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Solid Wood vs Laminate — The BRUTAL Truth Guitar Snobs Won’t Like

Six Strings

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Solid Wood vs Laminate — The Brutal Truth Guitar Snobs Won’t Like

A 1959 Gibson ES-335 is plywood, and clean ones sell for up to $80,000. Ed Sheeran became a stadium act playing a Little Martin whose back and sides are made of paper and resin. So why do so many guitarists still treat laminate as a dirty word?

This video breaks down what solid wood, all-wood laminate (Taylor's "layered wood") and high pressure laminate (Martin's HPL) actually are, and where the difference really lives. It covers why a solid top is the single biggest upgrade in an acoustic guitar, and what the 2018 blind study published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America found when 52 guitarists in welder's goggles rated six guitars that differed only in their back and sides, from Brazilian rosewood to walnut. It also looks at why Gibson built the ES-335 from laminated maple and poplar on purpose, and at the humidity math that makes solid wood crack while laminate stays stable. Finally, it covers what an all-solid guitar genuinely buys you, and what it doesn't.

If you're choosing between an all-solid acoustic and a solid-top guitar with laminate back and sides, this is the order of priorities that actually matters.

#SolidWoodVsLaminate #acousticguitar #tonewood #guitargear #TaylorGuitars #martinguitars #gibsones335 #gsmini #LittleMartin #GuitarBuyingGuide #GuitarMyths #guitarist

20 Comments

@bubbajoo 6 hours ago (edited)

The legendary Yamaha FG-180 was all laminate. They gave a lot of sweet memories.

@benhaven7501 5 hours ago

I'm sure everyone says this but I can damn sure pick out a rose wood back and sides and a spruce top acoustic out of a line up.

@davidward5225 1 hour ago

A bone nut and saddle make a huge difference as well IMO.

@MrRickytuk 4 minutes ago

I'm a bit distrusting of cheaper guitars with "Solid Tops". A lot of the top wood used at this level is really floppy and only stiffened by the bracing, You want spruce which is relatively stiff on it's own for a good sounding guitar, it be braced more lightly which I think helps the sound as well.

@thereal_jamestaylor 4 hours ago

Laminate called cheap and took a renaming to "doubletop" to make a comeback.

@TravisBartley-k2p 3 hours ago

I repair guitars for a living so I have alot of information on this topic. The majority of the guitars that come in my shop for repairs are usually under$1,000. Honestly it depends on the player for the most part all though the Martin x series along with the Taylor 100 series those guitars coming from Mexico their Quality Control or lack their of makes up the majority of my work. Their are better options in the sub $1,000 such as Yamaha and Eastman.

@dogsbark5750 3 hours ago

1949 Gibson Es175 was the 1st electric made out of laminate due to the expensive L-5 being unattainable.

@Bibipbabebo 1 hour ago

Full solids bloom and develop character over time. Whereas laminates stay the same.

So comparing a solid side back vs a laminate is unfair if the solid is not given time to open up.

I have a friend who bought a cheap Indonesian small brand full solid guitar.

It sounded so muted at first. But I told him about tonerite.

He bought and did it without me knowing. The next time I picked up the guitar, I immediately felt the difference and asked him did he played a lot with it.

He said it used the tonerite. Lol

@Oliver-i6l7l 7 hours ago

You could run this same story except with golf clubs...pretty sure my '93 Martin D1 sitting over there just winked at me.

@meninatym435 4 hours ago

Buy with our ears rather than the spec sheet, brand or the Made in USA romance?

@nocturnal101ravenous6 2 hours ago

I think at this point unless your guitar is made from exotic actual expensive woods you are not really paying for the wood, you are paying for the labor, which is the honest truth as to why they are so expensive especially for a decent one, can you get a fantastic cheaper guitar have an ultra good setup done and its usable and fine....sure, Squier has made a business model off of it, however saying they are equal to a guitar that had 10x the amount of labor put into it is a bit not comparable, ease of play and feel usually are the 2 things most picked out.

@myronlarimer1943 8 hours ago

It would seem, from a practical perspective, that it would cost more to cut the wood into thin sheets and then process them, glowing them together, than simply cutting a solid piece into one not as thin layer. Less processing with very little more wood used should cost less, than a processed laminate top, back or side.

@snörre23 9 hours ago

I was always wondering if wood is so expensive that this even matters, also fabricating the laminate must also cost time and money.

@gordonw4542 3 hours ago

Let set this straight violin and guitar have a huge differed and how are designed. The guitar was design for picking strings and violin used a hair bow dragging over the strings. The guitar has a flat top for sound making which not easy. because of the backside bracing.

Violin needs front belly and back to surface to be carved in order to be sound decent. you can't carved laminate .
There are list wood that violin maker can use. Spruce from anywhere spruce is spruce. follow by Suger and yellow Pine. One last wood Douglas fir which use building tall ships and Cello. In Spain the guitar maker use Cedar , if it too costly redwood.

The future is laminate for guitar .because it has a flat top. Because most guitar player and the buying public can not tell an organic round bass sound from Antonio Torres guitar to modern guitar.. Why not go with the flow and go Laminate.

Antonio Torres had the right DNA which grant him the brains and talent to create his guitars. Its not the wood.

@John-i9z2j 7 hours ago

You seem wrong!😊

@mp9228 5 hours ago

Laminate top always sounds awful to me, even the red label Yamahas. The bass is always weak, mid-focused, and very little sustain; the tops are just too stiff but that's ok in a mix. In worst cases, laminate tops sound muted or lo-fi. Laminate back and sides are typically ok, and have been shown to have more projection which make sense as they are much stiffer. Taylors and Gibsons etc. are ok acoustics but I would not consider them high-end guitars like a Collings, Pre-war Co, or even Martin's authentic line. There is an overwhelming wall of sound and resonance you get from a fine guitar that is just not easily replicated in an assembly line.

@chrishartz2397 7 hours ago

First point…if you play acoustic guitar, and the back of your guitar is touching your stomach or chest…your deadening the response of the back….strike 1; same concept for the sides of the guitar…strike 2…now the big one…before you start performing A-B sound tests on expensive guitars…go to Costco and have a free hearing test…if your over 45…you will see hearing loss at various frequencies, if your in late 50s or later…you will see significant hearing loss in higher frequencies…this is true of most humans…strike 3….

@johncosta8538 4 hours ago

Ed sheeran sucks

@tommyvictorbuch6960 6 hours ago

People who think that tonewood is real probably also think the Earth is flat.

@amante762 2 hours ago

Seems like AI cr@p to me. The last video I was from this channel stated maple had a higher Janka hardness than rosewood.
Time to block the channel and push back on the algorithm of mass-produced AI content.