Here's a nicely-done article about building a solidbody electric guitar from plywood. Total build: body, neck, fingerboard, everything. I'd call this a "found-material project", related to cigar box instruments, but I think his neck construction method can be lifted and applied to any other body -- cigar boxes, gas cans, cookie tins, wine boxes, etc. etc. The plywood technique would make a warp-resistant neck even without a truss rod.
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very cool . a well done tribute to the teisco tulip design .(which were also plywood (bodies ) .)
doing the neck in ply is an impressive step . i'd like to see updates on its stamina and how it held up .
That's really cool. I love his dremmel attachments. Nice way to make the fretboard. He must use a lot of super glue
a lot of commercial gits use the same principal for the neck, several pieces laminated on side to make it. my Ibanez bass has 5 layers that alternate between maple and bobinga
Nice design. You could use Pine or Poplar for the body at a reasonable cost that would offer better tone than plywood. There are a few sites online that offer bodies of various woods and necks for under a 100 dollars.
I hope the neck isn't made of plywood, that would be a disaster.
After watching the video, He does use a trussrod. Anything put into the neck to make it stable whether it's adjustable or not is a trussrod. Making the neck with the plywood lamination's running to opposite of the fretboard will work, but how long will it work properly under the stress of 6 metal strings and changes in temperature/moisture is the real question I have.
I've had many cheap guitars over the years, some with plywood bodies and some not. I just didn't like the tone they offered so I make a point to stay away from them now. I've had and seen necks of maple and mahogany that have warped, cracked and broke over time. If that can happen with those solid hardwoods, why would plywood be a good idea? Then there's the tone thing. Some people like the tone of plywood guitars, but all of them have had necks that wasn't ply. Add a ply neck with even more glue would seem to have less tone to me. Tonal preferences vary from person to person. I listened to the video, I wasn't impressed. But if you like it, go for it. I would suggest a Maple neck though to add strength and some brightness to the plywood's often sterile tone.
I've seen guitars made of plywood, cardboard, fiberboard, fiberglass and plastic over the years. Most People keep building and buying guitars made of quality wood for a very long time now and there's a reason for that.
CBG's Would you rather have a box made of real tone wood or would rather have a box made of plywood and a cardboard top? Both have their own tonal offerings, but which one is stronger and will last?
Just because a guitar or musical instrument can be made of a certain material, doesn't always mean it's a good idea.
There are some... but you are right: most have plywood tops/bottoms... the Avo Uzean I just built into a reso has a ply top, but the bottom is solid...yet really thin (sub 1/8") I had to reinforce it since it was cracking...
The ones that aren't covered with paper. The more expensive ones. Some will have a thin plywood bottom though, but the bottom doesn't matter.
Not too long ago on talkbass there was a kid who sold an older (80's?) brand name bass to someone over Ebay.
The buyer pulled the neck and noticed the painted body was plywood (no paint inside neck joint).
So some major name manufactures already have done this. Nobody seemed to have noticed as they said it was a 'hardwood' body. Some of listing had it listed as 'Maple'. It could very well have been maple ply.
The point is with a thick coat of paint and proper marketing the bass sounded great for it's price :)
I saw the neck pocket on a Squier Vintage Vibe Strat and thought it was plywood, but when the pickguard was removed you could tell it was a 3 piece Pine body. The grain pattern fooled me.
I remember you telling me this, but yours is a 3 or 4 string CBG right? I would be worried that 4 or more strings would be too much over time. Especially if you live in a humid area.
I may be wrong. Planes(British Mosquito) and boats(PT Boats) were made of plywood during WW2 and did well enough. But I'm definitely out on ply when it comes to tone. You could get a Maple neck blank for 40 dollars or less and enough Pine or Poplar boards to do a body for 20 dollars or less. Definitely costs more than ply, but the results would be so much better.
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