New budget friendly wood for guitar/bass?

[ajish4]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Luthier-handmad ... 6016.l4276

Flakeboard? A biodegradable bass perhaps?



Well, I guess its a way of keeping material costs low.

[weemac]

I bet it sounds as good as it looks....

Eden.

[Ashgray]

Very unusual. I guess you could repair any dings with sawdust...

Ash

[ajish4]

[RickyBubba]

My first thought was OMG…WTF? But it could have some interesting tonal qualities because it is such a non uniform body? Been lots of cheaper "plywood" type basses, and I have played a little on one that was not awful, and probably would have been fine with quality electronics.

[scotty]

That looks like a good Walnut.

[edski]

That looks like a good Walnut.

go to your room! no pudding for you!

[scotty]

That looks like a good Walnut.

go to your room! no pudding for you!

Good cause im a fat Barsteward

[rickenbrother]

Is this the Cork model?

[GIBrat51]

Yeah, it's not very pretty; but it can always be painted (and then you'd never know). Question is, how's it sound?? Just might be pretty nice. And anyway, I've got 2 very good sounding basses that are made out of plywood and Masonite - can you say "Danelectro"?

[jps]

Well, we can derive Electro from that, right?

[iiipopes]

Would that be grain or grainy?

Seriously, we want good wood so that there is consistent resonance and tone tailoring. But it can be done. Taylor made an acoustic guitar out of pallet wood just to show it can be done. I have a plywood Squier Strat that I extensively modified, including a fanned fret neck and a block of purpleheart under the bridge that was my regular gigging guitar when I played more guitar than bass.

Two more items to consider: Epiphone Casino and Gibson ES-175: both have laminated tops. Say it plainly: fancy plywood. Both sound great. It's not always the wood; it's the person(s) making it and the person playing it.

Finally, my double bass is plywood. Then again, I don't play in a symphony, I use it for jazz pizz. The plywood reacts less as I have to take it in and out of a variety of venues, instead of leaving it in a single concert hall, and I use a Fishman Full Circle and it is usually played amplified rather than purely acoustic. I am complimented on it.

Any time more than one piece of wood is used, if done properly, it has the effect of increasing sustain and evening out resonant peaks. That's the whole reason a Les Paul has a maple top on a mahogany body, and why a Martin D-18 has a mahogany body with an ebony fingerboard. Plywood and oriented strand board simply take this to the extreme.

And then there is the new laminate fingerboard material used by Gibson....

[cjj]

I've come across some pallets that were made of some pretty nice hardwoods...

[DriftSpace]

It's not always the wood; it's the person(s) making it and the person playing it.

Well said!

Tone has so many variables that it's silly to get hung-up on one thing.
Example: people love old Danelectro guitars (Jimmy Page played one) and many of those those were Masonite (sometimes Formica) and plastic/vinyl.

[johnallg]

I bet it sounds as good as it looks....

Eden.