In short, the outcome was that the body/resonator contact had a clearly noticeable influence on the acoustic tone, but close to none for the electric output. Another variation on this experiment is to put the headstock—rather than the body—in touch with the box. Can we expect the same outcome as before?
One obviously huge difference between the body and neck is their cross sections, influencing stiffness and mass, and therefore providing susceptibility for dampening, resonances, and eigenmodes stimulated by the vibrating string. (For more on how eigenmodes work, see “Killing the Bass, Part 1," from the August 2020 issue.) The main parameters influencing a neck's vibrational behavior are—of course—material, shape, and design of the truss rod, or truss rods. (Yes, dear guitarists, there are basses with more than one truss rod.) There is also the act of our hand grabbing the neck, which will both dampen and stiffen the neck.
An old trick to move dead spots up or down in frequency is to add or remove mass at the headstock—the end of its “lever arm." This is known to work on guitars most of the time, but not so well on basses. This is unscientifically spoken and without further proof, but to significantly influence low bass notes requires bigger changes in mass than most would accept as realistic. There is a bit more about this subject in my column “Bass Necks: Adjustability and Resonance," from November 2012.
Fig. 2 — Here's the spectrum of an E chord on an electric guitar recorded via microphone, with black indicating contact with a box and red without. Graphic courtesy of “Physics of the Electric Guitar" by Dr. Manfred Zollner
Back to the experiment: So, if varying the mass at the headstock can shift these resonances, so should its fixation to the box, right?
Fig. 1 shows our experimental setup. Fig. 2 represents the measured signal of a microphone, while Fig. 3 does the same for the measured signal of a pickup. Both diagrams compare neck contact with the box, and without. It's worth noting that the basic signal for the measurements was an E chord played roughly 50 times by an experienced player.
Opposed to last month's experiment with the body contacting the box—where it was hard to even distinguish the curves in the plot of the electric signal—we can now see at least a few differences in two frequency ranges. Although visually noticeable, however, it was reported that even experienced listeners weren't able to say which is which.
Fig. 3 — Here's the spectrum of that E chord recorded with a guitar's pickup, with (black) and without (red) contact to the box. Graphic courtesy of “Physics of the Electric Guitar" by Dr. Manfred Zollner
An explanation for the results of the first experiment with the body/box contact is that there is a flow of vibrations into the body. Otherwise, we wouldn't hear any acoustic difference when contacting the box. But the reflow from the body back into the strings is zero, at least practically, as we can't measure or hear any differences. On the other hand, the softer neck and its vulnerability for resonances and eigenmodes is able to make a small difference due to the added stiffness and coupling when contacting the box.
All these measurements were done with a guitar, so it would be interesting to see whether there would be bigger differences in the electric signal for a bass. Why? Because we have a higher string mass and overall vibrational energy, and a longer scale length.
There are certainly quite a few more constructional details on our instruments that will alter acoustic or primary tone, but with even less likelihood to make it into the electric signal. So, bottom line: Don't rely too much on acoustic tone when you're evaluating an instrument!
For example, guitars player told designers that the thumbscrews on the back of most locking-tuners are easy-to-lose, so Laguna developed lightweight tuners that are self-locking from the front. To restring, the player simply inserts the new string all the way and begins turning the tuning machine knob. The self-locking mechanism clamps the string and it''s in tune about halfway around the post, eliminating the winds from binding (and putting the guitar out of tune) during aggressive tremolo use.
Guitarists also expressed the desire for a tougher graphite nut, so Laguna incorporates nuts that are Teflon-reinforced and self-lubricating. Another example: instrument owners often find themselves frustrated with extreme back bowing that renders a guitar useless and unplayable, so the company spent extra research and development time designing a dual action truss rod to eliminate this problem — at no extra cost.
Frets were chosen for their low-profile, low-mass feel to make the neck almost "fretless" fast and give the neck a nice "woody" tone.
The company strives to provide guitarists with premium quality without premium pricing. It offers swamp ash bodies and thick dark Indian rosewood fretboards on comfortable Canadian hard rock maple necks, as well as strap locks that are inset into the guitar body — all without the usual custom upgrade pricing.
Electric Solidbodies
LE222
- Smoothly contoured basswood body
- Premium hardware
- Custom-wound C4 ceramic humbucking pickups in an SSH configuration... double-potted to reject feedback.
- Estimated street price: $299.99
LE322
- Louisiana swamp ash body
- Premium hardware
- Custom-wound Alnico 5 pickups (SSH) with coil tap gives plenty of mid-range punch to complement the rich low-end and snappy bite of the ash body.
- Estimated street price: $399.99
LE422
- AAA flamed maple veneer
- Premium hardware
- Estimated street price: 499.99
LE524 (photo above)
- Rosewood flat-radius fretboard on North American hard rock maple neck
- 24 jumbo frets
- Premium hardware
- Coil-tapped, custom-wound Alnico 5 humbuckers
- Floyd Rose-licensed locking tremolo system
- Estimated street price: $599.99
Acoustics
LD2 Brat
- 7/8 Dreadnaught
- Solid spruce top
- Mahogany back and sides
- Estimated street price: $299.99
LG4
- Grand Auditorium-style
- Choice of bubinga or quilted ash.
- Fishman preamps
- Estimated street price: $499.99
LG6 (photo above)
- Grand Orchestra –style
- Fishman Prefix Plus electronics
- Choice of Ovangkol back and sides and a solid spruce top, or solid cedar top with rosewood back and sides
- Estimated street price: $699.99
“We designed Laguna guitars with the wants and needs of players in mind” stated Michael Doyle, Vice President of Product Marketing. “We know that guitarists have come to seek out specific enhancements that bring their instruments up to a certain standard of playability, tonal and aesthetic quality – what other manufacturers usually consider to be ‘upgrades’. We strive to give all players these advantages from the start, in a variety of instrument styles and configurations, while providing a professional value that players can really enjoy. From our extensive research and design experience we know that better guitars equal better players, and that is where Laguna Guitars shine.”
The complete range of Laguna Acoustic and Electric Guitars is available immediately. Laguna Ultimate Rock Packs that include a Laguna guitar and a Line6® amp will also be available.
For more information:
PlayLaguna.com (Site set for launch on October 23, with full digital content on November 15)
This gorgeous guitar is a 1959 Les Paul Standard Historic Reissue. It features Burstbuckers and a beautiful nitrocellulose lacquer finish.
