ply wood

[hrhodes3]

sometimes I like the sound of a plywood cheepy

[babablowfish]

For the umpteenth time - laminate guitars are not necessarily inferior to guitars made with all solid wood. In fact, some of them are as good as solids many times more expensive. I have a Yamaha FG340 that sounds amazing. When I decided to trade one of my guitars in on an Electrified Acoustic (a Washburn) I decided to trade my Guild D4 which had a solid spruce top. The Yamaha (laminate) has far superior tone. My other guitar a Cort PW340FM jumbo is all solids and sounds great, but not better than the Yamaha FG340.

[kwakatak]

and they are nearly bulletproof

[hrhodes3]

yamahas are very good

 

 

quality controll second to none flawless guitars most of the time and well -priced very good japs

[smokiee]

 

Originally posted by kwakatak and they are nearly bulletproof

 

 

yea.. and I have one that looks exactly as it is 3 years ago.. compliments of thick lacquer coating.

 

reputable companies like yamaha doesnt just slap on a piece of plywood and glue it with any adhesive lying around. eventhough its an all laminate guitar, they manufactured it with care according to certain standards applied to all their guitars.

 

yes, some laminates are total crap. i have one.

[hrhodes3]

my washburn sucks itsa a rreplacment for the one that sounded good

[recordingtrack1]

I spent years pounding on a DY55 Yairi. Plywood back, er excuse me, laminate back and laminate sides. Top was Spruce. I loved the sound of that guitar.

 

RT1

[0rbitz9]

Well, for slapped together plywood and

glue, nothing can beat a Chinese

knockoff guitar. This beater sports a

piebald ash veneer laminated to plywood,

accented by stick-on plastic gingerbread.

I broke the E string on it last night while

meddling with alternative tunings.

[allthumz]

Washburn D12N sounds pretty good and it stays in tune.

[kwakatak]

Originally posted by smokiee yea.. and I have one that looks exactly as it is 3 years ago.. compliments of thick lacquer coating. reputable companies like yamaha doesnt just slap on a piece of plywood and glue it with any adhesive lying around. eventhough its an all laminate guitar, they manufactured it with care according to certain standards applied to all their guitars. yes, some laminates are total crap. i have one.

 

I feel the same about my Japanese knock-off. Score another one for the infamous and fabled Japanese work ethic!

[Frets99]

Love my 25 yr old Ovation Matrix

My Yamaha APXT travel guitar

My Washburn D10S

n my Wechter Pathmaker 3103!!

[EvilTwin]

My Seagull has laminate wild cherry for the back and sides, and I love the tone of that guitar. For fingerstyle, I don't think I would trade it for anything.

 

In gypsy jazz guitars, lam back/sides was the norm.

 

A good deal of the early bluesman played Stella guitars...all lam.

 

The construction and craftmanship is what matters.

[tamolina]

Back and sides don't contribute significantly to tone. I read that a luthier once made a guitar with paper mache sides and back and no one could tell the difference by listening.

If anything, laminate is probably better because it is stronger, Solid wood guitars cost more because they are more expensive to manufacture. And because we are willing to pay more for them.

[knockwood]

Anyone familiar with the actual processing of lam b/s? I'm aware that it's less expensive/less labor-intensive processing, but I've never really understood how laminates are easier to execute. All the stuff I've read/am reading about building is concentrated in solid wood construction. Sides, for example. How are lam sides assembled? Anyone know?

[reholli]

 

Originally posted by knockwood Anyone familiar with the actual processing of lam b/s? I'm aware that it's less expensive/less labor-intensive processing, but I've never really understood how laminates are easier to execute. All the stuff I've read/am reading about building is concentrated in solid wood construction. Sides, for example. How are lam sides assembled? Anyone know?

 

 

Very good question...you'd think bending a piece of laminate (e.g. three layers of wild cherry hardwood glued together like in a Seagull or Art & Lutherie) might be more difficult than bending a single layer of solid wood...

[TimmyP]

Not plywood: http://www.rainsong.com/models/ws1000.asp

[hrhodes3]

never like d th esond of those things and they are expensive. I think though somon should com up with other laminants and keep trying

[kwakatak]

How 'bout the old C&C FiberWeed

[Michael Martin]

The local pawnshop that I visit regularly to see what appears in the way of guitars also carries some new stuff. They have acoustics that they price at $46 new--I don't recall the name on the headstock--but you know what, they don't suck. They actually sound OK. I have thought of buying one for a camping guitar, because my current camping guitar is a 3/4 and lacks a full sound.

 

This makes me think of something I encountered years ago regarding camera gear. In the letters column of a popular photo gear mag, people were getting all hot and bothered about which lenses had the absolutely highest sharpness, or lack of chromatic aberration, or barrel distortion, or whatever--often these things were measured in almost infinitesimal increments. Then an experienced photographer wrote in and said, "You know what--the importrant thing is to get out there and take the fooking pictures. All this is bool{censored}" (I quote very approximately).

 

I think there's a certain truth to his observation that applies to many other aspects of life.

[air guitar]

Plywood for the most part kills tone. It's too stiff. And the stiffness boosts the higher frequencies at the expense of the fundamentals. This can cause the instrument to have a thin tinny bass.

[Frets99]

Originally posted by Michael Martin The local pawnshop that I visit regularly to see what appears in the way of guitars also carries some new stuff. They have acoustics that they price at $46 new--I don't recall the name on the headstock--but you know what, they don't suck. They actually sound OK. I have thought of buying one for a camping guitar, because my current camping guitar is a 3/4 and lacks a full sound. This makes me think of something I encountered years ago regarding camera gear. In the letters column of a popular photo gear mag, people were getting all hot and bothered about which lenses had the absolutely highest sharpness, or lack of chromatic aberration, or barrel distortion, or whatever--often these things were measured in almost infinitesimal increments. Then an experienced photographer wrote in and said, "You know what--the importrant thing is to get out there and take the fooking pictures. All this is bool{censored}" (I quote very approximately). I think there's a certain truth to his observation that applies to many other aspects of life.

 

Here here!!