Artificially aging guitars

http://www.acousticguitar.com/gear/advice/vibration.shtml


Z

From all that I've heard and read, I think that old guitars sound better for a
number of reasons:

1. the wood of the body dries out over the years and resonates better.
2. the workmanship of old guitars was better (made by hand, hand-wound pickups)
3. the quality of the raw materials was better (better wood, tighter grain, Brazilian rosewood was still legal,...)
4. the vibrations from being played over time affect the quality of the sound by affecting the wood itself.

Bill M (Anubis Spire) said on FB that he knows a guy that bakes his guitar bodies for days to dry
them out and that works well to artificially age them too (he uses a 57 Les Paul for comparison).


Z

Yep, all true.....MMMmm....My Kent is mid-80s...That puts the wood about 25 years old..(after build)...It takes at least that long for wood to dry and start sounding (different)...Better?? who know what that is?? It subjective.

I like both older, and new guitars for many reasons.
I think they used to TRY and make great guitars. Thats why i have no probs with off-brand guitars if there at least from the 80s. They were TRY'N to build good, they DID build good.

Nothing like a brand NEW guitar tho. There freash, and setup great most times. If you spend at least 400 bucks. I think we build better guitars now. But some things you dont get new..like age..

I really dont think the human ear is that fine-tuned to this stuff. Its what your brain "thinks" its hearing. My S is from 1992. But it sounds 100 years old to my ears.

The kent just sounds great, because its a great guitar. But it does not "sound" old.

VERY few guitars in my life i did NOT like...they ALL have there "thing", like people, but there cooler than people..

Old, New, ??? Both i guess. I really like the 80s built guitars..ALL brands, off or big-name.
The dude that has my S. has an 80s the START one everyone hated! AWESOME guitar! sound is GREAT, feels good, plays GREAT! Its about 25 years old now, so there ya go...........

No guitar sound Better than the other. Its the PLAYER.
Les paul was playing once, dude walks in and says, WOW that guitar sounds great!
Les puts it down and says..hows IT sound now????

DACE>

Yeah I agree Dace.
As long as the guitar has a: great neck, setup, pickups, and decent wood (no rattles, no plywood)
I tend to like them.

I am way more concerned with playability and pickup sound than brand or age.

Lots of great guitars made in the 60s,70s, and 80s. And some today as well.

What you have to look out for these days is all the cheap copies and fakes.
Not as many of those existed back then.
Now every Famous type of guitar has a $299 version that looks a lot like it, but has really cheap parts on it.


Z

Well, on the plywood...allmost EVERYone says that...But iv found them to be great for electrics. There strong, and the sound is good because the way plywood vibrates...Its going from layer to layer transfering the vibes little by little all the way out. I just feel they make good electrics..its the carpenter in me i guess. Plywood is GOOD wood really.
Iv had ALOT of plywood electrics...Sound great to me.
Most guitars now days, GOOD ones, PRS, Gibson, Ibanez, ect, made by glue'n wood together or glued on tops, (PRS).....There ply's in way.
But yes....i think its a mistake to rule out plywood electrics as "good" sounding. There stronger for sure. Theres factors plywood has for sound.
Its subjective...I can prove my point about this. Not woth words tho, ears tell you the story. Plywood is fine for an electric.

DACE>

DACE wrote:Well, on the plywood...allmost EVERYone says that...But iv found them to be great for electrics. There strong, and the sound is good because the way plywood vibrates...Its going from layer to layer transfering the vibes little by little all the way out. I just feel they make good electrics..its the carpenter in me i guess. Plywood is GOOD wood really.
Iv had ALOT of plywood electrics...Sound great to me.
Most guitars now days, GOOD ones, PRS, Gibson, Ibanez, ect, made by glue'n wood together or glued on tops, (PRS).....There ply's in way.
But yes....i think its a mistake to rule out plywood electrics as "good" sounding. There stronger for sure. Theres factors plywood has for sound.
Its subjective...I can prove my point about this. Not woth words tho, ears tell you the story. Plywood is fine for an electric.

