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Posts: 888
Location: Louisville, OH 44641 | Why does Ovation make the Adamas carbon fiber tops with a core of poplar instead of a great acoustic wood like AAA spruce?
I've never seen a poplar sound board on a guitar. |
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Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | Same reason Taylor uses finger-joined necks like some cheap piece of Home Depot stain grade molding. Or why martin uses Micarta instead of ebony on lower end finger boards and bridges.
But seriously, I can only assume that some trial and error and studying was done and it was determined that poplar worked best. Probably a combination of functionality, manufacturing ease, and economics. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | The Poplar or Basswood is a soft, consistant wood that is readily available and doesn't require 50-100 years to obtain harvestability. On its own it is too weak but the Carbon material is too stiff or brittle on its own as well. With the right ratio you have a fusion of materials to make a separate material with it's own unique properties.
This material was not developed for guitars originally. It was adapted for instruments. It was the non-metalic skin for aircraft originally.
Remember the original Balladeers made with three piece soundboards? That was the size that Kaman had on stock, sans, what was worked with.
I'm just glad that CHK didn't run a Pulp Mill or we'd all be playing Taylors! :D |
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Location: East Tennessee | As stated by MWoody,
I'm just glad that CHK didn't run a Pulp Mill or we'd all be playing Taylors!
Not me . I'd probably stick to Martins. :D |
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Location: south east Michigan | I thought it was a birch core.
Oh well. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | I remember reading Birch and Poplar in a couple of different places.
W2? Mr. Wizard!!!! |
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Location: NJ | I believe it's birch . . . . |
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Location: closely held secret | Adamas website says birch veneer. |
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Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | I guess I just need to beleive in me. |
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Posts: 13986
Location: Upper Left USA | I hear a Mr. Rogers vignette coming on...
SJ - Where did you read Poplar? That rang in my memory as well. |
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Location: NJ | When I get home tonight, I'll chisel a bit off the top layer on my SlotHead & see what's underneath . . . . I'll letcha' know . . . |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by MWoody:
I hear a Mr. Rogers vignette coming on... I love the episode where Mr. McFeelme comes to visit and he and Fred get to talking about how important it is to clean up after yourself when you're done playing.
Dave |
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Location: NJ | This is really scary, 'cuz I know EXACTLY the one Witko's talking about!!. . .
. . . they use the term "pounding" alot too, if memory serves . . . |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | YES, CLIFF THAT'S THE ONE! They talk about pounding their toys and making sure they clean up the mess when they are done. It's freaking hellarious. In college we used to sit around all Randy-Moss'd up and watch this shit just busting a gut laughing. Dave |
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Location: NJ | I believe the "lesson" was centered around "Fun Things To Do With Your Hands" . . .
t'Figures that You and I would be the one's to remember it . . .
("What Sick Puppies") |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | We used to watch Leave it to Beaver episodes. We'd watch one, then turn the channel to watch the same episode on another channel. Then the guy with the TV flunked out and went back home to run his dad's business and became really successful. The rest of us actually finished college and are trying to make enough money to buy a guitar occasionally. |
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Posts: 888
Location: Louisville, OH 44641 | I think I saw "poplar" when the O website used to have an illustration showing a cross section of the Adamas soundboard. But now the website simply says Birch. I haven't been able to find the old illustration again.
So maybe that is a change for the newer Adamas models or perhaps I'm just senile. |
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July 2004
Posts: 338
Location: Omaha | I *think* the Ovation book says birch...
...hey, I just used some void free birch to make a speaker baffle for my amp! I should use the rest to make a top for one of my acoustics! If it works on the Adamas tops!
Wait, it's 1/2" thick plywood...nevermind...
:rolleyes: |
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Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | W2 must be a sleep at the helm (somewhere...) I asked him the same question off-line a few months back and he said, Sitka Spruce gets "mushy" (I think was his choice of words...) when you slice it thin enough to be in the Carbonfiber laminate of an ADAMAS top....
While poplar or birch retains a bit more stabilty and consequently TONE which is what it's all about... Seems they (the mothership) tried about every wood out there, searching for the courect balance between Strength and Tone and choose purely on TONE, not a preconceived, well Spruce must be the best tonewood, because that's what everyone uses, etc...
Here is some of the email mentioned... the rest of the details I tried to recall were, via phone, cuz W2 said he could "talk faster than he could type..." (No arguement THERE, Bill!!!)
"...one piece birch grain running from 8:00 to 2:00, grafite from neck to end pin.
Current braces are the 9 I think, I haven't seen one in a long time, we did spruce too but birch was the best. You could always just but the two pieces next to each other, the glue from the grafite should hold them in place just fine.
PS
W2 also gave me the name and phone number of the guy who ran production for ADAMAS for years and did the actual laminating, at the time Bill was at the mothership...
I tried calling (the Mr. Adamas "Production Man") for a month and never was able to catch him... Didn't seem to have an answering machine either, (strange for such a hi-tech kind of guy...)
Ab |
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Here's a good question...I think.
