Here's a good article on one luthier who thinks PRS's argument on tonewood is nonsense:
https://guitar.com/news/music-news/luthi...d-defence/
Here's an excerpt:
The importance of the wood used in a guitar’s construction is a hot topic at the moment – so much so that no less than Paul Reed Smith recently leapt to the defence of the impact wood has on making the best electric guitars.
However, Smith’s view isn’t a universally held one – and now boutique luthier James Sturner has fired back at the PRS founder’s column, describing the entire debate around tonewood as, “dumb”
Last week, in a new column for Premier Guitar, Reed Smith shared his thoughts on how tonewood deniers on the internet couldn’t be more mistaken.
“Bottom line, to throw away one of the main ingredients for making instruments because the internet says ‘it doesn’t make any difference’ is, to me, like saying dead strings, rubber bridges, soft finishes, and wet woods make no difference. With all due respect, I don’t buy it.”
But now Sturner, who runs Sturner Guitars, has added an unequivocal counterpoint in a video posted to the brand’s Instagram page, declaring, “This is a dumb debate to be having.”
“Obviously when building guitars, wood – and what wood you select – will have some kind of impact,” Sturmer insists. “But this is such a small part of the equation.”
He goes on to praise PRS guitars, but points out that their quality isn’t really down to what they’re made of, “What makes PRS guitars good is not so much the materials they are using as is the people who are actually making those guitars,” he insists.
For Sturner, “the secret sauce is skilled labour. It’s not some special material. So in my opinion the whole tonewood debate is really just marketing and if you’re not able to see that then you probably have more money than sense.”
The luthier certainly isn’t alone in his thoughts. Even Leo Fender himself wasn’t a believer in the differences between tonewoods. Virtuoso Matteo Mancuso also previously argued that “you don’t need to spend a lot of time finding the right wood for the fretboard or the right pickup combination.”
https://guitar.com/news/music-news/luthi...d-defence/
Here's an excerpt:
The importance of the wood used in a guitar’s construction is a hot topic at the moment – so much so that no less than Paul Reed Smith recently leapt to the defence of the impact wood has on making the best electric guitars.
However, Smith’s view isn’t a universally held one – and now boutique luthier James Sturner has fired back at the PRS founder’s column, describing the entire debate around tonewood as, “dumb”
Last week, in a new column for Premier Guitar, Reed Smith shared his thoughts on how tonewood deniers on the internet couldn’t be more mistaken.
“Bottom line, to throw away one of the main ingredients for making instruments because the internet says ‘it doesn’t make any difference’ is, to me, like saying dead strings, rubber bridges, soft finishes, and wet woods make no difference. With all due respect, I don’t buy it.”
But now Sturner, who runs Sturner Guitars, has added an unequivocal counterpoint in a video posted to the brand’s Instagram page, declaring, “This is a dumb debate to be having.”
“Obviously when building guitars, wood – and what wood you select – will have some kind of impact,” Sturmer insists. “But this is such a small part of the equation.”
He goes on to praise PRS guitars, but points out that their quality isn’t really down to what they’re made of, “What makes PRS guitars good is not so much the materials they are using as is the people who are actually making those guitars,” he insists.
For Sturner, “the secret sauce is skilled labour. It’s not some special material. So in my opinion the whole tonewood debate is really just marketing and if you’re not able to see that then you probably have more money than sense.”
The luthier certainly isn’t alone in his thoughts. Even Leo Fender himself wasn’t a believer in the differences between tonewoods. Virtuoso Matteo Mancuso also previously argued that “you don’t need to spend a lot of time finding the right wood for the fretboard or the right pickup combination.”
