Plywood Guitars

Simon_M

Perhaps not the most exciting subject...

I've heard a few people joke about plywood guitars but I don't think I've ever come across one. Perhaps I've never looked in the right places.

Are they still around?  Did Epiphone or Squier ever put out plywood guitars? Or is it one of those things that was solely the cheapest of cheap Chinese?

Also interested if they were made from multiple sheets laminated to each other i.e. true plywood, or more like a catchall term for a body made from multiple pieces of cheap wood and glued any old how?

And of course, lastly, did they sound truly terrible?

richardhomer

My first electric was a CSL copy of a (Keef-style) Telecaster Custom with a ply body.

Once I fitted it with decent pick-ups it sounded pretty good....

ICBM

There are loads of them, from the 1960s up to at least the 1990s, although they don’t seem as common now. Both Squier and Epiphone had some models, as well as many more highly-regarded brands.

Almost all the ones I can think of are true ply, with alternating grain direction. And no, they usually don’t sound bad - it’s not easy to tell the difference normally. Plywood guitars tend to sound bad because they were made to be cheap and are fitted with cheap hardware and electrics, not because they’re ply.

One of the exceptions are USA Standard Fenders from roughly 1993-2000, which are closer to a description of ‘blockboard’ - ie multiple roughly square-section blocks with veneers front and back. Some Mexican Fenders were also like this.

Simon_M

ICBM said:

There are loads of them, from the 1960s up to at least the 1990s, although they don’t seem as common now. Both Squier and Epiphone had some models, as well as many more highly-regarded brands.

Almost all the ones I can think of are true ply, with alternating grain direction. And no, they usually don’t sound bad - it’s not easy to tell the difference normally. Plywood guitars tend to sound bad because they were made to be cheap and are fitted with cheap hardware and electrics, not because they’re ply.

One of the exceptions are USA Standard Fenders from roughly 1993-2000, which are closer to a description of ‘blockboard’ - ie multiple roughly square-section blocks with veneers front and back. Some Mexican Fenders were also like this.

Truly fascinating answer, thanks! I kind of can't believe that a USA standard Fender was built like my chopping board. I've always assumed they were 3 pieces of wood maximum.

Simon_M

richardhomer said:

My first electric was a CSL copy of a (Keef-style) Telecaster Custom with a ply body.

Once I fitted it with decent pick-ups it sounded pretty good....

That supports ICBM's post that the main problem with them is the hardware. I'm quite keen to try to find one and see what it sounds like.

richardhomer

Simon_M said:

richardhomer said:

My first electric was a CSL copy of a (Keef-style) Telecaster Custom with a ply body.

Once I fitted it with decent pick-ups it sounded pretty good....

That supports ICBM's post that the main problem with them is the hardware. I'm quite keen to try to find one and see what it sounds like.

There is a theory that the neck contributes more to tone than the body - which if true goes some way to explaining this. The neck on that guitar was solid wood....

LuttiS

Didn't some manufacturers make chipboard guitars too? Sure I heard that somewhere... 

Funkfingers

In a recent trawl of eBay for instruments in spares/repair/project condition, I found an Aria The Cat going for peanuts. It took a moment to remember why that model was so affordable. Its body is ply. 

Ply is not necessarily a bad thing. Some cracking slide guitar tones can be extracted from dirt cheap guitars.

baldy

I have a Hohner Rockwood LX250G LP copy which is plywood.
I think that it is a fantastic guitar & I prefer the feel & sound of it to a couple of £400-£500 Epiphone LP"s I have tried even as stock.



Looks identical to this one.

Whitecat

LuttiS said:

Didn't some manufacturers make chipboard guitars too? Sure I heard that somewhere... 

Danelectros are made from Masonite...

ICBM

LuttiS said:

Didn't some manufacturers make chipboard guitars too? Sure I heard that somewhere... 

I think I can remember some 1960s cheapos that might have been, but I'm not certain - possibly some of the vinyl-covered German solids. The 90s Ibanez Talman was made from MDF (or probably more correctly HDF)... and the 80s Gibson Sonex something similar, called "Resonwood" - I'm not certain what its exact composition was, but it appears to be more resin than wood.

Whether it has any real effect on the 'quality' of the tone is difficult to say - as with the ply guitars, it's just one of a number of factors. They don't sound exactly *like* all-wood guitars, but the Talman in particular has quite a lot of fans, including some pro endorsements. Both the Talman and the Sonex are quite heavy though.

Pete24v

My first guitar, a 1991 Korean Squier was plywood, which split apart 2 years ago. So I replaced the body with a 2 piece alder thing from ebay.. Still sounds like the same old guitar. 

vale

i've got one of these old kays years i bought years ago (when they were not the stupid money they are now). 'totally plywood!' as nathan barley would say. pocket money thrills in the old school style.

even the neck appears to be made of finely laminated strips, all bound together with a super-resonant glassy varnish. some are horrible, but some are fun players. i like mine anyway.

this one sounds good enough.

JezWynd

I picked up a Fender Bullet recently. It's from 1981 I believe. They took the plywood aesthetic and ran with it - pickguard doubles as bridge and string retainer. Sounds fine and plays well thanks to a very nice neck.

Funkfingers

Famously, the advertisement for the original Yamaha Pacifica 112 illustrated its naked, natural finish, solid wood body next to a Korean Squier whose thick paint had been abraded away around the edge of the lower bout to reveal laminate.

Much depends upon how snotty you want to be about laminates. The Gibson ES-335/345/355 body is steamed and shaped from laminated tone woods. 

dindude

Yamaha changed the landscape somewhat when they brought out the Pacifica 112 in early 1990’s with natural finish showing solid wood. 

mart

Aren’t 335s made of plywood?

ICBM

I nearly forgot this... probably the most plywood of all plywood guitars!

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/75/3a/2a/753a2aa33bfb44a5df480266836b3ac7.jpg




(If you don't already know, it's a Gibson Zoot Suit.)

vale

Funkfingers said:

In a recent trawl of eBay for instruments in spares/repair/project condition, I found an Aria The Cat going for peanuts. It took a moment to remember why that model was so affordable. Its body is ply. 

Ply is not necessarily a bad thing. Some cracking slide guitar tones can be extracted from dirt cheap guitars.

i had a 1970s Aria bass with the classic 'made in japan' plate (probably budget motsumoko) and that was exactly the 'chopping board' blocky type body @ICBM was describing.

the paint came away like egg shell from around the horns and bottom pin and it was clearly not laminate but block.

Funkfingers

Don't look, vale.

https://i.imgur.com/O7FqwmS.jpg?1

Stuckfast

My first electric was a Westone Thunder II. It was made of MDF.

I also have a Japanese Strat copy that is plywood. Probably the more confidence-inspiring of the two.