Pine guitar?

[BloodRose]

I didnt think Pine was especially preferred for guitars. Charvel has some guits out that are made of 160 year old pine. Does the carbonizing make it a good wood, or is pine gonna be pine? I cant imagine a $2k charvel being made less than good...

http://www.themusiczoo.com/product/...-160-Year-Old-Pine-San-Dimas-Electric-Guitar/

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Pine guitar?

I think it really comes down to how individual pieces are selected and treated, and how they sound.

Fender tried a slim pine body with a thick black finish at first, but went to a thicker ash body with a see-through finish because they thought it looked better.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Pine guitar?

^^ Yeah, the first Fenders (prototypes and single/double Esquires) had pine bodies and necks without a trussrod. I think Gil Yaron's rendition of the double Esquire (even with the black dope finish!) is quite impressive: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/180456-1950-double-esquire-build.html. There's loads of builds on the Tele forum using pine.

There's quite a few booteek builders out there who use pine, like Rick Kelly. Nothing wrong with it as a guitar wood. I guess as it's generally cheap and utilitarian, people shun it.

I do wonder about making of a pine bodied guitar with a Floyd in the long term though. There's a possibility that the stud inserts might work themselves loose eventually as pine isn't hard. They look good though.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Pine guitar?

I think most people think of hardware store pine when they think of them. I don't know how the guitar companies are doing it, but they're finding pine that almost looks like ash, without all the ugly knots, like you'd think they'd have.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Pine guitar?

^^ Yeah, the first Fenders (prototypes and single/double Esquires) had pine bodies and necks without a trussrod. I think Gil Yaron's rendition of the double Esquire (even with the black dope finish!) is quite impressive: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/180456-1950-double-esquire-build.html. There's loads of builds on the Tele forum using pine.

Also worth mentioning that those early slim-bodied pine Fenders were not made from good wood. They were glued up from multiple pieces, both lengthwise and in a pancake manner. Black acetate paint (basically a thick layer of sprayable black plastic) was used to hide the patterns and marks in the low-end wood.

FWIW, one of those early single Esquires is my dream guitar. There are almost none left, and I'll never be able to afford one anyhow, so I hope to have Gil build one for me some day.

 

[Archer_of_Fish]

Re: Pine guitar?

Pine is an excellent wood for guitar building.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Pine guitar?

There's also the 50s Classic Vibe Tele, which has a pine body.

Also worth mentioning that those early slim-bodied pine Fenders were not made from good wood. They were glued up from multiple pieces, both lengthwise and in a pancake manner. Black acetate paint (basically a thick layer of sprayable black plastic) was used to hide the patterns and marks in the low-end wood.

FWIW, one of those early single Esquires is my dream guitar. There are almost none left, and I'll never be able to afford one anyhow, so I hope to have Gil build one for me some day.

Yep. Leo used what was cheap/available. The way Gil did the finish on his was to spray a coat of primer (no grain fill prior), and then two coats of the black dope - that's it. Primer allows for thinner black coats, as shooting the dope (haw haw) straight results in it being absorbed by the wood, so you'd have to get it on pretty thick before it gets even.

Agreed. A Tele isn't really my kind of guitar but I bet the double Esquire is a tone monster; I'd certainly love to try one. Knowing the time/effort Gil puts into his builds, it's killer, no doubt.

 

[marvelous_seven]

Re: Pine guitar?

I do wonder about making of a pine bodied guitar with a Floyd in the long term though. There's a possibility that the stud inserts might work themselves loose eventually as pine isn't hard. They look good though.

I also thought about this as well.

 

[Tor]

Re: Pine guitar?

Really lusting for a pine tele..

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Pine guitar?

Try it yourself, get some old boards from a barn and glue 'em up.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Pine guitar?

good info and alot of my fears is the softness. However in this case, the wood is roasted, so that probably hardened it up too

 

[youngthrasher9]

Re: Pine guitar?

Yellow long leaf pine has an incredibly close density to mahogany believe it or not.
But it is likely that they use a different type that behaves more like ash, just considering the grain patterns I've seen on different luthier's builds.

 

[tonello]

Re: Pine guitar?

I would assume that it's brighter sounding than most. IDK much about tonewoods though.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...-classic-pine-tele-pro-electric-guitar/h70479