What Is So "Wrong" With A Plywood Guitar?

[MusicallyMrM]

:) I'm speaking mainly of Electric Guitars now as I think that differences in plywood and solid wood construction would be much more noticeable in acoustic guitars.

I recently posted in another forum about neck combinations (maple and rosewood) and many said and I agree that the tone has a lot to do with the player and his technique. Having said that, why do so many absolute hate plywood guitars? I have a few plywood guitars (like an 80's Mako I recently purchased) that are dynamic sounding guitars. (I'm sure there are some bad ones out there too-there are some awful playing Fenders and Gibsons as well). All things considered-after installing good pickups/hardware, giving it a good setup and keeping good maintenance, what's wrong with a plywood guitar? In a market where instrument prices are severely over inflated, a good value is a good value. If I plug it in and it feels good, what's wrong with plywood?


Archie's Music @ SoundClick

[Kap'n]

There are a few reasons.

Low end "plywood" guitars tend to be made with low end plywood, as opposed to carefully selected laminates. Trash wood.

They're heavy. There's a lot of tone-soaking glue, and not a lot of wood.

The craftsmanship is usually subpar to begin with.

The hardware is already usually of low quality, so you're just 'polishing a turd' for the most part.

Most accomplished players like to have an instrument that is as tastefully constructed as their ability.

[soapbarstrat]

The main thing I don't like is that when painted, they can fool a person into thinking they are buying a solid wood body, which most of us are willing to pay more for.
I wish all guitars had some kind of "ingredients label". And I give a thumbs-up to the ebay sellers who come right out and say : "this is a plywood body".

[chuckocaster]

i don't think there is anything really wrong with plywood. i owned the most amazing bass, and guess what the body was made of...

too bad i was being "mr. rockstar" and smashed it on stage. read the tagline.

[Tele-Bob]

What Is So "Wrong" With A Plywood Guitar?

The same thing that is wrong with a solid ash, alder, mahogany, koa, bubinga, rosewood, basswood, walnut, korina, pine or any other wood guitar. You just don't know what it will sound like until you plug it in and play it.

I have played very expensive guitars made from the finest woods that sounded like dogmeat. And no amount of tweaking or p'up swapping was going to fix it. When you find a guitar that sounds great and plays great, you stick with it and forget about it's heritage.

One of my favorite Strats cost $150. I got lucky.

The only thing wrong with a plywood guitar is a person's perception. I will say that finding one that truly does sound great will probably take a lot longer than to find a great sounding guitar of higher percieved quality. But then, what is a "great sound" any way?

[MusicallyMrM]

What Is So "Wrong" With A Plywood Guitar?

The same thing that is wrong with a solid ash, alder, mahogany, koa, bubinga, rosewood, basswood, walnut, korina, pine or any other wood guitar. You just don't know what it will sound like until you plug it in and play it.

I have played very expensive guitars made from the finest woods that sounded like dogmeat. And no amount of tweaking or p'up swapping was going to fix it. When you find a guitar that sounds great and plays great, you stick with it and forget about it's heritage.

One of my favorite Strats cost $150. I got lucky.

The only thing wrong with a plywood guitar is a person's perception. I will say that finding one that truly does sound great will probably take a lot longer than to find a great sounding guitar of higher percieved quality. But then, what is a "great sound" any way?

Tele-Bob, I agree with you 100 %. Your story reminds me of a time that I visited Indoor Storm over in Raleigh , NC. They carry a lot of boutique and high end stuff as well as being an authorized Fender Custom Shop Rep. Maybe it was me that day or maybe it was the fact that I played a McInTurff Glory Standard before picking this up, but I tried a Tom Anderson that was one of the most heavenly sounding Strats I ever played. (Didn't like the side mount jack plate or the 2 knob setup but what a player!) and them Eddie pulled out the most beautiful John Suhr black with vintage maple neck Strat I ever saw in my life. It was gorgeous to look at-hell it even smelled like fresh wood cut straight from the forest. Looked too pretty to even touch. And then I played it. Man, that was the worse sounding, worse playing piece of crap I ever touched! I was truly let down. As i posted somewhere previously, I recently found a 80's Mako TS 3 that I (and several diehard Fender owners in this area will agree) feels like a $4000 guitar and sounds the same. I don't know who made the pickups on this cheapy but whoa!!!!!!! Shockingly good. I've got tons of folks trying to buy it but I ain't selling. I got it for $25.00 and it's "plywood", well constructed-clean and tidy inside. Sure they skimped on the controls which have been changed out to Switchcraft and CTS. (Did all the work myself for under $35.00) and that's all I have tied up in the thing) Go figure :)

[moonpie]

When Bo goes into his 'MAMA'S HOME' howl, that's a great sound.

[NeoFauve]

Why settle for plywood when you can have masonite?
And pickups made from lipstick tubes!:yay

[Tele-Bob]

Or Hemotite?

[Offshore Angler]

I see Gibson has some granite tops now. I can't wait for the first granite vs. feldspar thread!

[Kap'n]

Marble sounds more aged and mellow than limestone. It's got swirl.

Mica and calcite lead in transparency, but mica has the edge in shimmer.

Turquoise and lapis give the ultimate in blues tone. Lapis, with the gold flecks, is decidedly more uptown.

Sandstone makes for great surf tone, whereas petrified wood works well for C&W.

Use galena for Zep covers, whereas pyrites are great for those Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida moments.

Wonder what pitchblende sounds like? Maybe for playing The Firm covers?

[teletubbie]

Hey Kap'n












Yer nuts!



Graham

[General Specific]

Once again, Tele-Bob, I agree with you and your Avatar.

I played a Gibson Smartwood that was horrible.

[Tonefiend]

I was at the lumberyard the other day hefting plywood to check for weight and grain. Then tap tuning the best of it to find the truly spectacular pieces. I went through about 2000 board feet. I'd say it's about 6-10 pieces per 100. But when you get those magical pieces you had better watch out!

I have a new way of thinking now that I fnally realized tone is mostly in the hands, and the rest is in the amp and pickups. ;)

[GuitarG]

Why settle for plywood when you can have masonite?
And pickups made from lipstick tubes!:yay

Now yer talkin'! :)

[Tele-Bob]

Well, then there's the old argument of sedimentary vs igneous.

[Constellation80]

Why settle for plywood when you can have masonite?
And pickups made from lipstick tubes!:yay

I know what ya mean i have a Silvertone Danelectro i think it sounds great.

But i think people should note, theres allso differnt grades of plywood that guitars are made of. An the uber cheap ones are made of a really soft waxy wood. an eventually all the screws etc will wear loose. And now there getting so cheap, as to not even paint the squiers. an just vynal the guitar. So you will have air bubbles in lil jonnys Squier bullet.
And the uber sad thing lots of people buy a korean guitar thinking there getting a solid wood guitar. But it's just a thing layer of fancy wood. Over the top of plywood