Tonewood alternatives

[John Musselwhite]

Hi Folks.

I had the opportunity to play a CF Martin DXB acoustic guitar over the 
weekend and I thought of a previous discussion here about wood and how 
luthiers use tonewoods.

This guitar 
(http://www.mguitar.com/MartinGuitar/StandardOutput.asp?RECORDID=72) is 
made almost entirely from "high-pressure laminate". Newer models appear to 
be wood-grained but this one was high-polish black. The neck and bridge are 
"Morado", apparently some sort of Bolivian rosewood with deep pores, but 
the top, back and sides are this laminate material.

The first thing I noticed is that even though it's a "dreadnought" style 
this guitar is *light*... possibly the lightest non-toy guitar I've ever 
played. The top is not much thicker than a piece of shirt cardboard and is 
braced with Martin's X braces. One strum told me that this is a very loud 
and resonant guitar, with a very rich full bass. While the strings are 
nicely balanced in tone, the higher frequencies you tend to associate with 
Martin guitars seem to be more attenuated than with a spruce top guitar. It 
definitely sounds like a Martin, though I thought the neck felt a little 
"cheap" due to the deep unfilled pores.

They don't tell you exactly what that "high-pressure laminate" is, but it 
appears to be an interesting material, at least for guitar bodies. It shows 
something about how "tonewoods" aren't as important in a guitar as some 
people may think. I'm curious about whether this is a material that piano 
makers have looked into for soundboards.

Oh... this one's for sale slightly used for about $350 US, a little more 
than half the new price. They appear to be about $150 cheaper than a 
comparable laminated wood Martin guitar. In comparison, a solid wood Martin 
D-18 lists for nearly $2,100 US .

Incidentally, the "top-of-the-line" Martin D-50 Deluxe can be had for a 
mere $50,000. See the Martin WWW site for a look at it as it's *real* pretty!

                 John


John Musselwhite, RPT    -     Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.musselwhite.com http://canadianpianopage.com/calgary
Pianotech IRC chats Tuesday and Thursday nights and Sunday Mornings
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