This is a 9mm vs .45 argument.  There are two camps:

1. tone wood matters
2. only the electronics matters

This argument is not about Acoustic or semi hollow body instruments just solid body electric guitars.

I've been looking at the evidence on "Youtube" and I'm leaning towards the "its all in the electronics" camp.  There is a guy who made a Strat body from press wood from a counted top.  The then put the neck and electronics etc from a real Strat and compared the two bodies wave signatures on a scope.

Begin...

As all wood resonates, I would say it matters.  Piano's are in the same argument camp.  The same can be said of the acoustic guitar world (think Ovation models).  As far as electric guitars, yes, the pickups play the lead part, but there are some many other variables (neck woods, fretboard material, even frets) that you can't say it is the pickups alone.

hide glue vs titebond on Les Pauls.  or Indian RW vs Braz.  Maple vs Rosewood vs Ebony.  Nitro vs poly.  short tenon vs long tenon.

It all matters I have an american Strat with a humbucker in the bridge

It matters, just not how you think it might.  Cheap sugar pine, cypress, basswood, poplar, or bigleaf maple are 1/10th the bulk cost of horduran mahogany or black limba but they sound great, sometimes better.  I make & repair guitars for a living, so I've seen it all. "Tonewood" is also code for "we picked what wasnt split or checked and we marked it up through the ceiling".

Properties like quartersawing, straightness and tightness of grain, moisture content are what makes or breaks a guitar.

I'm with you. Every damned guitar player and his brother with whom I've worked that played a Teleblaster all had the same annoying tone.

It matters, but not as much as scale length and pickups. Go to a guitar shop and look for two of the same model with different tone woods. It's fairly stark.

Of course it matters!

Put the same pickups in a big slab of mahogany (like an LP or Explorer) and a Strat made from poplar, ash, or basswood. BIG difference in tone, feel, response. And it's not because of the scale length. My 2001 LP Standard and my Tom Anderson Drop Top Classic are my favorite two axes right now, hands-down. They could not be more different. And it's not because of scale length or pickups.

It's not all in the electronics, BUT...

I would say that one of the biggest differences in tone can be made with the AMPLIFIER. I used to own a pair of PRS Custom 24s back in the late 90s. I was so proud to own those guitars. But my tone really wasn't special, and I got bored with them. Fast-forward several years. My guitars were much more pedestrian, but I started buying boutique amps (Hughes & Kettner Triamp, Bogner Shiva & XTC, etc). My tone was awesome. I would rather play a fairly cheap guitar through a holy grail amp, than a holy grail guitar through a cheap amp. So you're statement regarding electronics does hold some water. Obviously, for the best tone you get the holy grail guitar and run it into the holy grail amp. But then again... I've known plenty of guys with big pocketbooks who STILL sound like ass. And that's because... 1) they can't play well, and/or 2) they have a tin ear and just keep dialing-up the same lame tone no matter what they're plugged-into.

I have a couple different Bass with the same pickups.  I get different tones from them on the same settings.  Not a ton, but noticeable.  None are unpleasant, just a bit different.  I will say, the sustain is better on my Rick than it is on the Shecter.

Both matter. Every type of wood has general characteristics, and every piece of wood within a wood type is unique. For instance, I have three MIJ Jackson DK2 Dinkys, all of them have a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge with Alder bodies, bolt on Maple necks, and Rosewood fretboards. Each one sounds a little different.





























































 

I have enough experiences to say that wood does matter. Type of wood that is but the most important thing is sustain. One piece Mahogany body and one piece Maple neck bolted on (my Harper) has more sustain and resonance than my Carvin DC127 which is a Maple neckthru with Alder wings. I did a lot of pup swaps on both guitars til I found the tone best suited to a guitar. What sounded bad on my Carvin sounded good on my Harper and vice versa.

IMO the best construction is one piece body with a bolted on one piece neck. Also premium cuts of wood matters.

I have 3 Jackson Superstats....A soloist & 2 Dinkys.


All 3 have Dimarzio X2N's in the bridge and Dimarzio Super 2's in the neck.


All 3 have a Jackson 580LP Bridge.


A 3 have a different tone....noticeably different.





I don't remember which body is which type wood, but each is more pronounced in different areas of the frequency spectrum.

 

I've been playing for 50+ years and have owned dozens of guitars. The good ones (made from the right wood) are a breeze to play and they have superior response and tone. This responsiveness and tone clearly comes through even when playing the guitar without an amp. The bad ones with tone soaking wood are like trudging through wet sand - they work the hell out of you to play them whether you're plugged into an amp or not. No electronics will fix this for the player, although to the typical listener the guitars will sound about the same. Most listeners never consciously notice the subtleties even though they are there in the sound.

Generally speaking I prefer a bolt-on neck, alder wood for the body and a maple neck. This combination for my style of heavy handed playing gives the best tone, sustain and response, and also has superb harmonic overtones. I'll add I have two identical model Strats both made the same year and one has slightly better tone and response than the other. They have both been set up identical with pickup height measured with a micrometer. Clearly one has a little more magic in the wood than the other.

Wood absolutely matters...

At one point I owned two Alembic Series  basses.  The electronics were exactly the same in both of them...One bass had a maple body, the other bass had a coco-bolo body.  

The difference in tone was absolutely astounding..literally night and die.  The maple was bright, tight, and clear.  The coco-bolo was very dark and woody sounding.