What makes a guitar sound better...besides the price?

If you read up some more on guitars you will find that the wood and the internal type of wood bracing is waht makes some guitars sound better.  The cheaper guitars are made of pressed wood and the more expensive ones are made from real wood, at least the top of the guitar should be real wood, but many are made from real solid woods, not only on top, but the back and sides.  The pressed woods can sound pretty good if the guitar is set up as tony says.  There are many types of wood also, which can make quite a difference.

There are so many factors here....
  Yea, strings play a big roll... Different materials, gauges, brands, windings, all have a different sounds and you'll find what sounds great on one guitar will be trash on another. It's just one of those things where you have to trust your ear and find what suits you and your gear best.
   Tonewoods are a major contributor as well. The top wood being the most influential. I like to describe it as "The top gives you your tone and the back and side woods add color to that tone" Your top gives you 80% of your tone, the back gives 15-20% and the sides are only 0-5%. Describing the tonal properties of the many kind of wood would take pages. So I'm going to cheat and throw you a link that covers a broad spectrum of common tonewoods http://www.tfoa.eu/quality_of_tone_woods/content_id/142 Just remember that these are only guidelines...2 pieces of EIR or Hog cut from the same tree can still have different tonal characteristics. I find tonewoods to be a fascinating subject and study them fairly religously... I think it's cool to know (for instance), that wider grain often increases bass response where tighter grain usually results in a brighter sounding guitar. Look at most pre-war martins and you'll see wide/uneven grain that had that rolling bass their famous for. Most people don't understand that and look for nice straight tight grain in a top because it's prettier and assumed "better".
  You also have to consider bracing. Not only the materials but the style as well (pre-war, forward shifted, scalloped, etc...) The time and skill level of the workers that voiced (or not) the top... Voicing the top is done on most higher end guitars... This is simply the term used for shaving the bracing for optimal response when tapped or vibrated under string tension. Cheaper guitars are often over braced resulting in restricted tops that don't produce the tone they are really capable of because of restricted movement.
  Let's not forget body size, depth, nut/saddle materials, set up, built on a Monday or Wednesday , bolt on v/s dovetail neck joints, finish type /thickness, and the other 100 or so things that I just don't have time to get into.....

I have improved the sound of my guitar three ways:

1. Replaced the plastic string pegs with wood (am considering brass)
2. Replaced the strings and changed the size.  I now use high quality light strings rather than junky ultra light strings
3. Practiced (this has been the most important)

I am considering a bone or Tusq saddle, and possibly nut. 

I will also have it professionally set up and the action lowered as much as is feasible.  But not until I get my electric back and buy a practice amp so that I have something to play while my guitar is in the shop.

- Zurf

Strings do a lot to the sound. The lighter the strings, the brighter the sound. Usually 12's are considered a "Light" guage for acoustic. I personally play a lot of fingerstyle and prefer Martin Extra Light's (10's) because of their brighter tone and their ease of play. Keep your strings clean (wipe them down with a cloth after use) and if you notice your guitar sounds flat or muted, change your strings.

A very big factor is the wood. Different woods have different tones. This is why we call them "Tonewoods". Mahogany is very deep and warm, cedar is relatively deep. Spruce and Rosewood (One of the most popular combinations) are both mid-range with a pretty well rounded tone. Maple has a tendency to be very bright. One of the popular woods for inexpensive guitars is Whitewood. It's tone is lacking in most cases and the sound does not carry or ring out well.

The nut and saddle you use can have an impact. Bone nuts and saddles reverberate better than plastic, giving you a clearer, longer-sustaining tone.

The way the internal bracing is designed has a very large impact on tone. Brace positioning decides the resonance. In other words, if you don't have good bracing, the guitar may sound muted, lack bass, and have weak tone.

Action helps. If your action is off you may find fret buzz. It will also be harder to play if the action is set too high. This can cause you to have more problems holding down your chords which makes the song sound worse.

The string pegs can influence. Again, plastic does not reverberate well. A set of wood or brass pegs is a small investment that can make a big difference.

Overall construction IS a factor. Solid construction with tight joints causes sound to reverberate better.

Dovetail neck joints generally provide better tone than bolt-on necks.

The number of pieces of wood used can have an impact, because if sound waves have to travel from one piece of wood to another, they lose potency in the process.

Also consider that price is not always a sign of quality. I have a Morgan Monroe which goes for about $450, and all my martin and taylor players fall in love with it's tone and playability.

if your talking about quality, then you need to know about the sound port!
the hole in the front of your guitar is the sound port and you may have seen them in different areas of the guitar!
last year i added a sound port to my guitar n the side and changed my whole way of thinking!check out WWW.MaryatMcKnightguitar.com or http://www.yourchords.com/forum/viewtop … t&sd=a
also a good idea? i did mine myself but this is where i got the idea! good luck!

Hi Gomez,

The first of your links did not work but the second one is from our very own Guitarpix, co-Moderator of this section. Here it is on Chordie: http://www.chordie.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12387

And here is another project on a friend's Fender guitar: http://www.chordie.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=15038

Roger

I should have mentioned, i've been playn the gat for over 20yrs and have been playing here in NZ, publicly for 12yrs,
I play Washburn accoustic and a Fender Strat with a Behringer 100 watt amp.

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Practice makes better, perfect practice makes perfect.

A sound post that connects your bridge to your end pin, will allow you to adjust your top to get the best tone.

I installed one myself, I think it is called the bridge doctor by LR Baggs.