issues, and they get a great deal of sound through the body contact alone. Try it for yourself.

B