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Old 01-10-2013, 04:54 PM
delaorden9 delaorden9 is offline
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Default How long does a laminate acoustic guitar may last ?

Hi everybody. When I say laminate guitars I mean those made of "Spruce top and Mahogany back and sides" for example.
Of course I'm asking considering that the owner keeps the guitar accordingly, I mean, in a case, humidity balance (if applied) an all that stuff.
So if well preserved, how long does laminate guitar may last ? As they are not pure wood I wonder if they get unplayable after, let's say some 5 or 10 years etc... (or even less).

Ok, I guess that few people around DO NOT keep a laminate for such a long time, and it's not much expensive to buy another etc... but nevertheless, any of you has a laminate for more than 5 years and it's yet playable ? or they simply "die" with time ?

Last edited by delaorden9; 01-10-2013 at 04:59 PM.
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Old 01-10-2013, 04:58 PM
John Arnold John Arnold is offline
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If anything, laminate guitars last longer, simply because laminated wood is both stronger and more stable.
Look at red label Yamaha's from the late-1960's. They do tend to have problems, but rarely are they associated with the fact that they are laminated.
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Old 01-10-2013, 05:00 PM
andyi5 andyi5 is offline
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I have a 1983 all laminate Yamaha and it's as good now as when I got it 28 years ago. Never even considered humidity issues etc, and it's never needed a neck reset. Those old green label Taiwanese Yammies are excellent.
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Old 01-10-2013, 05:01 PM
NBhunter80 NBhunter80 is offline
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My A&L wild cherry has been thrashed hard for 15 years and is still going strong
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Old 01-10-2013, 05:04 PM
ScooberJake ScooberJake is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Arnold View Post
If anything, laminate guitars last longer, simply because laminated wood is both stronger and more stable.
My first thought as well. The issue with laminate guitars is not longevity.
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Old 01-10-2013, 05:12 PM
state-it state-it is offline
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My '93 Seagull is great, and seeing as it has a bolt on neck I'd expect a reset in 15 years time if it needed one to be quite cheap as well. And that has no bearing on it being laminate either.
My 1980 Yamaha Fg750s is my best condition guitar, despite it being 32 years old.
My brother-in-law has 2 playable all-laminate guitars from the 1960s, even though they weren't the best quality to start with.

In short, a laminate guitar you describe is more likely to outlast an all-solid without having to have costly repairs or extreme-looking-after.
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Old 01-10-2013, 05:17 PM
saxonblue saxonblue is offline
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My Suzuki J200 lawsuit copy is lam. top, back & sides, about 1970 vintage, straight as a die, played for 1000s of hrs, probably 100s sets of strings, never been kept with a humidifier as I didn't know about such things for 99% of that time & I have no reason to think it won't last at least another 40 yrs i.e probably longer than me.

It's probably unreasonable to expect that a lam. guitar will "open up" over time or sound fantastic, that is not their purpose. Their purpose is be affordable & last forever around kids, dogs, on camping trips, sitting on a stand for weeks or months on end & be subjected to changes in temperature & humidity you wouldn't let a quality solid wood guitar endure.
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Old 01-10-2013, 05:21 PM
John Arnold John Arnold is offline
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Quote:
My 1980 Yamaha Fg750s is my best condition guitar, despite it being 32 years old.
Those are seriously good guitars, but I think the top is solid.
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Old 01-10-2013, 05:25 PM
delaorden9 delaorden9 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Arnold View Post
Those are seriously good guitars, but I think the top is solid.
Yes, I think they are. "solid top sitka spruce" (google source)
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Old 01-10-2013, 05:52 PM
dorable dorable is offline
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They will last 65.920394 years and then spontaneously combust.

Naw, like the others have said even neglected laminates can last for a long long time. For example, my first guitar (some sort of all laminate, the headstock says "Norma" but I've never been able to dig up much information on it and since his stroke pappaw doesn't remember where/when he got it) used to belong to my grandfather and mom's pretty sure she remembers him playing it when she was a kid, so it's probably at least 50 some odd years old now. And I know it spent at least 15 of those years in my closet waiting for me. So even with neglect that guitar's lasted 50 years (more), is still playable, and shows no signs of serious damage.
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Old 01-10-2013, 10:16 PM
aknow aknow is offline
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I also have a laminate Yamaha from the early '80's. Stable, and hasn't changed a bit over all of these years.
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