Were ’50s Juniors made from the same wood as Bursts?

Tom Wittrock said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they did slip the less attractive slabs in the Jr/Sp pile.
I doubt they selected them any more than that.
I suspect the overall quality of the slabs of mahogany were the same. :hmm

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There's probably some truth in that, I've heard the same of 345/355's getting the more attractive maple ply over 335's.

Less attractive usually means solid color if it were to happen. IMO there was little hand selection beyond stuff that was deemed scrap for the solid body guitars whereas for the top arches/flats there's definitely some selection going on. There was ONE purchaser at Gibson from late 40's to mid 70's named Rollo Werner and most, if not all, former employees seemed to feel wood quality never suffered during his tenure. The main change being brazilian which was not his fault.

:jim

T.Allen said:

^^^ What he said.

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I can't even believe it's a thing... Junior guy here.

marshall1987 said:

Nearly all wood shops within a manufacturing environment will sort and grade their lumber based on what the intended use is, especially those that manufacture professional musical instruments. Shouldn't be any mystery there.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that back in the '50s, Gibson sorted and graded the lumber intended for the different models in the Les Paul line. But keep in mind, the imported lumber stocks back in the '50s were substantially better than what is available today.

In the '60s you begin to see lower quality maple ply stocks on the cheaper ES-1xx, ES-2xx, and ES 330 line vs. the higher end guitars such as the ES-335, 345, and 355.

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With LP standards and customs having the mahogany top covered, with with maple or a solid finish, why would they select the better grade wood for the body ?

au_rick said:

With LP standards and customs having the mahogany top covered, with with maple or a solid finish, why would they select the better grade wood for the body ?

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Because they could. :hmm Necks used mahogany too. And you can see the backs of Les Pauls too. It's a fact of life....wood shops sort and grade their lumber based on intended use. They have to in order to weed out inferior wood, set aside the good wood, and minimize scrap wood.

Nearly all pallets of tone wood will have pieces which exhibit blemishes, defects, decay, knots, voids, etc. In milling the wood, the workers cut around the defects, or cut them out entirely from the pieces. It comes down the the extent the manufacture is willing to accept defects in the pieces of wood he intends to utilize for the various models in his line. It's not unusual for there to be some variation in the quality of wood contained in the pallets a manufacture ends up buying, e.g., some pieces will be relatively free from defects, other pieces will exhibit more defects, and a few pieces will have no defects. The sorting and grading process comes into play when the wood first enters the shop.

You think Melody Makers and Les Paul Jrs. got the same grade of mahogany as the Les Paul Std. and Custom back in the '50s?