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Location: Hicksville, NY | I seem to notice that as the availability of tone woods, that were once abundant, becomes a hard to find item (for example: Brazilian rosewood), most guitar makers tend to look for alternative materials.
For example, Ovations and Adamas effectively makes use of the lyrachord material for its bowl-shaped bodies. Rainsong uses graphite materials, which claims, that their guitars are resistant to extreme temperature changes and humidity, because of it. While Martin continues to brag about their solid wood guitars, they also have started using high-pressure laminates, stratabonds and micarta materials into their guitars. I also noticed that some guitars come equipped with tops and necks made from aluminum? Hmm ...
If this trend continues, I can just imagine in the foreseeable future that guitars constructed of solid wood just might become a thing of the past. Is this good or bad? What's your opinion? |
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Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | In the world of consumer electronics, automobiles and computers todays new invention renders yesterdays workhorse obsolete almost immediately. But in the world of musical instruments each new invention seems to just widen the choices. We've got synths, electronic violins and v-drums. But there is still plenty of life in acoustic pianos, wooden violins and acoustic drum kits.
I have a very sweet spot in my heart for all wood guitars. In some cases they may lack the features and even the sound of todays new inventions but I have a hard time letting go. Wooden guitars with plastic backs obviously are among my favorites. Adamas? I love them, own them, and will continue to buy them. They may actually be the BEST sounding and playing guitars out there. But at the same time, with all that graphite and composite mumbo jumbo there is just something slightly un-guitar about it. Just call me old fashioned.
I realise I have not even come close to answering your question. Sorry.
Dave |
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Posts: 1634
Location: Warren,Pa. | Those of us who are obsessed with guitars have a guitar-centric view of things. I used to be in the lumber selling business and I can tell you that, as far as our slice of the lumber pie goes, we don't even show up in the picture. There's plenty of wood out there for instrument making. It's just that the traditional woods are becoming scarce, and also the HIGH quality woods used in the past are becoming rare. Guitar makers can find wood of lower quality than what they've been used to, and they can find DIFFERENT wood than what they've used in the past. Those with a real forward view are trying entirely new materials. I like all this stretching and experimenting. I, too, am enamoured with all wood guitars, but the only guitar I own is my Std Elite LX with NEB finish. |
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Posts: 327
Location: Evansville,IN | I'm of the "If it works, that's fine with me camp." Nothing wrong with using different materials for instruments. Sometimes you just have to think outside the box. :)
It's human nature to be creative, why not use it. :) |
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Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | Solid wood guitars will be around for a long time to come, due mainly to the bias of the acoustic guitar players who demand solids. There is enough wood around to satisfy the guitar builders for a long time to come.
Something else being talked about lately is three or even four-piece spruce tops instead of the traditional two-piece. I guess it's getting harder to find quality spruce that is old enough to get decent two-piece tops out of a log.
Personally I don't really care that much. I own a W597 Adamas and wood-top 2005 collectors, and a Martin D28. If a guitar plays nicely, sounds great, looks halfway decent, and holds up well to use, thats good enough for me.
I have all the guitars I need right now, but in the future I might be looking at something carbon-graphite like a U681T Adamas, maybe a CA Legacy, possibly a Rainsong. I like the idea of the near "bullet proof" aspect of carbon graphite guitars. But I also would be receptive to alternative tone woods like walnut or cherry, or even a three or four piece spruce top. The Martin Smartwood guitars look pretty decent for a reasonable price.
One thing I am a stickler for (and it's really irrational), is I love a beautiful ebony fingerboard, never cared for rosewood fingerboards. |
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Posts: 327
Location: Evansville,IN | Originally posted by BrianT:
One thing I am a stickler for (and it's really irrational), is I love a beautiful ebony fingerboard, never cared for rosewood fingerboards. That's what I like, feel and lookswise. Have you seen "ebonized" rosewood? I don't know how they do it, but it looks very good, and feels about the same. :) |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | All the good guitars are made out of metal anyway, forget all this wood and plastique crap. |
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August 2005
Posts: 30
Location: Montreal Canada | As a mechanical engineer student I can say that composite materials are just amazing these days. If it can be demonstrated that a "plastic" bowl can create a better resonance than wood, then why not use plastic? No reason
We tend to think that wood is a natural material while plastic is not.Fortunately, plastic is just as natural as wood only it has a bad image. All those chinese cheap products did not help with the image. It depends how people perceive things.
