Why wood?

[Shortfinger]

When the spruce is gone, when the rosewood ain't allowed, when all the mahogany is off-limits, and nobody wants to deal with humidity or lack of it or heat or whatever, let's hope we can still pump a little oil, so we can make these and keep playing.

As we float along the freeway in our autonomous cushy 'lectrics, we can be doing this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSEiyFp9D1M&loop=0

[Murphy Slaw]

I'll pass.

But they will sell them.

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by Shortfinger

When the spruce is gone, when the rosewood ain't allowed, when all the mahogany is off-limits, and nobody wants to deal with humidity or lack of it or heat or whatever, let's hope we can still pump a little oil, so we can make these and keep playing.

As we float along the freeway in our autonomous cushy 'lectrics, we can be doing this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSEiyFp9D1M&loop=0

Spruce won't go anywhere.

[J Buck]

No, but thank you.

[nickv6]

That's a neat demo

[TiffanyGuitar]

No thank you. I love the organic nature of wood. I truly don’t think mahogany, walnut and spruce are going anywhere.

I keep hearing that if the younger generation can’t do it on their phones, they aren’t interested. I guess that thing combines a phone like interface and a guitar. The sound is misleading - looks to be going through some sort of processor.

[Taylorcrazy]

Fun to watch but I’m not worried; I’ll be gone long before the wood is.

[Methos1979]

Love carbon fiber guitars but just can't warm up to the look of the Lava Me line for some reason. Just a little too... I don't know... angular, maybe? There have been threads for the Lava Me line over in the Carbon Fiber sub for some time.

I like the traditional look (shape) of the RainSong guitars and love the curves, bevels and woody tops of the Emeralds. But that rectangular box with the rounded edges and the soundhole slot just turns me off. It looks like a giant Chicklet.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Guitarplayer_PR

Spruce won't go anywhere.

My thoughts as well.

Carbon fiber, or another composite material, will hopefully become less expensive with technology advancements over the next couple of decades. I'm thinking that today's carbon fiber guitar manufacturers are trailblazers and that one day they will also be able to manufacture inexpensive, nice sounding / playing guitars like a Yamaha 800 series ($200) while still being able to offer high end options.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Love carbon fiber guitars but just can't warm up to the look of the Lava Me line for some reason. Just a little too... I don't know... angular, maybe? There have been threads for the Lava Me line over in the Carbon Fiber sub for some time.

I like the traditional look (shape) of the RainSong guitars and love the curves, bevels and woody tops of the Emeralds. But that rectangular box with the rounded edges and the soundhole slot just turns me off. It looks like a giant Chicklet.

this...

If they had one that looked less like something from a Star Wars Sequel.. I'd maybe warm up to it.

that just looks "toyish" .. but hey looks aren't everything, my wife married me.. so..

[KevWind]

I think the Pro looks interesting. But no mention of the finger board material on the Lava web site that I found ( it looks like ebony BUT ? )

Funny how it's different strokes . For me no reason to have a traditional look, on a carbon fiber guitar

[koolimy]

I know we worry a lot about deforestation (and we should), but one thing that has to be taken into consideration, is that wood is probably the most sustainable material for making guitars. It is renewable, unlike materials such as carbon fiber or plastic, which are ultimately not sustainable as they rely on industrial processes and drawing up CO2 from under the ground. Guitar making with wood has been around before the industrial revolution, so we know that it can be done sustainably. It is only a matter of scale where making with wood becomes a problem. If the only guitar makers in the world were individual luthiers or small shops, there probably would not be a problem regarding tonewoods. The big factories that churn out thousands of guitars per year/month probably have a disproportionately large impact on the wood supply.

Even then, the guitar industry as a whole probably has a negligible impact on tonewood supply. It's the other industries, such as construction, furniture, paper, etc., that use mountains more wood than the guitar industry as a whole. Even with factories churning out guitars in the thousands each month, if the other industries did not gobble up wood like they do wood supply would probably never be a problem as new wood will probably balance out the wood used for guitars.

As long as wood exists I think it would always be the prime material used to make guitars. It has the perfect properties for sound production, and it is renewable. It is relatively easy to work with and you don't need lots of heavy duty tools to work with it either, making it possible for relatively small luthiers to make a living using the material. Other materials (such as carbon fiber) probably require a heavy investment in machinery, driving many potential luthiers out of the market. Take away the global industrial supply chain and you'll still have local luthiers making guitars for their local markets, as has been done for centuries. Take away the global industrial supply chain and you probably can't acquire the materials needed to make these newer, cutting edge guitars.

[Rudy4]

Just time travel back 70 years and get yerself one of them new Maccaferri plastic guitars!

[ewalling]

I take it no one here is an Ovation fan?

[Nymuso]

Originally Posted by ewalling

I take it no one here is an Ovation fan?

I've been participating in these forums for a long time and I recall Ovations being subjected to extreme derision back on the old RMMGA. That seemed to abate considerably with the rise of the CF guitars.