Taylor's Three Layered Wood

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Wayne27

Member
Is Taylor's three layered wood better then most laminated wood or is it no different? I ask because I hear a lot of talk about how some laminated woods are better then others.
 
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They're only using it for the back and sides of certain lower end models, right? Small guitars like the Baby Taylors. It's poplar sandwiched between sapele. It's obviously a cost cutting move. They admit on their website that the sound lacks the complex sound of solid wood. Not having played one, I don't know if it's better or worse than the back and sides of other "plywood" guitars. I will say that the best sounding "plywood" guitar I've played is my Seagull which does have a solid cedar top with mahagany ply back and sides. So it can be done. Cedar can give a guitar a very lively sound compared to spruce. Not a very good answer to your question. Sorry.
 
Taylor made a guitar out of a palette and it sounded decent. Laminate sides don’t make nearly the different that a top would make. Also, the fact that Taylor isn’t going for traditional acoustic tone helps as well, they are not boxed into having it perform in a certain manner.

I think for anyone not super serious about acoustic (and focused on humidification, etc.) a laminate back/side guitar makes a lot of sense. So much easier to care for, etc.
 
They're using it on their grab and go, travel type, small bodied, low end guitars. It's a good move and allows them to keep their production in the USA.

They're not trying to make a guitar that sounds like a Martin or a Santa Cruz with those guitars.

They're trying to make a guitar that takes a licking and keeps on ticking as the old Timex ads used to say.
 
PFDarkside said:
Taylor made a guitar out of a palette and it sounded decent. Laminate sides don’t make nearly the different that a top would make. Also, the fact that Taylor isn’t going for traditional acoustic tone helps as well, they are not boxed into having it perform in a certain manner.

I think for anyone not super serious about acoustic (and focused on humidification, etc.) a laminate back/side guitar makes a lot of sense. So much easier to care for, etc.
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How much more care does a solid back and side need? Do you have to put extra humidifiers. I’m kind of new to all solid acoustic guitars.
 
Wayne27 said:
How much more care does a solid back and side need? Do you have to put extra humidifiers. I’m kind of new to all solid acoustic guitars.
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I’m sure there are a few goofballs around here who will say they have owned a solid acoustic for 25 years, never have done anything but string changes and it’s fine.

Living in the upper Midwest and having my only acoustic cost almost 3x’s what my most expensive electric was, I leave it in the case from October to April with the appropriate humidifiers in the case. The rest of the year it can sit out. Even with a whole home humidifier it’s too dry to take a risk. My brother and friends have laminate side and back guitars that they leave out all year and they are no worse for wear. I’ll also point out that my acoustic has scalloped braces and has 13s, theirs are all braced like a bridge and they use 10s or 11s.

In short, if you get a nice guitar, get a case humidifier for it and you’ll enjoy it for a very long time.
 
The first wouldn't be much of a guitar.
Bob Benedetto made a nice archtop from pallet wood, too.

Spelling counts, period. Full stop. Language is meant to be precise so we communicate fully. People who can't spell show how much they care about being understood completely. I understand he's a lousy speller, and he doesn't care.
 
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As for laminated guitars and humidification, I believe dryness is most dangerous to the top and the fret ends.
Not sure laminated sides would be much protection. I guess a laminated back would be sturdier.
I saw desiccation cracks in the top and back of a Martin Shenandoah with laminated sides.
 
I bought a Taylor (taylor 214ce sb dlx - which is kinda a mouthful) with the 3 sheet laminated back and sides a year and a half ago. It sounds great, and I picked it over a whole bunch of guitars with solid wood back/sides. What I found kinda cool was that there is no bracing on the back of the guitar when you look inside - apparently it's not necessary with the lamination because of the additional strength.
 
PFDarkside said:
I’m sure there are a few goofballs around here who will say they have owned a solid acoustic for 25 years, never have done anything but string changes and it’s fine.

Living in the upper Midwest and having my only acoustic cost almost 3x’s what my most expensive electric was, I leave it in the case from October to April with the appropriate humidifiers in the case. The rest of the year it can sit out. Even with a whole home humidifier it’s too dry to take a risk. My brother and friends have laminate side and back guitars that they leave out all year and they are no worse for wear. I’ll also point out that my acoustic has scalloped braces and has 13s, theirs are all braced like a bridge and they use 10s or 11s.

In short, if you get a nice guitar, get a case humidifier for it and you’ll enjoy it for a very long time.
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I kept my 50 year old solid wood yamaki acoustic out of the case most of the time for the close to 20 years I hadit with no ill effects, and it had light bracing. It lived with me in non humidity controlled houses in Ontario (extremely low humidity winters, extremely high humidity summers) for that time. You could see the top swell up or shrink down and action change depending on time of year, but it didn't seem to do lasting damage (I swear it always sounded better in the winter though). I used 11s on it. You might have more problems with heavier strings. It also wasn't an expensive guitar though, or I would have been a bit more concerned. My laminated Taylor gets much more humidity care than that old solid wood guitar did.
 
I always though a great design with resonant woods could make a 3 play guitar sound better than a solid wood one. I've seen this with semi-hollows, like 335-types. I've also played many exceptional cheaper acoustics.
 
I had one- the 214 ce DLX. Excellent guitar, sounded better than many sold woos guitars. It had a layered rosewood back- rosewood/ poplar/ rosewood.

Then I came across a used 300 series with a solid sapele back. The prior owner didn’t humidify it, so the back split a little, but came back together once I humidified it. Once that got taken care of, the 214 sounded cold and sterile compared to the solid wood 300 series, so I kept the 300 and sold the 214

The layered backs and side require a lot less maintenance, are more durable, but solid wood rang like a bell and was warmer
 
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