Georg, Yes, I know your stand on wood vs metal. You have very original and very sound ideas about how you want things built. You have done your homework and studied matters in detail. I am not going to be the one to counter any of your well-thought out theories.
However, even if my theories counter yours to a large degree, I think the one thing we can agree on is that sound and tone is in the ear that hears (like in the eye of the beholder) Simplified, this translates into: you like that blonde and I like that brunette.
No doubt, you have found in your re-worked Dekley,
the sound for your ears. You have admitted many times that you have a very finicky ear for what you comprehend as good tone. I respect your tastes and theories, I will continue to work with you on this very interesting steel guitar tone.
Of course, on some aspects we just have to agree to disagree. And here is one that looks as such: wood vs no wood. I could build you a steel guitar with 0 cab drop, just give me an expert welder and/or a huge chunk of aluminum and I will carve you a whole body/neck on a mill and there will be no movement. But me, with my penchant for all things wood, am afraid that I would have made you a thing that sounds sterile. I am a traditionalist. I do need wood in my product. I know that wood has that sound I am looking for. I have been told by the top guys in the business that different woods make different tone.
And yes, the tone is the sum of all the parts in a steel. Maybe you , in your experience, have discovered that a wood has very little input in that sum. I, in my experience and listening to the old pros, and the old steels not the least,
want wood to play a big role and am convinced that it does so.
Therefor, this sum of all the parts is somewhat lessened by me trying to isolate parts, or put air in between the neck and the sound board. Therefore I thought it was of some importance what I tried to work out today, this vibration or resonance, or lack thereof, in a body. I am so much of a traditionalist that I even hesitate to put glue in between the layers of wood to make plywood and even the Formica glued to a body.
As an example, I will never again use nylon anywhere in what I consider the sound chain. I know for a fact that this can have a detrimental effect on tone and sustain.
So, yes, I believe that the sound board and other components all work together to make this effect that reverberates back thru the guitar and via the strings give us this after-effect in thru the pickup and into the amp. Why else do some of the builders make sure that f ex the raise finger hits the wood body on a raise? Why does the emmons PP always have the finger in contact with the body?
I happen to like the Emmons PP sound...the only one distinct enough for my ear to pick out in a crowd of different steels. The old ZB's have it too. Sure, some don't prefer that sound maybe. But I like it so I guess that is what I am striving for. The ZB had thick heavy castings, combined with lots of wood.
I think wood overall only serves to increase sustain/tone. We hear that when we tap said wood with a mallet
We also hear that plastic deadens sound and sustain when put into a sound chain.
Aluminum too has a very nice ring to it. But I don't believe in lessening the amount of wood for aluminum. I fear this 'sterile' tone.
I think the two have been balanced in the traditional building method.
I heard a difference in sound from walnut to maple. That's not to say that one is better than the other. But the difference is distinct enough for me to want to make these two guitars to completion if for nothing else than settle my curiosity. I'll bet you the difference between the two will not be bigger than that both will be fully acceptable tone machines that anybody would be proud to own. Well, maybe except for purists like you - and I certainly respect that.
Man, will we have loads to talk about when I see you in a couple of months!
. You might tell me to get a life, but let's chalk it up to research and then it don't sound so lame. What I was doing this morning, was walking around tapping steel guitar bodies. I have two bodies sitting here and while waiting for some loctite to dry. I thought why not 'listen' to these hunks of wood to see if I can learn something, and that I did, in a way.