Old wood, New wood, plus a poll

[DanPanther]

I was reading the poll on Vintage vs. New guitar preference, when I started wondering, The Stradivari violins are known for their superior woods, and secret finish.
My question, is the tonal quality of older instruments attributed more to the woods, or the finish, or equally, or we really aren't sure ?

Dan

[00-28]

Nobody knows. ....Mike

[Oldguy64]

It's mojo.
Cause some new instruments absolutely stun with their sound.
And then add more stun to the equation, when you realize how good the same instrument is going to sound as it "opens up"...

Mojo...that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

[FrankS]

Wood, wood, and wood. That is by far the limiting component in a great guitar. The rest is up to construction which can of course, make it or break it.

Try to make a great guitar out of inferior top wood and you will not succeed.

The best guitars are made from the finest woods graded by tone or physical property and are well constructed. They are also slightly over built and come into their own at some time in the not to distant future.

Finishes and other components only have a minor effect on the tone.

Frank Sanns

[ukejon]

Any of them done poorly will compromise the sound of the instrument in a big way. Hard to sort out one over the other. A Somogyi might sound just as nasty with a bottom quality soundboard as with a crazy thick lacquer finish or big heavy braces. I had a late 70s D-41 made with beautiful woods and finish, but the oversized bridge plate killed the tone.

[ruby50]

http://www.laguitarsales.com/pages/3...hop_Pallet.htm

Mismatched back and sides, unknown species of softwood on the top - got $10,000?? I believe it is more maker than wood.

[Teleman52]

Fact: Impossible to determine

[44Runner]

Originally Posted by FrankS

Wood, wood, and wood. That is by far the limiting component in a great guitar. The rest is up to construction which can of course, make it or break it.

Try to make a great guitar out of inferior top wood and you will not succeed.

The best guitars are made from the finest woods graded by tone or physical property and are well constructed. They are also slightly over built and come into their own at some time in the not to distant future.

Finishes and other components only have a minor effect on the tone.

Frank Sanns

Below ruby beat me to the point I was going to make.

Originally Posted by ruby50

http://www.laguitarsales.com/pages/3...hop_Pallet.htm

Mismatched back and sides, unknown species of softwood on the top - got $10,000?? I believe it is more maker than wood.

I thought Bob Taylor put all of this to rest with the Pallet guitar. Construction is the largest element in the awesomeness of a guitar. Wood comes second.

[Teleman52]

Originally Posted by ruby50

http://www.laguitarsales.com/pages/3...hop_Pallet.htm

Mismatched back and sides, unknown species of softwood on the top - got $10,000?? I believe it is more maker than wood.

Originally Posted by 44Runner

Below ruby beat me to the point I was going to make.



I thought Bob Taylor put all of this to rest with the Pallet guitar. Construction is the largest element in the awesomeness of a guitar. Wood comes second.

I've never heard that guitar so the point hasn't been made to me. I generally don't like taylor guitars so I'm sure I wouldn't like that one, but I could be wrong and I'd keep an open mind if I played it

[Judson]

I'm going with construction ... I think a lot of really nice tone woods are wasted on poorly built, sloppily finished acoustic guitars.

[scottishrogue]

Originally Posted by Judson

I'm going with construction ... I think a lot of really nice tone woods are wasted on poorly built, sloppily finished acoustic guitars.

I totally agree that the build quality is the most important. While the wood is also important, it must be aged correctly, and I've heard that some manufacturers try to cut corners to save money, and don't dry of wood properly. Green (new) wood just doesn't work.

Glen

[Wade Hampton]

It's a combination of all those factors. Anyone who's ever been around amateur guitar builders has seen some of them take top notch materials and produce barely functional musical instruments out of them.

So it's design and execution as much as it is materials, in my opinion. Finish matters less, so long as it's been competently applied. If you slather on a half inch of marine spar varnish, yeah, that has an impact, but for the most part finish matters mainly in terms of how little it affects the tone.


Wade Hampton Miller

[brian a.]

IMHO, it is a combination of design, execution of that design, skill used in construction, materials used, final finish and final setup.

[M19]

Construction = Body design = Number one factor.

[44Runner]

Originally Posted by Teleman52

I've never heard that guitar so the point hasn't been made to me. I generally don't like taylor guitars so I'm sure I wouldn't like that one, but I could be wrong and I'd keep an open mind if I played it

Here are a couple of videos with Taylor playing a pallet guitar. The quality is not great but I think it gives you a good idea of the tone.

http://youtu.be/jvMEtks_rHg

http://youtu.be/S4wxutbs8ZU