next time someone wont let go about right wood blah blah

benmurray85

All this blog has proved is that we really should be discussing the tonal variations of spades 

Whitecat

Jalapeno said:

Bob Benedetto made a jazz archtop out of builder's pine to prove the cork shiffers wrong.



Also check out the worm eaten sitka spruce guitar he made !!!!!

Bob Taylor did the same out of some oak delivery pallets they received at the factory...

http://www.guitaradventures.com/taylor-pallet-guitar-story



Look at those nail holes!

p90fool

You can make guitars out of any old cheap stuff and get good sounds out of them, it's only a problem if you're looking for a specific sound. 

I like my Strats to be made from alder (cheap) because of the way it sounds, Gibson solidbodies out of good mahogany (relatively expensive) and my Danelectros to be made from a substance which resembles bits of an old kitchen found in a skip. 

I think a lot of non musicians would be amazed at some of the humdrum materials some of the most holy grail electric guitars are made from. 

Wanting the right materials is nothing to do with being a keyboard warrior or a snob, a big lump of alder doesn't really cost any more than a decent shovel. 

Sassafras

This shovel is sterling silver made by Tiffany & Co.
Can't wait to string it up. It'll sound sublime.

Voxman

Sassafras said:

This shovel is sterling silver made by Tiffany & Co.
Can't wait to string it up. It'll sound sublime.

Don't hold your breath.  We bought some Tiffany silver jewellery for my youngest daughter's birthday when we were in New York.  Within a year it turned green (Seriously!).  We got Tiffany (in the UK) to replace it but in our house, Tiffany doesn't have a good rep!   

Sassafras

Voxman said:

Sassafras said:

This shovel is sterling silver made by Tiffany & Co.
Can't wait to string it up. It'll sound sublime.

Don't hold your breath.  We bought some Tiffany silver jewellery for my youngest daughter's birthday when we were in New York.  Within a year it turned green (Seriously!).  We got Tiffany (in the UK) to replace it but in our house, Tiffany doesn't have a good rep!   

Should've gone to Ratner's.

WezV

Jalapeno said:

Bob Benedetto made a jazz archtop out of builder's pine to prove the cork shiffers wrong.



Also check out the worm eaten sitka spruce guitar he made !!!!!

Benedetto's explanation of both those guitars is  more along the lines of "i can make any archtop sound like a Benedetto regardless of wood type", rather than, "any wood can be used for guitars".   He uses it to show how important the construction and carving is in developing the guitars 'voice'.

so yeah - its not about proving the corksniffers wrong about wood as much as highlighting the importance of the process over the materials.  I guarantee all the woods shown above will have had a pleasing tap tone in the rough that convinced him it was worth developing further.  


People need to take notice though, too much advertising focuses on materials rather than processes...   Cuban mahogany and Brazilian rosewood don't make an excellent guitar by themselves .

Megii

I think if the shovel was made with a nice light weight swamp ash, it would bring out the upper mids a bit better...

Cabicular

It's essentially a Trussart without the fancy paint job ...