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Post by Admin on Jan 18, 2013 12:47:49 GMT -5
How important is the material used for acoustic guitar tops?
Check out "Trigger" - Willie Nelson's gujitar! ;D
Willie Nelson's Guitar Has Sentimental Wounds
by Kenneth Partridge
Willie Nelson has seen and done things the rest of us mere mortals can only dream of, and by the look of it, so has his guitar. In a recent interview with Jimmy Fallon, the country legend dished about his famous instrument, a battered yet beautiful-sounding hunk of wood named for Roy Rogers' horse, Trigger.
As Willie told the late-night host, he was originally drawn to the six-string because it reminded him of one played by Django Reinhardt, one of his musical heroes. Because it's a classical guitar, it didn't come with a pick guard, and that accounts for the giant hole Willie has worn in the body. "I think it sounds better," Willie said.
The guitar is also covered with scratched-on signatures from numerous folks, among them Roger Miller, Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and many, many more.
Willie didn't say whether Trigger bears the mark of Snoop Dogg, but the West Coast rapper is one of the many artists who appears on Nelson's Heroes album.
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Post by saguitar on Jan 18, 2013 20:22:28 GMT -5
Yeah, Willie's Trigger doesn't have much of a spruce top left so I don't think it would make a very good test for this hypothesis! It seems that various Spruces (Adirondack, Sitka, Englemann, German) seem to be the go-to wood for acoustic tops but there are a lot of other lesser used tops like cedar, and redwood also available.
I did a little research online and it seems that long before Stradivari, nearly all the stringed instruments, including pianos used Spruce for their soundboards.
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Post by steve on Jan 20, 2013 15:27:02 GMT -5
I can't say much about the individual qualities of woods in terms of tone however I definitely recommend getting an acoustic with a solid, as opposed to laminated, top. I have also noticed, on a few occasions, that a solid top guitar kind of beds in after 6 month playing. The tone just gets better-0 I can't explain it but have noticed it on my own acoustics.
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Post by saguitar on Jan 25, 2013 20:00:13 GMT -5
That's a fact, Steve! Solid tops are the only way to go, otherwise, you're just dealing with plywood and there's no way the tone is ever going to season and improve.
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Post by bulldogbill on Mar 14, 2013 9:49:38 GMT -5
I agree that spruce (don't forget cedar) tops are the only way to go. For the back and sides, I am uncertain. My main guitar has solid maple back and sides which sound great, but I wouldn't take it to the beach. Laminated (plywood by any other name) back and sides are reputed to produce about 90% of the sound quality of solid wood, but are much more forgiving of abuse. Laminated tops are really (in my opinion) for kids who may not pursue the guitar (but that's just my opinion, I could be wrong).
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