A Question About Old Wood In General

oak · Sep 29, 2004

I was just wondering when the use of old wood stopped, in general that is. Was it used across the board back in the 50's and early '60s? Are old Strat's made of out of "old wood", and if so, when did they stop? Yeah, I know this is the Les Paul Forum, but I was just curious. Back to Les Paul's, when did they start using new wood? I guess I am just curious about the use of old wood by the big companies. Are any small or large companies using old wood for any or all of their guitars?

Sorry for mentioning Stratocaster's on the Vintage Les Paul board, but I am curious about Fender too sometimes

. Anyways, thanks for any replies.

JR.Deluxe · Sep 29, 2004

Old Wood cutoff date ,Id say They used up the last little pieces in 62-63 on Melody Makers . Old wood is a term usually in reference to mahogany. I'm sure some strat guy would argue that point.

oak · Sep 29, 2004

JR.Deluxe said:
Old wood is a term usually in reference to mahogany. I'm sure some strat guy would argue that point.

I guess the question is, does alder (or ash) age like mahogany? Everyone agrees that an old wood Les Paul sounds better than a new wood Les Paul, is it the same for Stratocasters? Will an old Strat or Tele body sound better than a new one?

DrRobert · Sep 30, 2004

I believe they do, but I have a vested interest. I did have a friend come over one day with a custom shop Tele. We played it back to back with my beat, refretted 66. Now, to choose his, he'd gone up to Dave's and played all the Teles Dave had that day (now that's a big job) and picked the one he thought sounded best. We both agreed that my well played 66 sounded better. Of course, not all old instruments are great (I've seen some custom colored Fenders that were pretty but played like dogs, partly because the custom color required a lot more paint) but in general I think that old growth, air dried wood is better sounding. Why do luthiers build violins exclusively out of the oldest wood they can find?

Cream Fan · Sep 30, 2004

The term Old Wood means a couple of different things. First, they were using old growth mahogany, wood harvested from trees that had not been cultivated specifically for harvesting for guitars. Second, it means wood that has aged and dried naturally. I've been told that most of the wood used on Les Pauls and their bretheren in the 50s had lain around for nearly 50 years drying out. I would venture to say that this might be the most important aspect of old wood. I would speculate that if you took some of the modern mahogany and let it age the same way you would have a great sounding instrument. Problem is both you and I would be too old--or dead-- to enjoy it.

And the saddest part is that the insatiable demand for guitars made of mahogany has made it economically unfeasible to leave wood lying around that long. Perhaps, if it were like wine, where it would taste like crap if not aged properly, then they would do it; but that esoteric something in the tone of old wood is not something they are going to wait around for, not when the public will happily buy the guitar without it, anway.

John Catto · Sep 30, 2004

It's old wood now, it was new wood then. Gibson installed Kilns in the late 40's and sourced wood when they needed it for instance the maple tops for the Les Paul, in particular the figured tops required for the bursted guitars. The Mahogany (excepting perhaps the necks blanks maybe) used in a Les Paul bears no relation to wood stocks that Gibson would have had stored, stickered and cut to rough dimension. The wood used was neither old nor air dried to any great extent. It's a myth.

Mike Shaw · Sep 30, 2004

"It's a myth."

Hmmmm.... I wonder if this would be a worthy subject for the Myth Busters television show? Is there really a difference in weight, sound, etc in 50's wood vs 2000 wood. Anyone know how to suggest this to the shows producers? Mike

oak · Sep 30, 2004

Wow, since the whole "old wood" thing might finally be laid to rest, here is another question. Yes, it is sort of a Gibson Vs. Fender thing, but I am genuinely curious about something. Is it worth getting an old Fender body? Will 40 year old make a difference in a bolt on neck guitar? It's obvious how people feel about old Les Pauls, what about Strat's and Tele's?

oak · Sep 30, 2004

Mike Shaw said:
"It's a myth."

Hmmmm.... I wonder if this would be a worthy subject for the Myth Busters television show? Is there really a difference in weight, sound, etc in 50's wood vs 2000 wood. Anyone know how to suggest this to the shows producers? Mike

That would be awesome!

Tom Wittrock · Sep 30, 2004

oak said:
Wow, since the whole "old wood" thing might finally be laid to rest, here is another question. Yes, it is sort of a Gibson Vs. Fender thing, but I am genuinely curious about something. Is it worth getting an old Fender body? Will 40 year old make a difference in a bolt on neck guitar? It's obvious how people feel about old Les Pauls, what about Strat's and Tele's?

Total waste of time. :toobad

Get the one that plays the best, rings the best, and sounds the best. Forget when it was made, or how old the wood is.

NHMorgan · Sep 30, 2004

they would probably burn and old burst and a new LP to see which one burns hotter and quicker

hotos . Another question though is 20 years from now what will the mahogany supply look like? it seems like wood is only getting worse and in shorter supply. Does anyone have an educated prognostication on this one?

55Custom · Sep 30, 2004

It's all a matter of perspective....
Ming Dynasty = Old
Renaissance Period = Vintage
1950's = retro-modern

Joe Ganzler · Sep 30, 2004

55Custom said:
It's all a matter of perspective....
Ming Dynasty = Old
Renaissance Period = Vintage
1950's = retro-modern

What's in Daughtry's U-Trou = Ancient! :lolspin

Tim · Sep 30, 2004

I thought old wood refered to old growth, as in cut from 500 year old trees rather than 50 year old trees.

lp59pete · Sep 30, 2004

Don't they have a guitar made out of wood thousands of years old. I thought I saw an ad somewhere. Anyone played one of these REALLY old wood guitars?

Crunchyriff · Sep 30, 2004

Howard Leese (formerly of Heart) had an old 400-year-old table that he had PRS make a guitar out of...

rays44 · Sep 30, 2004

TW59 said:
Total waste of time. :toobad

Get the one that plays the best, rings the best, and sounds the best. Forget when it was made, or how old the wood is.

Just about every amp, pedal, pickup and guitar question is answered by this statement. The rest is smoke and mirrors.

MrMike · Sep 30, 2004

On a marginally related note, last night I got to play a friend's '65 Tele. Now, I've never liked Tele's much, and I probably wouldn't know a good one if it bit me in the butt, but there was just something almost alive about this guitar. It's uglier than a mud fence, and the frets are worn almost completely flat, but it has a really addictive quality about it. It's been a long time since I've played a guitar that felt so responsive.

gitarzilla · Sep 30, 2004

MrMike said:
On a marginally related note, last night I got to play a friend's '65 Tele. Now, I've never liked Tele's much, and I probably wouldn't know a good one if it bit me in the butt, but there was just something almost alive about this guitar. It's uglier than a mud fence, and the frets are worn almost completely flat, but it has a really addictive quality about it. It's been a long time since I've played a guitar that felt so responsive.

Dare I say it here...

Teles rule!

Tom Wittrock · Sep 30, 2004

MrMike said:
, and I probably wouldn't know a good one if it bit me in the butt, but there was just something almost alive about this guitar.

So, I take it, that you were "bit in the butt". :lolspin :lol2

A Question About Old Wood In General

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