Is the Epiphone Les Paul Special II plywood??

[mfergel]

You know those cheap bolt on neck Epiphone Les Paul Special II's, does anyone know if those are a plywood guitar? Specs don't really indicate....

 

Mahogany body

Bolt-on neck mahogany neck

22-fret rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays

700T/650R open-coil humbuckers

24-3/4" scale

1-5/8" nut width

LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece add more sustain and easier string changing

Tone, volume, and 3-way pickup switch

Hardware: chrome (black on wine red finish)

 

[guitarman3001]

how much??

[Stricken]

I think they're $160

[soundcreation]

I had the black one about 5 years ago. It definitely was.

 

Still though, for a beginner guitar it was decent in terms of feel and playability.

 

Dead as a mother{censored}er though. Covered in a gallon of poly, on top of the ply, the resonance was non existent to say the least.

[mfergel]

 

I had the black one about 5 years ago. It definitely was. Still though, for a beginner guitar it was decent in terms of feel and playability. Dead as a mother{censored}er though. Covered in a gallon of poly, on top of the ply, the resonance was non existent to say the least.

 

 

Well, that sucks. Figured it might be a decent modding platform.

[soundcreation]

 

Well, that sucks. Figured it might be a decent modding platform.

 

 

You could find better.

[silverring233]

dont know if you're just wanting an LP mod platform, but check this out. 50 bucks shipped. i'll have to open it up, but i don't think it's ply.

 

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=2708284

[clay sails]

I owned a plywood squier strat that kicked ass. It was too heavy in the long run but plywood is really not bad for a cheap tonewood.

[Funkwire]

I had a plywood Squier Strat...wish I still had it. That was a good guitar.

 

Yeah, plywood sucks as a tone wood. Just ask all those ES-335 owners...

[D Carroll]

Aaron Barrett gets good tones from them.

 

 

still a plywood piece of shit though.

[mikesr1963]

I've found that the difference with plywood guitars depends on if the person can actually play or just bitches because it's a plywood guitar.

 

 

 

[YOUTUBE]D9v5e1TTwts[/YOUTUBE]

[lincoln40]

that was my first guitar that I ever owned. It was a POS but it got the job done for a beginner.

[normh]

No, the body of the LP Special II is not plywood. It is a veneer. Maybe I will get a new memory stick for my camera and post a picture.

 

I don't see a lot of difference between plywood and veneer, you will have to ask Danoelectric about that. There is, however, a difference.

[alfsboy]

:thu::thu::thu::thu::

[catalinagooseV2]

Take the neck off and look in the pocket. The neck is probably on crooked anyway

[Muddslide]

 

I owned a plywood squier strat that kicked ass. It was too heavy in the long run but plywood is really not bad for a cheap tonewood.

 

 

Agree completely. I've owned some really decent ply-bodied guitars in my time. I had a great plywood Harmony Strat that was very old and sounded great and was fun to play.

 

Two of my favorite guitars I ever had to mess around on were both plywood Telecaster copies...one was a Vester and one was a Series 10/Bentley. Did a lot of gigs and some recording with both of them.

 

If it feels nice, plays well and sounds decent, there's no shame in plywood IMO.

 

If the poly finish on the Epi deadens the sound, it might open up with a refin, and that sounds like an easy, fun thing to mod on the cheap.

[soundcreation]

 

 

 

Great playing but that sounds like absolute {censored} in terms of tone. All squelchy and high pitched. When Joe said "that was kind of painful" he wasn't referring to the action. Even he knew the guitar was crap.

 

This video is proof that there are many people that can't distinguish between technique and tone, and hear it all as the same thing.

[soundcreation]

 

I had a plywood Squier Strat...wish I still had it. That was a good guitar. Yeah, plywood sucks as a tone wood. Just ask all those ES-335 owners...

 

 

So a hollow is the same as a solid body? That MASSIVE chamber in the body would have no effect?

[soundcreation]

 

No, the body of the LP Special II is not plywood. It is a veneer. Maybe I will get a new memory stick for my camera and post a picture. I don't see a lot of difference between plywood and veneer, you will have to ask Danoelectric about that. There is, however, a difference.

 

 

I'm telling you that mine was. Layers and layers of glued particle board. Maybe new ones are different I don't know. But mine was definitely ply.

[normh]

 

I'm telling you that mine was. Layers and layers of glued particle board. Maybe new ones are different I don't know. But mine was definitely ply.

 

 

The primary difference between plywood and veneer is, well... think of plywood as the home depo - builders plywood and veneer as plywood with fewer voids and made from what you would call traditional tone woods layered together. I have a Special II body in the closet for a future project; it is most definitely veneer of Mahogany and Alder. 16 layers to be exact.

 

For those thinking veneer is a junk wood: Just what do you think a Gibson 333 or 335 is made out of?

