About wood grain

[blackwell]

Hi, I just have a question about guitar body's wood grain.

I've got a Gibson SG Special Faded.

 

But it's body has discontinuous wood grain(Please check attached file.)

 

I just wonder if it has "one-piece" mahogany body.

 

Why it looks like that?

[cjsinla]

There tends to be more pieces in the bodies on the cheaper models. Your pic does appear to show a seam.

[Jon S.]

This model typically has a 2-3 piece body.

[212West]

'multi-piece mahogany body' is a description I read recently - Gibson describing their SG product line.

My 2014 SG Standard is 3 piece, albeit nicely matched.

Custom shop $$$$ may get you a 1 piece body these days

[Col Mustard]

In these troubled times, when the supplies of tropical tonewoods are disappearing faster than you can say Henry J...

It's likely that guitars of the future (if any) will be made of whatever is available. I own a 2007 Gibson SG faded special, and it has at least

one seam. On my SG, the builders took some trouble to match up the grain very nicely, and the seam is not very

obvious. But I've seen SG faded specials made of like four pieces, and they didn't match as well as mine.

 

But really, this is nothing new. The idea of a one piece body is almost like an urban legend. People speak of them in tones of awe,

when really it makes NO difference to the tone of the guitar. The one piece body is an aesthetic choice... a sales gimmick if you will.

Gibson can offer a Les Paul traditional custom standard plus limited edition premium classic re-issue chambered figured back

guitar for $6000 or more. One of the features is bound to be the one piece body. And it doesn't sound any better than a used

Les Paul Studio faded that you found in a pawn shop for $500. A total non-issue... except for the looks.

 

Leo Fender always made guitars out of whatever lumber he had on hand. He'd say, "Glue 'em up, Saw 'em out, sand 'em down, paint 'em if

the seam shows, string 'em up and ship 'em out." And some of those Fenders are worth big money now. And plenty of great music was

played on them.

 

You figure that the guitar bodies with the worst looking seams showing mismatched grain would be painted ebony or pelham blue... and

that's always been true also. Someone at the factory has the job of sending different bodies to the paint room or the stain room based on

how they look.

 

You also figure that if a mahogany plantation grows some trees with large enough logs to make one piece bodies, these will sell for more money

to Gibson or PRS or whoever comes shopping for wood. So you also figure that if Gibson pays more for the large logs, they will reserve those for

the custom shop where they create the above mentioned highly pedigreed and highly priced instruments. And they don't sound any better than my

beloved two piece SG special with its '57 Classic and Classic + p'ups. 'shrugs.

 

Where I live in the Midwest of the USA, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of old barns that were built in the 1800s or early 1900s

for working farms. Many of those farm families have lost their young people to city life, and the old farmers are getting too old, and the barns

are starting to lean away from the prevailing Westerlies. Those old barns are often made of big timbers of old growth wood, and I think

they should be recycled instead of being allowed to fall down or burn down. I think a guitar made out of barn wood might be perfect to play

country music on. Or any music really.

 

When Gibson was struggling to keep going after having their illegal black market tropical rosewood and ebony confiscated by the Feds (2012)

they made their guitars with "baked maple" fretboards. Many closed minded guitarists scoffed at this, and (by reflex) said it was no good.

My jocular suggestion was that Gibson should go around buying up old abandoned bowling alleys, and make necks and fretboards out of the hard maple

they'd get there. Why not?

The 2012 Gibsons didn't sell well, and when they marked them down I bought one, an SG special "70s tribute" with the baked maple. And it's actually excellent,

as a good Gibson should be. I've had no trouble with mine, it's smooth and hard and fast. *shrugs ...so let's assume that Gibson (and Fender) and others

will figure out a way to make great guitars when they can't find any more big logs at a cost effective price. Most of them will have multi piece bodies.