Elektroniikka ja soitinrakennus ›

Tuossapa "faktaa" taas painosta.
 
Guitar Trader's Vintage Guitar Bulletin
January 1986, Vol. 5, No. 1
Copyright 1985
 
STANDARDS 58 - 60;
Part Two "Soundburst"
by Gaston Gagnon & Timm Kummer
 

Most guitar players, as well as other collectors, consider the Les Paul "Sunburst" to be the foremost rock and roll axe ever made. Although there is no doubt that those Les Paul Standards which were made in the 1950's are the finest in terms of playing quality, there is a difference in the tone between them. Some have "the sound" and others don't. Why? Read on!
 
There are quite a few factors that influence the sound and the responsiveness of a solidbody electric guitar. Among them are the setup of the action, the pickups, the density of the wood, and the overall condition of the instrument.
 
We selected ten original 1958 - 1960 Les Paul Sunburst Standards at random and tested and compared them. We checked the weight and D.C. resistance of each pickup and made a subjective appraisal of the sound and tone quality.
 
We concluded that the PAF pickups, in which a variation in D.C. resistance can be found (anywhere from 6.5K to 9.2K in our samples), are not the crucial factor which determines the sound of these instruments. Is this possible? Read on!
 
Of the 1959's we studied, two or more of them had identical pickup readings (such as 7.6K), and yet, their sounds were very different. We found that a higher reading did not necessarily mean a better or hotter sounding instrument.
 
Most of the great sounding Les Pauls in our study had previously been played. This fact supports the belief that a guitar which has been used sounds better than one which hasn't. However, we did find one exception to this rule - stock #011277 (see list).
 
We found that the most influential factor in determining sound is the weight of the instrument, i.e., the weight of the wood. The lighter the guitar, the better the sound. This is due to the fact that lighter wood has better resonance. Gibson's woodunter, Wilbur Marker, once said, "Look at a piece of wood when it dries. The saps and juices which were once the life giving material evaporate, dry up, crystallize, and they move out of the vein and artery channels that were part of that tree. What's left is air. As it ages, the wood gets more porous. Looking at it through the electron microscope, you see these air filled tubes. clustered like pipe organs, and you can just feel them vibrate."
 
And some Sunbursts truly vibrate!