The Details of Your Tone

Hello all! Welcome back to The Corner. This week we’re going to talk about the little things on a guitar that are often overlooked when searching for that sweet, sweet tone we all crave. The first thing most people do is change pickups and electronics to get the sound they want (or close to) but what about non-electronic parts like the nut, saddles, strings, and even simple things like the pick you use? There are a myriad of small details that are easy to pass by when retro-fitting an instrument or when building a guitar from pre-made bodies and necks. Let’s check it out.

Aw Nuts!

The guitar nut is not quite as dirty as it sounds. This is the small strip of material placed at the joint of the headstock and the neck at the end of the fretboard that has grooves in it and guides the strings to the tuning keys. A good portion of guitars are fitted with a nut made of synthetic materials from the factory, the most common ones being Micarta and Corian. In the olden days, bone was used commonly and elephant ivory was used on higher end instruments. The nut is extremely important to string alignment, action height, and tuning stability. An improperly cut nut or a worn out nut can cause all kinds of issues to surface so first of all, if you’re having problems with tuning stability or fret buzz (once the guitar is set up) it’s a good idea to have the nut checked by a luthier.

Besides the tuning and buzzing, the material of the nut has an impact on tone. Now keep in mind the tonal effect is only heard on open strings, once the string is fretted the nut isn’t making any difference in tone since the string is breaking across the fret at that point instead of the nut. This also applies to instruments with a zero fret. Softer nut materials like ebony tend to wear quicker and have a darker tone while harder materials, like bone, tend to emphasize the highs more and last longer.

Cheap plastic will tend to kill sustain and are not very durable, they wear out quick. Higher quality plastic, like Micarta, Corian, and TUSQ are higher density materials that are durable and have an even tone, often compared to bone by many luthiers. Graphite is a popular material for tremolo-equipped guitars due to its inherent “self lubricating” properties. This helps the string slide across the nut easily when using a tremolo and also allows for an easier return to “neutral” position when letting of the trem, increasing tuning stability. Some guitars can be found with brass nuts as well. These are extremely durable and tend to have a unique tone that can make the open strings a bit shrill but lends itself well to keeping clarity when heavily overdriven. Bone is still the preferred material for a lot of guitarists and luthiers. Its balanced tone is nice and even with no excessive volume or brightness on the open strings and, when unbleached, it self-lubricates making it a great choice for tremolo-equipped guitars. Fossil ivory is used in higher-end instruments and seems to have a subtle difference compared to bone, slightly mellower and warmer.

Ivory is no longer (if it ever really was) an acceptable choice due to the ecological impact. This is a forbidden material due to the fact that animals have to be killed to obtain it. It can be found through “black market” sources but definitely should not be used nor should these “sources” be encouraged to provide it. Please avoid any ivory that is not fossil ivory.

Saddle Up!

A saddle is the part of the bridge that physically supports the strings. On acoustic guitars it is usually one piece and the materials available are mostly the same as those available for the nut with the same sort of tonal effects, but since it’s on the other side of the guitar, these effects apply to all notes sounded instead of just the open strings. Electric guitars on the other hand usually have individual saddles for each string (barring vintage Tele-style bridges where two strings share a saddle) and are almost always metal. Electric guitar saddles can be found in stainless steel, brass, hardened steel, titanium and aluminum as well as graphite. Just like the nut, each material has an effect on the tone of the instrument.

Brass exudes a very balanced tonality with an equal measure of highs, mids, and lows coming through. Cold rolled steel is slightly brighter than brass with an “acoustical” quality. Stainless steel tends to have a bit more pronounced midrange than brass. Heat treated steel is similar but slightly warmer than stainless. Titanium is very similar to brass but with some added sparkle in the highs. Aluminum is the brightest with extended highs and a slight scoop in the midrange while retaining bottom end. Graphite saddles tend to be on the warmer side, similar to brass, with improved sustain at the cost of increased wear due to the softer nature of the material.

Break Your Angle

Another oft-overlooked aspect of guitars is the break angle of the strings across both the nut and the saddle (in the case of acoustic and TOM style bridges). The break angle is the downward angle of the string between the nut and tuner and the bridge and tailpiece (or bridge pin). This affects the downward pressure of the string across the nut or saddle and can have a drastic effect on sustain and vibration. Too little break angle will dampen the vibration causing a loss of sustain.

The break angle at the nut is the reason we see string trees on some guitars. Take a Strat for instance, the headstock is parallel to the neck resulting in a shallow break angle. The addition of string trees (usually on the E, B, D, G) increases the break angle for good pressure on the nut, this keeps the string in the slot and improves sustain. This is also the reason we’ve seen an increase in staggered tuning machines on instruments of this type, the lower posts on at the far end of the headstock increase the break angle, often making string trees unnecessary. Now, if you look at a Gibson Les Paul, you’ll notice the headstock is not parallel to the neck but angled backward. This increases the break angle and eliminates the need for string trees completely.

How Dense Do You Gotta Be?