The person who invented the plastic composite used on ovation was actually an engineer and was developping plastic propellers as opposed to wooden ones. So there you go, a great idea leads to great things! (except the atomic bomb) :) |
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Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | geka, when creating the new, be sure you understand the important characteristics of the best of the OLD.......(from a mechanical engineer of 30 years experience)....new is not good in and of itself, and neither is old. But it sounds like you realize this already.
Many guitar players desire the appearance of a all-wood guitar, much like a piece of attractive wood furniture. They, unfortunately, will pay more for this desire as time goes on. Ovation guitars are an alternative to this....
What is funny to me is the Martin X-series with the "fake" wood grain. I had to look twice to make sure....but it was TOO perfect, it couldn't be real. The guitars sound OK, but they do sound DIFFERENT from the more expensive spruce/mahogany and spruce/rosewood Martins.
I already have some experience with "alternative" tonewoods with my mountain dulcimers....walnut in general stinks as a soundboard. Walnut dulcimers have a dark, quiet voice. Cherry isn't too bad, it is rich and bright. The Seagull S-series guitars with a cedar top and cherry sides and back have a very interesting sound.
Roger |
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Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | Hey Roger, when I was talking about walnut and cherry as alternative tone woods I was really referring to the back and sides. I doubt any wood will ever replace spruce or cedar as a top wood. |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | ingnimbyte
This goes to the heart of acoustic instrument status in today's music. Obviously, wood defined the "sound" of acoustic instruments for many generations of music trends. What else was there to make an instrument from?? In America in the 19th and 20th centuries, things like banjos, and CWKII's beloved resophonics appeared, and Hawaiian slide guitars that morphed into "Steel Guitars", and Gibson, to please those talented guitar players who had to be heard in a big band, stuck pickups on their arch tops and developed tube amps to plug them into, then two fanatics named Paul and Fender decided the arch top was a waste of money and a slab of hard WOOD would do the job much better if plugged into a bigger amp. (Paul suggested that a steel train rail would be better than any wood for sustain, but never developed a steel Les Paul). THE DIE WAS CAST, the sound of a guitar was switched from WOOD to VACUUM TUBES AND WIRE COILS.
Musicians, OF COURSE, have played every variation with great success and I own a little bit of it all, as do many of us.
It has the same thrill as cheating on your wife with a hot new stunning attraction who then starts nagging you even worse than your comfortable and more than adequate companion of many years who knows your weaknesses and still lets you play that ancient WOOD flat top at 2 AM because you are too tired and lazy to plug in all that stuff, and loves that ancient sound of strings and wood.
Bailey |
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December 2004
Posts: 566
Location: Denmark | Originally posted by cwk2:
All the good guitars are made out of metal anyway, forget all this wood and plastique crap. No doubt there is plenty of beauty in the lower half of the cover photo of this LP (Long Playing record :cool: ) http://www.mark-knopfler.info/eng/albums_1990_missing.htm ... but not much news though. A resonator would be very welcome in my collection. But for the neck I don't think any real nice alternatives exist but wood. |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Yes, well you do need a few wood bits, even on a metal guitar. Minor things, like the neck.....
ON the serious side there are two issues to be dealt with here and they can be aligned or opposed to each other, all depending on your point of view and at what minute in time you're talking about.
A. The logical side, that wants to know about the sound. Doesn't matter how it happens, just how good it happens.
B. The emotional side that wants to have(and to hold and to look upon) all that pretty and rare wood. It looks so good it must sound great, Right?
So A and B are always in motion and you, the beholder, gets to decide if this is good or bad. |
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Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | I have special powers ... I can hear with my eyes. Dave |
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June 2004
Posts: 271
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | Goldtone in Banjo world claims some killer tones from 100% carbon fiber neck/fretboard...
http://www.goldtone.com/products/part_graphiteneck.asp
Ab |
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Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | Yes banjos can certainly emit some killer tones. Almost leathal, if ask some. Dave |
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July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Brian, I would hope you're right and that spruce and cedar remain as the main tone woods for guitars. They work just as well for mountain dulcimers as for guitars.
I saw a local Dixieland band today with a banjo player and they had him tamed with wind instruments....could hardly hear him!!!!
Roger |
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December 2004
Posts: 566
Location: Denmark | Originally posted by Standingovation:
I have special powers ... I can hear with my eyes. Dave :D GAS strikes back. |
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Is this good or bad ?