Since select has no meaning in this case, I would assume nothing based on it. If an ad doesn't,t say it is a solid top, back or sides I would assume they are laminate.
Since select has no meaning in this case, I would assume nothing based on it. If an ad doesn't,t say it is a solid top, back or sides I would assume they are laminate.
Pretty hard to have an ‘unselected spruce top’. Reminds me of the guy who specified ‘hand selected’ lumber for an order one time in our shop. We all laughed since our automatic lumber selector was broken anyway
Not all the clams are at the beach
Arrow Manouche
Arrow Jazzbo
Arrow G
Clark 2 point
Gibson F5L
Gibson A-4
Ratliff CountryBoy A
AKA, what's left after Saw Mill 'green chain' guys discard the Glaring defects ?
writing about music
is like dancing,
about architecture
Anglocelt
mainly Irish & Scottish but open to all dance-oriented melodic music.
Mandos: Gibson A2, Janish A5, Krishot F5, Taran Springwell, Shippey, Weber Elite A5; TM and OM by Dave Gregory, J E Dallas, Tobin & Davidson.
Rules of thumb: any descriptive adjective other than "solid" implies "laminated." "Carved" means "machine carved" unless it says "hand carved." If neither, it's heat-pressed into shape. "Engineered wood" means God-knows-what.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
My fave is "HPL".... :/
The decoding key:
"Spruce," "mahogany," "rosewood," "maple," etc. means laminated.
"Solid spruce," "solid mahogany," etc. means solid wood.
"Arched" means pressed and formed.
"Carved" means machine carved, often roughly.
"Hand carved" means at least the final stage of carving was done by hand.
"Ebonized" means stained wood that is not ebony.
"HPL" means Formica.
"Micarta" means plastic.
"Richlite" means an engineered material that is somewhere in between fiber board and plastic.
"Lacquer" and "varnish" can mean almost anything these days.
"Gloss finish" with no additional info usually means polyurethane.
"Nitrocellulose lacquer" means that at least the top coat is really nitrocellulose lacquer.
Isn't this fun?
Anyone else care to contribute?
If anyone thinks this is only a modern phenomenon, let it be known that Gibson and Washburn were dressing up their catalog descriptions, sometimes inaccurately, over 100 years ago. The most notorious example of this was Gibson's early habit of specifying the backs and sides of all of their instruments as being maple, when in reality 98% were made of birch except for F-4's, H-4's, and the K-4's. And S.S. Stewart was using "sales speak" as far back as the 1880's.
My favorite term for this sort of practice comes from Mark Twain, who called it "stretching the truth."
Last edited by rcc56; Dec-04-2020 at 4:37pm.
And then there’s the continuing change of the names of woods. If I read Constantine’s wood book, or the older more scientific ones, the names keep shifting, and also seem to vary from country to country. Even the botanical names are fluid, especially now that classifications are subject to genetic analysis. Plus lots of species having ‘pseudo-‘ in their names. Meanwhile, the trees themselves are screwing around with us by hybridizing and evolving with climate change. Might even say that torrified species X isn’t X, but chemically-altered from X.
So let’s not blame ignorant copywriters of sales literature: some of the time even the shop guys don’t know what’s in their hands.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
They selected, didn't use the parts of the wood from the spruce tree, with knotholes ?
My Gibson A 40 used a 3 ply Mahogany back , I assume, sides & mahogany neck.
(CNC of the Era) , top was 3D pantograph Router-carved from solid spruce,
It played nicely ..
writing about music
is like dancing,
about architecture
I would suggest it is simply obfuscation.
Does naming the components transform composites from laminated into layered?
"Layered Sapele - Taylor’s layered backs and sides incorporate three layers of wood, featuring a middle core of poplar with a veneer on each side. While layered woods won’t produce quite as complex a sound as solid woods, they allow us to blend exotic looks with climate-resilient construction."
What is a Select spruce top? Marketing , creating a buzz word and getting a larger market share. Solid , that is the word to look for. R/
I love hanging out with mandolin nerds . . . . . Thanks peeps ...
I have a laminated back & sides Hodson D'jangolin .
He put a veneer of Rosewood on the outside and one of mahogany on the inside.
Because he was making Selmer Replica Guitars and that is what the Original French company Did..
writing about music
is like dancing,
about architecture
Don't forget "revebond", a very composite material that replaces rosewood on cheaper The Loar fretboards. https://www.theloar.com/p/lm-310f/#b...%3A%09Revebond
Every guitar I have seen with a select spruce top has laminated wood. I assume it is no different in a mandolin. Taylor, I think, uses the term "layered wood" which almost sounds elegant until you realize what it is.
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