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Old 05-09-2014, 03:29 PM
zombywoof zombywoof is offline
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Tons of famous guys played them if you think about the Stella and Regal guitars as well as Gibson A and A1 mandolins. But that was a long time back.

I own several guitars made with birch - some with birch bodies and other with birch tops. Based on the guitars I own birch as a body wood is far from colorless sounding. About the only place I would say these guitars fall short is in attack volume. But if you think about it, birch has been one of the favored woods for speaker cabinets because of its natural resonance. Plus, it can be a real looker if you get a highly flamed/figured piece.

Birch tops are a whole other ball game. Most of the smaller body guitars I have owned with birch tops have just sounded tinny, thin and almost hollow. But I do own a Schmidt jumbo with a 15" birch top. Again, while being a bit on the quiet side, it just sounds fat and sweet. It remains one of my favorite guitars.
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