Knowing which guitars are made out of plywood

M

Mr songwriter

New member
...or particle board or other cheapo materials, I've seen comments on here and elsewhere to the effect that certain budget guitars are made from these kind of materials, so as I'm looking for a cheapish guitar to do mods on (pickups and possibly bridge) I'd like to know if there are any strat type guitars that you definitely know are made of plywood etc. I realise I could just get a sunburst or natural finish guitar to be sure but I don't want to limit myself to just those types of finish. I've also seen comments about the necks on cheapo guitars being too soft; so if I'm looking at a guitar in a shop, are there any tricks or tests I could apply to avoid buying one like that?
 
Don't let a finish fool you

There are plenty of sunburst finished guitars that have plywood bodies. There is no way to tell from the finish alone, since a sunburst is opaque at the edges. AFAIK the cheapo MusicYo "Kramers" are one such plywood sunburst guitar.

Also, beware of cheap guitars that have too thin of a satin finish on the neck. Maple necks need a finish that will not let much moisture in or out - no matter what type of fingerboard is used, otherwise the neck will not be stable from season to season and will require more frequent truss rod adjustments - this is a pain to live with. Lets just say that from my own experience, I suggest avoiding any neck that is not well finished.

Peace
 
fraserhutch said:
Personally, I just *love* the sound of an acoustic made outta mdf...... :o
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I know someone who has a guitar that appears to be made out of lollipop stick wood; he can't understand why it won't stay in tune for more than 20 minutes at a time.

thevirgin said:
There are plenty of sunburst finished guitars that have plywood bodies. There is no way to tell from the finish alone, since a sunburst is opaque at the edges. AFAIK the cheapo MusicYo "Kramers" are one such plywood sunburst guitar.
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Aha, that's sneaky, that's exactly the kind of information I'm looking for. Thanks.

Also, beware of cheap guitars that have too thin of a satin finish on the neck. Maple necks need a finish that will not let much moisture in or out - no matter what type of fingerboard is used, otherwise the neck will not be stable from season to season and will require more frequent truss rod adjustments - this is a pain to live with. Lets just say that from my own experience, I suggest avoiding any neck that is not well finished.

Peace
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Right, I will have to look out for that, Im not exactly sure how to check the thickness of the finish, though I suppose the thicker finish kind of bulges where it meets the frets etc, if you know what I mean.
 
This osn't a set rule but chances are if it cost less than $100 it is very likely to be plywood. There are also plenty in the higher price range but they are called laminated rather than plywood. For a "project guitar" you might look into Harmony, Hondo, Silvertone, older Aria, Electra (and a ton if imports brought to the U.S. by Electra Corp.) Another good indicator is no name or a name you have never heard of especially on cheap made in Japan modlels from the 60s and 70s. Look around at yard sales, flea markets and thrift/used stuff stores, there are lots of old misused and abused guitars out there which are great for project and experimentation guitars.
 
hey, can anyone tell me offhand if my guitar is made of real or fake wood? it's a '82 (or '81) Yamaha FG-345II acoustic. i really am dumb and don't know how to tell if its laminated or actually made of good stuff. :confused:
it sounds pretty good to my ears though, i just want to know out of curiosity.

here's a pic of the front:
 

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and here's what the back (and sides) look like:
 

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zed32 said:
hey, can anyone tell me offhand if my guitar is made of real or fake wood? it's a '82 (or '81) Yamaha FG-345II acoustic. i really am dumb and don't know how to tell if its laminated or actually made of good stuff. :confused:
it sounds pretty good to my ears though, i just want to know out of curiosity.

here's a pic of the front:
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You can often see if the top is laminated by looking at the edge in the soundhole.


Solid-color American Standard Strats from the 90s are all plywood, if anyone cares.
 
zed32 said:
hey, can anyone tell me offhand if my guitar is made of real or fake wood? it's a '82 (or '81) Yamaha FG-345II acoustic. i really am dumb and don't know how to tell if its laminated or actually made of good stuff. :confused:
it sounds pretty good to my ears though, i just want to know out of curiosity.

here's a pic of the front:
Click to expand...

It's probably real wood, now what that means is a different story. All that matters is that it sounds good and you like playing it. You can get two of the same year guitar and have one be amazing and you love it and the other one was made at about 4:57 on a Friday and is a total dog. Boingoman's right, the soundhole says a lot.
If you're uber curious, grab your serial number and call Yamaha and they'll tell you about it (hopefully). I've bothered Gibson/Epiphone about 5 times about whatever I've picked up from music stores.
 
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