The Science
of Tone
By THoMAs sCo TT MCKEnzIE
The Ford Model T was revolutionary. The
only horses involved were under the hood,
which was a big enough deal at the time,
but we now know that the assembly line
process behind it would go on to revolutionize the way we manufacture tools,
vehicles, and the rest of our modern appurtenances. In all honesty, the Model T had a
long way to go. Consider how that horse-less carriage would hold up today. When we
put nostalgia and historic significance aside,
it’s the last car you’d want take a long trip
in or depend on for daily commutes. From
a modern day performance perspective, the
Ford Model T was garbage.
guitar’s evolution? We’re not just talking
nostalgia and historic significance here—ask
most guitarists to name the most amazing,
best-sounding electric guitars ever made,
and they’ll go all the way back to early-fifties Broadcasters, late-fifties Les Pauls,
and early-sixties Stratocasters.
just another instrument, those Les Pauls
now occupy a mythic status in the minds
of guitarists and collectors everywhere.
The instruments, along with a small handful of Fender Stratocasters and examples
from one or two other manufacturers from
roughly the same era, represent the Holy
Grail in guitar tones.
Guitarists cling to the
tones produced by what
is, essentially, first
generation technology.
Now think about all the advances in guitar
technology that we’ve witnessed over the
decades—how much smarter we are now
when it comes to acoustics, electronics and
precision manufacturing? Sticking with this
metaphor, isn’t it a bit crazy that we place
such high value on the early designs that
represent the Model T-era of the electric
Fender released the first successful solid-
body electric guitar, the Broadcaster, in
1950. (Remember, the original Esquires
were problematic.) Gibson produced
the first Les Paul 24 months later. And a
mere six years after that, a small run of
sunburst Les Pauls flowed out of Gibson’s
Kalamazoo, Michigan factory. Originally
To understand why these
early guitar tones continue to
be so revered—after decades
of technological progress—
we have to understand the
science. Or more accurately,
we have to confront a dis-
tressing lack of scientific proof.
The Dominance of the Subjective
When discussing the science of tone, it’s
safe to assume that we all know how electric
guitars work. Pickups are electro-magnets
that sense string vibrations and produce
a signal that ultimately blares out of the
