Members Vibroluxman Posted October 7, 2005 Members Posted October 7, 2005 I mean the wood (possibly) that Yamaha uses as a back and sides on a lot of its guitars, not NATO as in the international group. Is it wood, is it man made is it just crap Yamaha made up? What the hell is it?
Members derivicus Posted October 7, 2005 Members Posted October 7, 2005 I always wondered myself. I like the way Martin calls a plastic fretboard "Micarta".
Members DenverDave Posted October 7, 2005 Members Posted October 7, 2005 Nato is actually an actual wood, not just a marketing technique. A lot of manufacturers use is because it is cheap and they can claim they are using solid hardwood in the guitar. Nato is a 'soft' hardwood that looks and sounds similar to cheap mahagony. It really is not a true 'tonewood' and is a step up from plywood, but a step down from any true hardwood. The current 'buzz' that is used is that Nato is basically the same as mahagony - but it isn't. It does not sound like or last like good mahagony by a long shot. But it does give manufacturers a cheap way to produce an all solid wood guitar, which is not a bad thing at all. Much better than plywood sides and backs. Dave
Members knockwood Posted October 7, 2005 Members Posted October 7, 2005 Nato is a legit solid wood. I think it's sometimes called "Eastern Mahogany" although I'm not sure where the eastern part comes from. I believe it grows mainly in central/south America. Micarta isn't technically a plastic. It's a High Pressure Laminate composed of either paper, linen or canvas as a base material. It's used often as knife and pistol grips...
Members F-holes Posted October 7, 2005 Members Posted October 7, 2005 The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Members fantasticsound Posted October 7, 2005 Members Posted October 7, 2005 Dang it was difficult to get info on this wood! The first good info I found was a listing from a luthier on another guitar forum. Here's something from a site I discovered using the family and wood name, Mora as listed in his post: Mora excelsa and Mora gonggrijpii Mora Family: Leguminosae Other Common Names: Nato, Nato rojo (Colombia), Mora de Guayana (Venezuela), Morabukea, Mora (Guyana), Mora, Moraboekea (Surinam), Pracuuba (Brazil). Uses: Industrial flooring, railroad crossties, shipbuilding, heavy construction, high quality charcoal wood. Gotta love the uses they listed! Railroad ties. Charcoal wood. Anyway, here's his listing as it pertains to guitar building. If you google the family name and Mora as I did, you'll find plenty of info on this crap wood used on so many inexpensive guitars. SSW wrote: "By the way, CL, just what is "Nato wood"? I've seen it advertised on guitars, but I've never heard of a Nato tree." Well SSW, Nato wood is the inferior wood Jeff is referring to when he speaks about current Epiphone guitars. It is a very cheap, porous, wood, that many imports try to pass off as Honduras Mahogany. Here's the data on it: Family: Leguminosa Other Common Names: Nato, Nato rojo (Colombia), Mora de Guyana (Venezuela), Marobukea, Mora (Guyana), Mora Moraboekea (Surinam), Pracuuba (Brazil). General Characteristics: Heartwood yellowish red brown, reddish brown or dark red with paler streaks; sapwood 2 to 6 in. wide, distinct, yellowish to pale brown. Texture moderately fine to rather coarse, rather harsh to the feel; luster medium to high; grain is straight to commonly interlocked, very variable; astringent taste and slightly sour odor. Weight: Basic specific gravity (oven-dry weight/green volume) 0.76 to 0.84; air-dry density 59 to 65 pcf. Not a good choice of tonewood. CL [This message has been edited by Luthier (edited 08-27-2005).]
Members Kap'n Posted October 7, 2005 Members Posted October 7, 2005 Nato. Not my first choice as a tone wood. Some folks say it stands for "not a tree, originally," but you could do worse. For a dreadnaught, I'd pick nato over maple, if they were my only two choices. And what the hell is "chesswood" or "agathis."
