There is a widely held belief that if an acoustic guitar has all solid wood it will sound better than a guitar that is laminate. In every belief there’s a small lie (see what I did there). While it’s true that the best sounding guitars are all solid, it’s not true that because a guitar is all solid wood it will sound great. Now to try and explain that particular riddle...
First off, what do I mean by all solid wood? It’s easiest to look at the top of the guitar. If you look inside the sound hole of the guitar at the cross grain you will either be able to see grain running through the thickness of the guitar, or you’ll see three pieces of wood glued together (a wood sandwich). The wood sandwich is three pieces of wood laminated together. The top piece is usually more cosmetically beautiful than the other pieces. Laminate tops are strong, but because of the glue holding the wood together they’re also very rigid.
First off, what do I mean by all solid wood? It’s easiest to look at the top of the guitar. If you look inside the sound hole of the guitar at the cross grain you will either be able to see grain running through the thickness of the guitar, or you’ll see three pieces of wood glued together (a wood sandwich). The wood sandwich is three pieces of wood laminated together. The top piece is usually more cosmetically beautiful than the other pieces. Laminate tops are strong, but because of the glue holding the wood together they’re also very rigid.
This shouldn’t be confused with a guitar having two pieces across the face of the guitar. There should always be two pieces (preferably book matched which is a whole other blog).
The cheapest guitars are usually laminated all over. Mid priced guitars and most entry level high end guitars (Martins, Matons etc.) have solid wood tops but laminate or composite back and sides. High priced guitars are all solid wood. In a nutshell to get a piece of wood not only thick enough to make a guitar but structurally sound, and cosmetically beautiful it costs more. So surely if a guitar is all solid wood it will sound better. Less glue making the more free to move than if it was laminate means more resonance and tone right? Yes, but not exactly.
I often tell the story of Antonio de Torres. Antonio de Torres is widely considered to have created the modern classical guitar. He innovated the making of guitars in Spain from 1852-1893. His belief was that the most important part of the guitar was the top. If the top was well made from solid wood the guitar would sound great. To prove this point in 1862 he made a guitar with solid spruce top and papier mache back and sides. The guitar sounded amazing; much better than the all solid wood guitars made by his contemporaries.
This quote by Antonio de Torres explains the point of this blog "my secret is one you have witnessed many times, and one that I can't leave to posterity, because it must with my body go to the grave, for it consists of the tactile senses in my finger pads, in my thumb and index finger that tell the intelligent builder if the top is or is not well made, and how it should be treated to obtain the best tone from the instrument."
The most important contributor to how good a guitar sounds is not what it’s made from, but the skill of the person/people who made the guitar. The question we often get asked is, is a Martin guitar really that much better than a cheaper guitar, or do you just pay for the name? Yes, if you play a quality guitar of any brand it does sound better than a badly made guitar (of any brand!). And yes you pay for the name… but not just the name. You pay for the 175+ years of collective guitar making skill and innovation passed down and nurtured for 7 generations of guitar makers that the name stands for. Does a D-28 sound better than a DX1, yes of course it does… that’s when we can start talking about what neck joints, bracing, oh and what solid wood does to the sound of a guitar.
Does a Farida D-8 for $299 sound and play better than solid top guitars for $299? Does a Recording King RD-16 for $599 sound and play better than an all solid wood guitar for $599?
I often tell the story of Antonio de Torres. Antonio de Torres is widely considered to have created the modern classical guitar. He innovated the making of guitars in Spain from 1852-1893. His belief was that the most important part of the guitar was the top. If the top was well made from solid wood the guitar would sound great. To prove this point in 1862 he made a guitar with solid spruce top and papier mache back and sides. The guitar sounded amazing; much better than the all solid wood guitars made by his contemporaries.
This quote by Antonio de Torres explains the point of this blog "my secret is one you have witnessed many times, and one that I can't leave to posterity, because it must with my body go to the grave, for it consists of the tactile senses in my finger pads, in my thumb and index finger that tell the intelligent builder if the top is or is not well made, and how it should be treated to obtain the best tone from the instrument."
The most important contributor to how good a guitar sounds is not what it’s made from, but the skill of the person/people who made the guitar. The question we often get asked is, is a Martin guitar really that much better than a cheaper guitar, or do you just pay for the name? Yes, if you play a quality guitar of any brand it does sound better than a badly made guitar (of any brand!). And yes you pay for the name… but not just the name. You pay for the 175+ years of collective guitar making skill and innovation passed down and nurtured for 7 generations of guitar makers that the name stands for. Does a D-28 sound better than a DX1, yes of course it does… that’s when we can start talking about what neck joints, bracing, oh and what solid wood does to the sound of a guitar.
Does a Farida D-8 for $299 sound and play better than solid top guitars for $299? Does a Recording King RD-16 for $599 sound and play better than an all solid wood guitar for $599?
Yes I believe so, but don’t take my word for it. Come into the shop and find out for yourself.
From David Love (Lewis Eady's GM)
You say " You pay for the 175+ years of collective guitar making skill and innovation passed down and nurtured for 7 generations of guitar makers"
ReplyDeletebut earlier by Torres you quote "my secret is..........one that I can't leave to posterity, because it must with my body go to the grave..."
Yeah, the Martin advertisement was unnecessary. Great article anyway.
ReplyDelete