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  #16  
Old 07-01-2022, 08:37 AM
rstaight rstaight is offline
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There was a time when the top of a guitar was made from a single piece of wood. You can still get that on higher end guitars. But you are seeing more and more tops made from glue ups.

They are still solid tops but the top is made from 2 or more pieces.

We will always have wood because it is so easily renewed. May take 30, 40 years to grow the tree but several lots properly managed it will be done.

I play with a gentleman who builds instruments has a hobby. The materials he uses comes from is farm.
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  #17  
Old 07-01-2022, 09:00 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Methos1979 View Post
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.
Same here. I find the concept interesting, but visually unappealing. I imagine they went with a nonstandard shape to gel with the "smart guitar" vibe. And it's probably aimed at a generation that many of us don't belong to anymore .

I understand the appeal of the "organic" nature of wood, but it doesn't really matter to me if a guitar is made from wood, metal or carbon (which is about as organic as you can get).
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  #18  
Old 07-01-2022, 09:18 AM
redir redir is offline
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Originally Posted by Rudy4 View Post
Just time travel back 70 years and get yerself one of them new Maccaferri plastic guitars!
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  #19  
Old 07-01-2022, 09:31 AM
Alan Carruth Alan Carruth is offline
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As has been said, guitar making is barely a rounding error in terms of wood usage. I know of a shop where they make high-end doors and windows, mostly of mahogany. They buy it by the train car load. The boss likes guitars, so he allows the workers to take home good looking wood when they see it, within reason. He drops more off the saw in a morning than I use in a year, and this is a small place with maybe 20 employees.

'Tone' wood is a misnomer. Most of the sound is in the top, and basically you can use any softwood for a top and get good results if you know how. B&S wood doesn't matter nearly as much, and there are substitutes for many of the 'premium' woods that can work as well. Osage Orange, for example, can be practically a drop-in replacement for Brazilian rosewood in terms of tone. Most of it is used for fence posts, which are rumored to last longer than the holes...

The real issue is not making good guitars from 'alternative' woods, it's selling them. I had a person stand and look at a guitar with oak B&S for more than a half hour, and refuse to even try it. That's easing a bit, but people still listen with their eyes too much. In the 'Leonardo' project they do listening and playing tests with guitars of all sorts of woods. In 'blind' tests people don't have any preference, but when they can see the B&S woods they prefer rosewood by a significant margin.
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  #20  
Old 07-01-2022, 09:48 AM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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This kind of instrument, nor the sound effects interest me, but thanks for showing us.

The problem with Mahogany and particularly south American rosewoods is/was tat they were over harvested and not replanted. I believe tat Brazil let it be culled to make land for cattle - for Mcdonalds etc.?

Sitka spruce seems to still be super abundant, unless subjected to some sort of environmental destruction/infection etc.

Here in Europe, Picea Abies (European spruce is used to make toilet paper. tissues, and just about everything.
it mostly comes from Scanidavia and we call it Norwy spruce.

I use scaffolding boards to make my raised beds on my allotments - They are made of European spruce and it costs about £12 / $15 a metre (!) and must conform to BS 2482:2009 - and so after two or three years they are destroyed .... or ... sold to guys like me who use them on growing plots.

Once made into raised beds they last for about three years and are then good for bonfires only.

There MUST be many other woods that will work as tonewoods instead of mahogany and the various rosewoods.
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  #21  
Old 07-01-2022, 09:56 AM
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I'm not big into reverb, but if they make one with sound profiles for Martin (rosewood and mahogany), Gibson, Collings, Santa Cruz, Lowden, resonator ....
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  #22  
Old 07-01-2022, 10:07 AM
Guitarplayer_PR Guitarplayer_PR is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ewalling View Post
I take it no one here is an Ovation fan?
Look at my signature.

Well, Ovation guitars DO have wood, even the Adamas, which have wooden necks.
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  #23  
Old 07-01-2022, 10:07 AM
Robin, Wales Robin, Wales is offline
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I'll just pick up a couple of wooden ones for free out of the skips that folks are throwing them away into in order to make space so they can buy a plastic guitar.
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  #24  
Old 07-01-2022, 10:34 AM
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duplicate post
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  #25  
Old 07-01-2022, 10:35 AM
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Maybe hemp wood will be a coming thing. They have been made from that before. Talk about getting high on playing your music.

https://cannaguitars.com/black-hempwood/
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Woods hands pick by eye and ear
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  #26  
Old 07-01-2022, 10:37 AM
steelvibe steelvibe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Silly Moustache View Post
There MUST be many other woods that will work as tonewoods instead of mahogany and the various rosewoods.
This coincides with my other thread about "where do these ideas come from". Not that there is anything inherently wrong with being traditionally-minded, I'm that way myself a lot. But yes, it is notable and well understood how we hear with our eyes and are resistant to change.

Having owned both an Ovation and carbon fiber guitars I've been more open minded that many, but I agree with other posters here....I'm not advanced enough to accept the visual design of the LaveMe.
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  #27  
Old 07-01-2022, 11:37 AM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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I'd like to hear the guitar without any effects. Sounds too processed.
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  #28  
Old 07-01-2022, 12:05 PM
Doubleneck Doubleneck is offline
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Went through a serious carbon fiber period had 5 or more. But Tim McKnight’s hand builds are now the only guitars I really play. Actually no comparison. And as said wood is about as renewable as it gets.
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  #29  
Old 07-01-2022, 12:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Carruth View Post
The real issue is not making good guitars from 'alternative' woods, it's selling them. I had a person stand and look at a guitar with oak B&S for more than a half hour, and refuse to even try it. That's easing a bit, but people still listen with their eyes too much. In the 'Leonardo' project they do listening and playing tests with guitars of all sorts of woods. In 'blind' tests people don't have any preference, but when they can see the B&S woods they prefer rosewood by a significant margin.
An astute observation from someone that knows what he's talking about and something I've certainly been guilty of in the past. I think in part because generally speaking since I tend to buy relatively higher end guitars they mostly all sound very good so I'm always looking for something that catches my eye as well as how it sounds and plays (ergonomics). This does not necessarily mean I'm looking for bling though. I'm generally not a fan of too much bling and I find an older Martin with a darkened top and lots of finish checking just as attractive as something super-creative like a one-of-a-kind Hatcher or Edwinson, to name a few.
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  #30  
Old 07-01-2022, 01:06 PM
Misifus Misifus is offline
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If I wanted effects pedals, I’d buy an electric.
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