“He preferred what was readily available – and affordable. And when he measured responses, he didn’t really see differences between woods”: Leo Fender didn’t think tonewoods made much difference to solidbody guitar tone

Fender Stratocaster.

The tonewood debate is one of guitardom’s most hotly contested conversations. While one school of thought asserts the tonewood of a guitar has a formative impact on its overall sound, the other camp would say the difference is negligible.

According to a new interview published by Reverb, Leo Fender – the man who helped pioneer the electric guitar as we know it today – sat in the latter category.