That’s good point about tone. I have worked in studios and I’ve been lucky enough to use my friend’s nicer equipment, but I will still do some research. The Suhr I played is made out of African Okoume which is similar to mahogany, but very very light.
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There seems to be consensus online that the acoustic sound of a guitar will be influenced by the mechanical properties of the wood the body and neck are made from, but the question of whether or not they have any significant effect on the electrical signal passed to an amplifier is incredibly divisive. Subjective opinions about this are muddied by the fact that when guitarists practice or try out guitars, they’re usually in a scenario where they don’t hear the amplified tone by itself, instead they hear the amplified tone and the acoustic tone simultaneously.
The video below is just one of many examples where people have demonstrated that guitar bodies made from seemingly drastically inferior materials can result in a tone that’s good enough that it would probably fool plenty of listeners in a blind test:
Personally, I think that selecting guitars that feel comfortable (including weight/balance), and tweaking your tone knobs and/or eq to get a tone you like (maybe experimenting with some different pickups if you want to) is a better recipe for guitar joy than fussing about the ostensible tonal effects of different woods.
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I agree with this somewhat. The style and construction of the bridge probably makes a bigger difference than the wood, although the wood still makes a difference.
If you’ve ever changed a sustain block on a Floyd Rose, you will know that it can make a huge difference. I have a guitar with a Floyd Rose Special (which came with a lightweight sustain block). The guitar acoustically sounded very tinny and trebly. I replaced it with a brass sustain block which made the tone more resonant and fundamental, but the notes lost harmonic content. I then replaced it with an OFR block and everything was “just right”. It has harmonic content, the notes sound alive, but they also have to bass/heft and sound complete.
Everything in the guitar construction contributes in some way, I’d say that the body wood is probably 30-40% of the equation. One of the reasons I like the FR trems is the abilty to change the sustain block.
Ever played a Parker Fly? Some of the most resonant guitars made and they aren’t even wood!
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Parkers are made of wood with an outer layer of carbon fibre so that they can make the heel join as thin as possible and make a guitar that isn’t as susceptible to temperature changes.
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You mean Swamp Ash. It’s a bit like alder, pretty light: some of the first Fender guitars were made of it until Leo Fender decided otherwise: red alder pretty much grew in Fender’s backyard on the West Coast while swamp ash grew in the south-east of the USA. The big difference between the two is that swamp ash has some figuring and visible veins, so you can actually have interesting looking translucent/clear finishes on it, much unlike alder and basswood. Both alder and basswood are woods that range from very bland looking to downright ugly. Swamp ash doesn’t mark as easily as basswood too as a bonus.
I wish I could try an Aristides for the same reason, but that’s not exactly cheap. 
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This is definitely a thing for certain brands. If you (for instance) buy a used Martin, you can pretty much sell it for what you paid for it (assuming you don’t completely trash it), even if you play it for a decade.
Kiesels are great guitars (I owned two Carvins), but you’re not gonna get much for them if you ever want to sell.
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So much good information here; there’s a lot to tone and but it can also be very simple. I’ve been on similar journeys and made many mistakes. The hard thing to know is what “Your Preferred” tone is. Only you can answer that. Usually the answer isn’t one or the other, it’s a few different tones and there will never be one guitar that’ll do it all, it may come close but not exactly.
A stratocaster will always sound like a stratocaster, similarly a tele and an LP. To me these are the three primary sounds, Strats signature tones would be SRV and Dire Straits. Tele tones could be B.Paisley like Nashville hot country pickers. LP’s cover a lot of classic rock tones. These are the three primary tones If you ask me.
Humbuckers are awesome for many things, but for me there the third, forth options in my list.
Personally I’m clearly in the YJM camp currently, so to me my primary arsenal would be two stratocaster, one YJM signature, and the other a strat with Lindy Frailin Vintage Hots pickups. Both maple neck, alder body, 6 screw vintage trim, RW saddles and springs, additionally some decent no load pots and I’m good to go.
Due to my bias I’d say try a Fender YJM signature stratocaster, the new SD Fury pickups are beasts under high gain, the neck pickup is particularly magnificent under high gain. The neck is scalloped, the neck is finished in nitro, the neck is machine bolt mounted with a brass nut and vintage tuners. It’s all in the neck for me. Bloody perfect. There’s no going back from scalloped once you’ve tasted it.
Scalloped guitars allow you to play with higher action, and higher action is where the tone is.
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