[soundcreation]

 

The primary difference between plywood and veneer is, well... think of plywood as the home depo - builders plywood and veneer as plywood with fewer voids and made from what you would call traditional tone woods layered together. I have a Special II body in the closet for a future project; it is most definitely veneer of Mahogany and Alder. 16 layers to be exact. For those thinking veneer is a junk wood: Just what do you think a Gibson 333 or 335 is made out of?

 

 

 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/veneer

 

Are 333's and 335's solid bodies?

[normh]

Dude, I am not going to argue with you. If you think you have the answer, then good on you.

 

However, I used the wrong word "veneer." the correct word is laminate.

 

Here:

"Given the juvenile bent of guitar dealers and writers to make comparisons between instruments ... let's do it! What can we really compare them to in American terms? The first thing to remember is that Hofner themselves confused the issue: their good acoustic archtops were supposed to have carved tops, with laminate tops on the same models as electric guitars. Typically, they screwed up: they often released high-end acoustic archtops with laminate tops, or made the carved-top ones into electrics. Oops!

 

Most of their guitars were all-laminate construction, although specific higher-end models did come with carved spruce tops (bad translations call it "pine", or "bohemian pine", but that just doesn't wash among us information workers. As the Rice Krispies guy says - what the heck didja think it was made with?). Unlike Gibson, whose laminates are heavy and have grain with negligible aesthetic qualities, Hofner's laminates are very light-weight and usually use lovely flamed maple, even in the cheaper models. The lack of mass makes their guitars responsive and acoustically loud. Following the discontinuation of the Gibson Tal Farlow, it took years, until the introduction of the ES775 and ES165, for Gibson to use pretty plywood. Sure, the reissued ES350T (with full-scale neck) in the 70's was a step in the right direction, but no one even noticed it, coming as it did in the depths of Gibson's, ahem... "dark period". "

source: http://home.provide.net/~cfh/hofner.html

 

If you erroneously choose to call a laminate plywood, be my guest. However, the correct answer is that the Special II is not made from plywood.

 

BYE.

[Jarick]

I've got an SG Special sitting next to me, and it's plywood...sounds better than my Gibson LP Studio ever did. Super vibrant, alive, and resonant. Not quite as mellow as mahogany for sure. But that LP Studio was the darkest, muddiest guitar ever.

 

I'm trying to figure out if I want to use this as a mod platform or not, because part of me doesn't like putting $150+ in parts/pickups on a $60 guitar. The other part of me says that I've had guitars worth way more money that sounded like {censored}, so stick with what works.

[soundcreation]

 

Dude, I am not going to argue with you. If you think you have the answer, then good on you. However, I used the wrong word "veneer." the correct word is laminate. Here: "Given the juvenile bent of guitar dealers and writers to make comparisons between instruments ... let's do it! What can we really compare them to in American terms? The first thing to remember is that Hofner themselves confused the issue: their good acoustic archtops were supposed to have carved tops, with laminate tops on the same models as electric guitars. Typically, they screwed up: they often released high-end acoustic archtops with laminate tops, or made the carved-top ones into electrics. Oops! Most of their guitars were all-laminate construction, although specific higher-end models did come with carved spruce tops (bad translations call it "pine", or "bohemian pine", but that just doesn't wash among us information workers. As the Rice Krispies guy says - what the heck didja think it was made with?). Unlike Gibson, whose laminates are heavy and have grain with negligible aesthetic qualities, Hofner's laminates are very light-weight and usually use lovely flamed maple, even in the cheaper models. The lack of mass makes their guitars responsive and acoustically loud. Following the discontinuation of the Gibson Tal Farlow, it took years, until the introduction of the ES775 and ES165, for Gibson to use pretty plywood. Sure, the reissued ES350T (with full-scale neck) in the 70's was a step in the right direction, but no one even noticed it, coming as it did in the depths of Gibson's, ahem... "dark period". " source: http://home.provide.net/~cfh/hofner.html If you erroneously choose to call a laminate plywood, be my guest. However, the correct answer is that the Special II is not made from plywood. BYE.

 

 

Hit and run huh.

 

Anyway I'm not sure what all stuff you posted has to do with my question. Veneer, Plywood, Laminate, whatever....it's a mish mash of glued chunks of wood. Call it whatever you want.

 

I simply asked you a question. Are 333's and 335's solid body guitars?

 

I personally don't see how people pointing out that guitars that have a giant hollow center which provides resonance, can be held up as an example for SOLID guitars.

 

Not even the same sport.

[normh]

Not I don't hit and run. I also don't hold arguments with people for post counts. If you want an example of a solid body laminate guitar, though it is unpopular because it is OOgly (beaten with an ugly stick), then look at the Gibson Zoot.

 

I have a migraine headache, so go play with someone else.