When replacing metal parts on a guitar with aftermarket “upgrades” one factor that some people overlook is the density of the part. I’m referring to bridges and bridge parts as well as tuning machines. While not necessarily affecting the tone in terms of frequency response, these parts do play an important role in sustain and resonance. For example, a very popular upgrade to a tremolo is a “high mass” bridge block. Many aftermarket companies make these for tremolos. The higher mass increases sustain and resonance as opposed to a lighter-weight “shaved” block. The same goes for the bridge plate on a Tele, TOM bridge and tailpiece and tuning keys. Lightweight parts are great for comfort and some even are made of materials like titanium that have excellent tone and response but a majority of stamped out, mass produced parts are low density metals that may rob your favorite axe of some sustain and resonance. Always keep this in mind when choosing between the “cheaper” aftermarket parts vs. the “boutique” ones. The boutique guys usually have spent years researching their products for superior tonal qualities while the stamped out import parts are just made to be functional.

Don’t String Me Along!

The most basic, and most important, component of any guitar is the strings. Without them, well the guitar won’t make any sound! This obvious factoid aside, the strings have a rather large effect on overall tonality and character.

We’ve covered this before in The Corner but here’s a quick reminder, strings matter! Both for playability and sound. The playability part is up to you, you know what your fingers can handle but the sound, well…that’s what it’s really about correct? Lighter gauge strings are easier to bend at the cost less volume and more intonation problems. Heavier strings tend to have a stronger fundamental content than lighter ones as well as more overall output and also remain more stable for tuning. This comes at the cost of them being harder to bend.

The string material is also important to tone. Pure nickel strings are warm and round. Nickel plated steel have better top-end and sustain than pure nickel. Stainless steel strings are brighter still (not harsh, just more highs) with another slight increase in sustain.

Besides the material, both the core and the winding affect the character of the string. Flat wound strings are warmer and rounder while round wounds are brighter with a more percussive attack. Half wounds are right in between, though these are more common on bass than guitar in my experience.

As far as the core goes, there are two types, hexagonal-core and round-core. Hexagonal core is the most common while round core is only made by a few companies currently. So how does this affect sound? When the core is wound with the wire, the wire digs into the sharper edges of the hex-core string with more pressure than the flat sides. This results in uneven pressure around the core. A round-core string, when wound, the windings exhibit even pressure across the core that helps lower overall tension and increase sustain. Round-cores are also thought to emphasize even order harmonics for a “sweeter” overall sound. Some also find the round-core strings to be a bit warmer, lacking some of the sparkle of hex-core strings. If you haven’t tried them, give ‘em a shot you might like them.

Don’t Fret It!

While more of a “feel” aspect, frets do matter. Most commonly found frets are nickel/steel but there has been a rise in the popularity of stainless steel frets. Stainless steel is more durable and can last the life of the guitar while nickel/steel is softer and will wear quicker. Now, if you’re a weekend warrior, there’s a pretty slim chance you’ll ever need to replace the nickel/steel frets but if you play constantly on one guitar, eventually they’ll wear to the point of a re-fret. This is a span of years of playing though, not like it will happen every few months. There is also a debate about the sound of stainless vs. nickel/steel. Many players feel that stainless frets are harsh and too bright while many cannot hear a difference. This is all in the individual ear. I haven’t played too many stainless fretted guitars myself but the ones I have played sounded just fine, not harsh or too bright.

The fret size is a major aspect of playability. The lower, wider frets tend to be easier to bend on and some believe they increase sustain and resonance due to more mass. They do tend to have a bit blurrier, less distinct tone than narrow frets, which tend toward a more precise sound. This is a microscopic difference by the way; if you can actually hear this your ears are better than mine! The fret height is also a major player in feel. Some heavy handed players will tend toward bending the string out of pitch due to the amount of pressure they put on the string behind the fret while players with a lighter touch will not have this problem. In general I’ve found that if a fret is too low it makes it harder to achieve satisfactory vibrato and bends but if too high, I can’t keep the note in pitch. I’m really not sure how Malmsteen plays on a scalloped fretboard but then again, I simply do not have the training and discipline that he does either.

One thing to remember about frets, they should be taken into consideration when purchasing an instrument or neck. Replacing the frets on your guitar is not something for an inexperienced person and a luthier will not be inexpensive. If your guitar is too dark sounding, don’t run out and have the frets replaced with stainless. Check out the myriad of other details that can be addressed easily. In fact, it’s probably more cost effective to replace the entire neck with the frets you prefer than having one re-fretted.

So there you have it, some aspects of the guitar that you may not have thought of when thinking about tone. Remember “tone” is a result of many different components and variables coming together to give us “the sound” and changing any aspect, even the smallest details can and will inevitably cause some sort of change. Whether it’s for better or worse depends on the ear of the beholder. While it’s true that tone is in the fingers, it’s also true that tone is in the details. As per usual, if your guitar sounds really good, play until you make it sound great. After all it’s about making music and learning. What good does a great sounding guitar do you if you can’t play it? Thanks for reading folks! We’ll see you next time, in The Corner.