Members zatoichi Posted October 7, 2005 Members Posted October 7, 2005 Originally posted by Kap'n Nato. Not my first choice as a tone wood. Some folks say it stands for "not a tree, originally," but you could do worse. For a dreadnaught, I'd pick nato over maple, if they were my only two choices.and why on earth would you pick it over maple for a dread? I played a maple dread once & it was love at first sight/touch/sound (30 years later i still kick myself for not buying that guitar - but whoever heard of Ibanez?)
Members Cldplytkmn Posted October 7, 2005 Members Posted October 7, 2005 i'm not sure, but maybe he doesn't care for maple...
Members Vibroluxman Posted October 7, 2005 Author Members Posted October 7, 2005 Cool, Thanks for all of the replies. It was bugging me a bit, I've been curious for the last few years and hadn't found any info besides what Yamaha supplied - that they used Nato on my neck back and sides of my classical guitar. I figured it wasn't anything great, the classical was my first guitar and I don't think it cost very much (my parents bought it for me in sixth grade, so about 7 or 8 years ago now).
Members guit30 Posted October 8, 2005 Members Posted October 8, 2005 Nato, never seen in a solid wood guitar, always laminate, so it really does not make a lot of difference, plywood is plywood
Members Kap'n Posted October 8, 2005 Members Posted October 8, 2005 Originally posted by Cldplytkmn i'm not sure, but maybe he doesn't care for maple... Not unless it's an archtop. To be entirely fair, maple can sound OK on a jumbo, but it doesn't float my boat on a flat top smaller than that.
Members emir Posted October 10, 2005 Members Posted October 10, 2005 try googling "nyatoh" instead of NATO. if im not mistaken, its South East Asian.
Members bunnies=dead Posted October 10, 2005 Members Posted October 10, 2005 Originally posted by guit30 Nato, never seen in a solid wood guitar, always laminate, so it really does not make a lot of difference, plywood is plywood except for there are guitars with solid nato backs/sides. and no, all laminates are not the same. If that was the case a 15 grand Somogyi or a Matsuda would be the same thing as a 100 buck ibanez. Theyre no.
Members Andrewrg Posted October 10, 2005 Members Posted October 10, 2005 Originally posted by derivicus I always wondered myself. I like the way Martin calls a plastic fretboard "Micarta". Derivicus,shame on you! As an all knowing mod,you of all people should know that Micarta is not plastic(petroleum derivative),but a composite of paper and linen in a resin bond.No plastic in there!
Members fantasticsound Posted October 10, 2005 Members Posted October 10, 2005 Originally posted by emir try googling "nyatoh" instead of NATO. if im not mistaken, its South East Asian. Nyatoh is not NATO. They are totally different woods from different parts of the world. From a website listed from Googling Nyatoh: FAMILY NAMEPalaquium and Payena species of the Family Sapotaceae NATO's family is Mora excelsa and Mora gonggrijpii species of the family Leguminosae.
Members Chaos Posted October 10, 2005 Members Posted October 10, 2005 here is some info on this wood ...real name is : Mora gonggrijpii http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/Techsheets/Chudnoff/TropAmerican/pdf_files/moraex1new.pdf Picture of it: http://www.bio.uu.nl/~herba/Guyana/VTGG/Fabaceae/Mora/slides/Mora%20gonggrijpii.html Hope it helps
Members derivicus Posted October 11, 2005 Members Posted October 11, 2005 Originally posted by Andrewrg Derivicus,shame on you! As an all knowing mod,you of all people should know that Micarta is not plastic(petroleum derivative),but a composite of paper and linen in a resin bond.No plastic in there! Okay, Paper and linen, but shame on Martin! It's only on their cheap guitars. It's a shortcut any way you slice it.
Members spdolan Posted October 11, 2005 Members Posted October 11, 2005 Hey folks - thought i'd chime in on this issue. I play a Takamine EG530c with nato back and sides and spruce top = great guitar, great tonel, and has given me no problems for under 600 bucks - You get what you pay for, obviously, but I for one have no qualms with this woodish substance. It cant stand up to the tone of a Taylor, but for a gigging acoustic-electric, its a solid choice. Dolan
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.