What gives a guitar it's "twang."

My Hellraiser is fitted with nickel/steel Dunlop 46-10s and it has this fantastic twang (tuned up) that gives it character in rock, metal, blues, and country. Is this due to the guitar or is it due more to the strings? I don't know a lot about strings and I haven't played a lot of guitars, but I know that not all I've played have this tone.

The pick ups will be the most significant impact on the sound of any given guitar. Other things will impact, of course, such as the large surface of metal that makes up a Telecaster bridge is responsible for the inherent twang (I realize you are playing a Schecter, this is just an example). Wood, combinations of wood, frets ...all the little bits and parts all together combine to create the unique sound of a particular guitar.

You could try different strings, say .09's and see if you lose the twang or not. But I do not believe strings have quite the impact other people do. Certainly not enough to redefine the characteristics of a guitar. Just imo of course! :)

So how would you eliminate or incorporate feedback into the natural voice of the guitar. I heard an interview with Brian May where he said that Fender and Gibson (Les Paul) built the guitars in such a way to eliminate feedback only to have the likes of Hendrix, Clapton etc. strive to re-introduce it. He said that on his Red Special he wanted to incorporate feedback i.e. without the use of pedals but as the guitar's natural voice. I think he mentioned acoustic channels but I can't see how this would cause feedback.

I have a genuine interest in this as I have some beautifully seasoned Norwegian maple that I wan't to put to good use.

I am no expert in the subject, but basically the chambers increase the guitars susceptability to feedback.

Feedback happens when signal generated by the pickups (or microphone) is output from the speakers, then this is received again by the pickups and output again to the speakers, received again by the pickups and so on, creating a sound or feedback loop.

Chambered guitars create more harmonics and sustain which increases the amount of signal available to create this loop. Thus, archtop guitars are more prone to creating feedback than solid bodies.

I may stand to be harshly corrected on this, but that's my take on it. :) If I'm not mistaken, that is also why solid bodies were created in the first place. Obviously, they'd have tried putting pickup in acoustics first, then solved the feedback problem by coming up with the solid body.

Fender strats have better low-string twang than Gibson Les Pauls. They also have a longer scale length. That means the strings are longer on the strat, and thus have to be tighter to achieve the same tone as the shorter strings on a Gibson.

Your hellraiser has a 25.5 scale length just like a strat. So it has the low-string twang.

The downside to longer scale length is the high notes seem a little more shrill.

Steve White from the Ask a Guitar Tech section explained this to me.

Ah, interesting. My Hellraiser has tuning locks on it so I don't wind my strings. As a result, they may be a tad looser than if I gave them a good wind before screwing them down. For my next set of strings I might try winding them and tightening more and see if it affects the twang -- although I like the twang so this would probably just be a temporary experiment.

It is interesting. My Tele definitely sounds twangier to me than my Strat, but these are the only 25 1/2" scale guitars I have (up and running, anyway). I wasn't aware that twanginess was also inherent in the longer scale. (Seemed to me it would have been chunkier since longer scales seem to be favoured for metal.)

I learned something new today. Can I go home now? :)

Originally Posted by: ScornEmperorAh, interesting. My Hellraiser has tuning locks on it so I don't wind my strings. As a result, they may be a tad looser than if I gave them a good wind before screwing them down. ...

Don't bother. The 'tightness' and 'looseness' Jon was referring to is the difference in string tension required to get different string lengths tuned to the same pitch.

A longer string will have to have more tension on it to achieve the same pitch as a shorter string.

Pickup characteristics also have a lot to do with how twangy a guitar sounds.

Tele pickups are very different from Strat pickups, even though they are both single coil designs.