DACE>

As long as it doesn't rattle. There are different kinds of plywood. The cheap stuff I've seen is only on chinese
kids guitars these days. basswood and alder are fairly cheap, so I would rather get that if only because it looks
better stained (I am partial to Mahogany myself). Most plywood bodies are painted I imagine?

But as you say lots of solid body guitars are "plywood" in that the top (maple) is glued onto the rest of the body.

Hell, you're the carpenter!!!

I just remember hitting a chord on a plywood body guitar that had like loose wood inside or something.

Z

When you are talking about plywood guitars there is one famous name that springs to mind.....Danelectro.

Probably they were the pioneers of making cheap guitars that had character and were used by some big names because of their awesome tone.

Jimmy Page used a Danelectro on Kashmir and Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd was a user too.

Danelectro guitars are still available new and they are still comparibly cheap.

They have a plywood body with a Masonite top.

Masonite according to Wiki :

It is formed using the Mason method, using wood chips, blasting them into long fibers with steam and then forming them into boards. The boards are then pressed and heated to form the finished boards. No glue or other material is added. The long fibers give Masonite a high bending strength, tensile strength, density and stability. Unlike other composite wood panels produced using formaldehyde-based resins to bind fibers, Masonite is made using natural ingredients only, which makes it an environmentally friendly product.

The guitars look good and apparently play good (there are video demos on You Tube)

You can see one here with a review:

http://www.danelectro.com/press.html

This one is fabulous with a psychedelic paint job............I Want One !!!!!!!!! :

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Stunning-Danelectro-59-Reissue-Psychedelic-Guitar-/170554434308?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item27b5d62304

Wow. Cool info Peter!
I always felt that you needed to own a 55 Chevy to go with any Danelectro products.

I've never even played a Danelectro guitar. I've used some of their pedals before.
They seem like a good choice for Surf Guitar music.

Z

z wrote:
Wow. Cool info Peter!
I always felt that you needed to own a 55 Chevy to go with any Danelectro products.

I've never even played a Danelectro guitar. I've used some of their pedals before.
They seem like a good choice for Surf Guitar music.

Z

The King of Surf guitars is.........you guessed it.....the Fender Jaguar closely followed by the Jazzmaster.

The Ventures (earlier than Surf music) used Mosrite guitars (no longer in production)

Joey Ramone of the Ramones used Danelectro as did Jimmy Page on Kashmir.
So did Syd Barrett of the Floyd although he also used a Telecaster.

Danelectro also used to make the Longhorn Bass......had two long curly horns like a Lyre.

I love the Ventures! I think they used Fender Twin Reverb amps (like Dick Dale).
Great single-coil shimmery sound.

The Danelectros look kind of futuristic in a 60s sort of way.
I'll have to try one out someday.

Z

Been looking for a DanO for awhile...Theres only ONE i like.
Found one in allmost perfect shape, black and all....went to get it, GONE!
And there not high. This one was 129.00...100 would have got it.

Z....there VERY cool guitars. Try a few. They have there OWN tone. EASY to play.
You wont like the narrow necks, but there so easy to play..kinda like the Peavey-T-60s neck wise. But, yes, good guitars for sure. Reason is, theres no other like them really...Kinda like a Tele in that.

I only like ONE body tho...the double cut-away one..its like a les-paul-Jr-double cut.
2 small horns.
HATE the single cuts..UGLY!!!YYYYYYyyyyyyy....

Forget an old one..cant find those. the new ones are cool enuff.
Very cheap used. Not prised bad new really. One of kind guitars.

DACE>

Thats the DC59 Re Issue which is the classic Dano....



Currently still in production and its £179 GBP and available in the UK

I have too many guitars now and no spare money or I could be tempted.

That does look nice. All smooth lines instead of sharp corners.

Z

globaltrancemission wrote:Thats the DC59 Re Issue which is the classic Dano....



Currently still in production and its £179 GBP and available in the UK

I have too many guitars now and no spare money or I could be tempted.

ALLMOST the one..I like the cheaper one that has the small pickgaurd with the D in it..Its like a les paul pickgaurd but flat on the body..I could stand that one tho. Its the better one.
DACE>

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of pickguards. The smaller the better (unless it's a strat).
That pickguard looks like Casper The Friendly Ghost

Those are going for $349 online. That's pretty cheap.

Z