Future project: Is this plywood?

Mechayoshi

Mechayoshi

Dec 7, 2015
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#1
I'm planing on using my bass for a project I'm the future but if it's plywood I don't want to bother.

This is a bit strange but the unofficial documentation I've seen on this bass (Charvette 400) says its plywood (said documentation is from a single unofficial source so it doesn't mean much) However wouldn't you see the wood layers in the neck pocket? Could this be plywood?
 

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#2
Nope, that's solid wood, can't say what species. Could be alder, ash, basswood, or even pine. One of the Wood Gurus will probably know. Can you dent it easily with a fingernail? If so, it's probably basswood. It may be mutiple pieces glued together, irrelevant under a painted finish. Nothing wrong with plywood as a body material, maybe they used it on some but not all bodies. I'd say go for it unless you see any obvious problems with it, like long straight cracks in the paint or raised glue lines.
 
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#6
I think the Danelectros were Masonite, and they sounded great, which makes you question the whole Tonewood concept, at least for bodies. I briefly had a crappy $80 P-Bass clone made of plywood, had no idea until I took the neck off. You couldn't tell by the finish, and good quality plywood is inherently more stable than solid wood, so no issues there. I made a bass body mockup out of cheap A/C grade plywood as a test bed for balance and practice routing, and other than being heavy and full of voids on the "C" side, it's perfectly serviceable. If you use A/A cabinet grade plywood under a painted finish, suitably grain filled and primed, no reason you couldn't get a decent finish on it, and it will be plenty strong at a standard 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" body thickness.
 
#7
JRA said:
i've always hoped someone would say that (not sure why!), would you elaborate? (i've 'accepted' the thought that inferior instruments can be plywood, but superior instrument can never be plywood) are there exceptions? thanks.
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Plywood has advantages in its inexpensive and exceptionally stable. But the reasons you will not see it in a higher end instrument is that is perceived as cheap, it is heavy, and its not really suitable for anything but a solid color finish.
 
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#8
Hopkins said:
Plywood has advantages in its inexpensive and exceptionally stable. But the reasons you will not see it in a higher end instrument is that is perceived as cheap, it is heavy, and its not really suitable for anything but a solid color finish.
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didn't realize the "exceptionally stable" bit.

thanks for responding: have you ever built a plywood bass, or do you recall any 'famous' (but respected) brands made of plywood?
 
#9
JRA said:
didn't realize the "exceptionally stable" bit.

thanks for responding: have you ever built a plywood bass, or do you recall any 'famous' (but respected) brands made of plywood?
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No, I haven't used plywood for any builds.

Its stable because its multi layered with each layer apposing grain direction.
 
#11
JRA said:
sure: i build speaker cabinets with it for that reason. (and i used to own a plywood DB that actually sounded good --- but i realize that's different deal.) thanks.
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I am not sure, but I think what they call plywood in the DB world is actually laminates glued together in a form. There is no cross grain.
 
#13
Kubicki X-Factor Bass necks were effectively plywood. Semantics, I suppose, but I think of plywood as multiple thin layers of wood laminated with opposing grain. The Kubicki necks were something like 20+ layers of thin sliced wood, so I suppose you could call that a plywood neck. I have never owned one, but they are rumored to be extremely stable necks.
pxubbjnsuegmxjm5ziua_zpszbuadewq.jpg


Danelectro used Masonite, a variant of plywood more similar to modern MDF, basically sawdust and glue.
Vintage Danelectro - History

Here's an article about a plywood guitar in Guitar Player:
DIY Plywood Guitar Annoys Purists with Its Excellent Tone



Fender Squier MIM Strats were made with plywood throughout the 90's, don't know if they are still doing it.
PlywoodBody_zps8uyrwbtf.jpg
 
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#14
Gilmourisgod said:
Kubicki X-Factor Bass necks were effectively plywood. Semantics, I suppose, but I think of plywood as multiple thin layers of wood laminated with opposing grain. The Kubicki necks were something like 20+ layers of thin sliced wood, so I suppose you could call that a plywood neck. I have never owned one, but they are rumored to be extremely stable necks.
pxubbjnsuegmxjm5ziua_zpszbuadewq.jpg


Danelectro used Masonite, a variant of plywood more similar to modern MDF, basically sawdust and glue.
Vintage Danelectro - History

Here's an article about a plywood guitar in Guitar Player:
DIY Plywood Guitar Annoys Purists with Its Excellent Tone

Click to expand...


Martin uses some laminate necks on some of their guitars as well. My understanding is the same as yours. Ply wood has layers of apposing grain. Laminate is strips of wood with the grain laid out in the same direction.
 
#15
Hopkins said:
Martin uses some laminate necks on some of their guitars as well. My understanding is the same as yours. Ply wood has layers of apposing grain. Laminate is strips of wood with the grain laid out in the same direction.
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This is correct. The Kubiki is laminated, NOT plywood.

The cross grain of plywood can not be smoothed out nicely by sanding as it is in the longitudinal layers in a lamination. You can see how it wouldn't work for a smooth neck. For bodies, I have seen layers both plied and laminated. I have seen ply bodies with BEAUTIFUL book matched flame maple veneer; was a fantastic budget Les Paul -ish guitar of my friend.

Nothing wrong with any of it if good craftsmanship is part of the build.

I'm of the opinion that if the neck feels good and it sounds good, there is no need to soil your shorts over it.
 
#16
Interesting factoid: Kubicki necks used the same lamination technology used by the Germans during WWII to produce many of their KAR98 rifle stocks.

Here's a closeup of the underside of one of their stocks showing the laminations.

neygpk.jpg
 
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#17
Interesting thread.I'm looking at a p bass copy that I just discovered has a plywood body.It has a nice rock maple neck and maple fretboard.At first I was deterred but after reading this and other threads I think I will give it a shot.
 
#18
mongo2 said:
Interesting factoid: Kubicki necks used the same lamination technology used by the Germans during WWII to produce many of their KAR98 rifle stocks.

Here's a closeup of the underside of one of their stocks showing the laminations.
Click to expand...

Framus (precursor to Warwick) used the same tech for necks in the fifties. Stiff and stable.
 
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