An FAQ about the materials we use
Is that plywood?
Heck yeah it is!
Though it's probably not the plywood you're imagining. You will not find this on the shelves at Home Depot or Lowes.
We use "Baltic Birch" plywood, which is sourced from northeastern Europe, near the Baltic Sea, and ordered through a local Tampa lumber supplier. The "cabinet" or "construction-grade" plywood that you might encounter at a big-box home improvement store often uses birch as the outer-most layer (or veneer) for the sake of appearance, but the inner layers can be made of cheaper wood species (pine, balsa, bass) and even fiber-board. The inner layers of Baltic plywood, however, are each 1mm thick solid birch which are then laminated with the grain of each layer set perpendicularly, while also using a stronger adhesive. Each layer is solid void-less hardwood, creating an extremely consistent and rigid final product.
Do you offer options other than plywood?
Heck yea we do!
We realize that cheap overseas guitar manufacturing in the 70's and 80's has given plywood guitars a bad name because they're historically linked with poorly constructed or cheap instruments, which is extremely unfortunate because Baltic birch is an amazing material for solid-body guitars (more on that below). That said, we love solid hardwood guitars! Our order pages have options for roasted poplar, mahogany, or black walnut bodies (which all look and sound incredible). If you're interested in other wood species, just send us a message and ask. We are on a first-name basis with our local lumber supplier and will do our best to ethically source whatever it is you're looking for.
Does using plywood have a negative affect on tone?
Heck no it doesn't!
There is a long history of mythology and mysticism surrounding the notion of "tone woods." It is our opinion that in the hierarchy of factors that affect an electric guitar's tone, wood species would be very near to the bottom of the list. A quick internet search will yield tons of results which corroborate this assertion. This particular video does an exceptional job of debunking the notion of tone wood (if 12 minutes is too long for you, the last 3 minutes alone make a great argument).
Heck yeah it is!
Though it's probably not the plywood you're imagining. You will not find this on the shelves at Home Depot or Lowes.
We use "Baltic Birch" plywood, which is sourced from northeastern Europe, near the Baltic Sea, and ordered through a local Tampa lumber supplier. The "cabinet" or "construction-grade" plywood that you might encounter at a big-box home improvement store often uses birch as the outer-most layer (or veneer) for the sake of appearance, but the inner layers can be made of cheaper wood species (pine, balsa, bass) and even fiber-board. The inner layers of Baltic plywood, however, are each 1mm thick solid birch which are then laminated with the grain of each layer set perpendicularly, while also using a stronger adhesive. Each layer is solid void-less hardwood, creating an extremely consistent and rigid final product.
Do you offer options other than plywood?
Heck yea we do!
We realize that cheap overseas guitar manufacturing in the 70's and 80's has given plywood guitars a bad name because they're historically linked with poorly constructed or cheap instruments, which is extremely unfortunate because Baltic birch is an amazing material for solid-body guitars (more on that below). That said, we love solid hardwood guitars! Our order pages have options for roasted poplar, mahogany, or black walnut bodies (which all look and sound incredible). If you're interested in other wood species, just send us a message and ask. We are on a first-name basis with our local lumber supplier and will do our best to ethically source whatever it is you're looking for.
Does using plywood have a negative affect on tone?
Heck no it doesn't!
There is a long history of mythology and mysticism surrounding the notion of "tone woods." It is our opinion that in the hierarchy of factors that affect an electric guitar's tone, wood species would be very near to the bottom of the list. A quick internet search will yield tons of results which corroborate this assertion. This particular video does an exceptional job of debunking the notion of tone wood (if 12 minutes is too long for you, the last 3 minutes alone make a great argument).
Strictly speaking - the noise an electric guitar makes is caused by the vibration of the metal string interrupting the magnetic field of the pickup. In the hierarchy of factors that would affect an electric guitar's tone, here are things much higher on the list than wood species:
In the end, we would never say that the wood used to construct an electric guitar doesn't affect tone at all, but it is certainly less of a factor than many have romanticized.
Why did you decide to use plywood?
There are so many good reasons!
Again, just a reminder that we aren't talking about the crappy plywood you've probably seen at the local home improvement store (see question 1 above). Below is a list of factors that lead us to Baltic birch as a body material:
I'm still not convinced on the plywood thing...
Thats not a question. We will happily make you an instrument with a hardwood body of your choosing as long as we can ethically source the wood. If that doesn't make you happy, then maybe our guitars aren't for you.
- Pickup type (humbucker, P90, singlecoil, etc)
- Pickup resistance (ohms)
- Pickup height/ distance from the strings (remarkably overlooked)
- Pickup location relative to the bridge/ neck
- Potentiometer and capacitor values
- String age/wear
- String gauge
- Scale length
- Pickup magnet type
- Playing style
In the end, we would never say that the wood used to construct an electric guitar doesn't affect tone at all, but it is certainly less of a factor than many have romanticized.
Why did you decide to use plywood?
There are so many good reasons!
Again, just a reminder that we aren't talking about the crappy plywood you've probably seen at the local home improvement store (see question 1 above). Below is a list of factors that lead us to Baltic birch as a body material:
- Consistency- Baltic Birch is fabricated from voidless hardwood plys that are laminated with their grain perpendicular in each layer. Relative to hardwoods, which can vary in density and grain structure, the consistency in weight and density from instrument to instrument will be much better.
- Stability - because each of the layers are set with their grain at 90 degrees to one another, Baltic birch is extremely stabile and much less likely to swell or move when the instrument is exposed to environmental changes like temperature or humidity.
- Rigidity - We're not a strong believer in “tone woods,” but we do believe in physics. The more rigid your substrate, the less string vibration will be transferred to that substrate. Again, the laminated structure of Baltic birch, with layers of crossing grain, creates an extremely rigid body that won’t rob the stings of vibration, and should therefore increase sustain.
We like to make an analogy to skateboard construction. Why are skateboards made from plywood? Imagine a fully grown human jumping up and down on a 3/8" thick piece of solid wood, transferring their body's vibrations to the wood. Even the hardest wood species would crack immediately. But, wood laid in thin layers with crossing grain patterns yields an object with much higher tensile strength; able to accommodate a full-sized human standing, riding, and even jumping down stairs on it, with ease. - Sustainability - Baltic birch is fast-growing relative to other wood types. As a species it is qualified as “rapidly renewable.” Baltic birch manufacturers are also strictly regulated by the EPA and local agencies to meet emissions standards and practices. Using old-growth and exotic hardwoods opens the door to ethically questionable sourcing and less renewable lumber harvesting practices.
- Cost - related to sustainability above. When purchasing 8/4 thickness hardwoods, one can generally assume that roughly 20-30% of what is purchased will become waste through milling and the removal of naturally occurring flaws in the wood. With Baltic birch, however, every single inch of a 5ft x 5ft sheet is usable. Zero waste for us translates to lower cost of production, and lower prices for you.
I'm still not convinced on the plywood thing...
Thats not a question. We will happily make you an instrument with a hardwood body of your choosing as long as we can ethically source the wood. If that doesn't make you happy, then maybe our guitars aren't for you.