Serial Number Electric Guitar

[Rita Seliba]

Thatsa tough question to answer, because there are MANY variables in this equation, but for the most part, one thing you have to remember is that glue is not a very good tone transfer material, so the more joints you have with glue in between, the more you are likely to have to basically a robbing of tone or tranfer of vibration. thats not to say that you cant have a two piece, or a capped guitar that doesnt sustain well, or sound better than a one piece body either. so the answer is well, hard to say

Obviously modern resin glues are very hard and very dense- so MORE modern glue will make a guitar heavier, deader and colder sounding. But a multi-lam body of lightweight woods assembled with hide glue can often sound better than a one piece body.

In general a 3-5 piece body on a typical import is made of poorer quality woods- cut wetter, dried artificially and glued in a vacuum press with fast drying resin based glue- You almost ALWAYS will have a better playing and louder guitar made of lightweight woods- even 5 pieces- that a 2-3 piece assembly of very heavy wet wood. many guitars are lightened with air pockets and drilled out chambers- but that does not solve the matter of dense, wet wood that does not vibrate easily.

I doubt that it makes any difference as far as the body is concerned. When the body is properly joined there is actually very little glue there to begin with. As to it's "not a good tone transfer material", why not? Is it really any worse than wood?

It's my opinion that the quality of tone and sustain is more related to the quality of the build, proper fitting of the neck joint, solid hardware, etc. rather than the number of pieces the body is made from.

Yeah, thats always a fun one. I would "generally" tend to lean towards a MIA myself, just because you are more likely to find many more GOOD MIA's than GOOD MIM's. You will find dogs in both however. The real argument really goes back to the made in Japan strats. When at the time, the made in Japan strats were made more "true" to original as far as construction. as far as veneering, or capping the bodies. You look at the black areas of the belly cutouts on the Japs and the MIA's, and the black extends to cover the entire cutout of the MIA's at the time, but not the Japs. The MIA's were covered in black to cover up the laminated edge, whereas the Japs were'nt made that way.(made the original way, the good way"

PS to answer the original question... IMO with this topic, I have no doubt that the quality of wood is what is important. Not the # of pieces or # of glue lines. Given a decent body wood, whether it has 1, 2, 3 or 4 joints is not going to have a "real life" effect on tone, sustain etc with a solid body electric.

It's all abut HOW the pieces are jointed, rather than the number. If you are talking about a "cheapie" guitars, I don't really trust that the pieces will be as carefully joined as the Gibson, so I steer clear.

The reason I posted on this is because I noticed last night that my Strat is actually a 5 piece body, instead of a 2 piece body like I originally thought. Of course, me being completely paranoid, I automatically started thinking that instead of getting a great guitar, I got one of the "dogs." Thanks to the info in this topic, I now know that it's more pieces to lower the cost and that it really is a great guitar and not just my imagination.

I don't think glue is the problem. Too many pieces of wood together will take on the tonality of plywood. Plywood is very strong. That's why it's used in home construction. However its increased stiffness will boost trebles at the detriment of fundamentals i.e. bass. But five pieces of wood shouldn't be a problem. Especially if it's good tonewood to begin with.

I have a Suhr 1 pc. ash Classic and a 3 pc. Fender American Standard alder and I can honestly say, how the hell do I know-totally different guitars. They sound way different-the Suhr is brighter, but it also has different pickups. Too many variables and any difference would be so sublte that any amount of gain would render it a moot point anyway.

I built a Strat bodied electric waaaay back in 1986. It had a center 'core' and alder sides (still a bolt-on though), and had then EVH setup, single bridge humbucker and one volume. I slapped on a 22-fret Jackson copy neck (maple fretboard), and to this day it still sounds more alive and resonant than the majority of imports I've played.

If someone here can put on a blindfold and determine which of two otherwise identical guitars is made out of four pieces of wood and which is made out of two, I'll gladly meet them at high noon on Christmas Day in Times Square, pull down their pants and kiss their ass.

I could care less how or what it is made of. The proof is in the pudding. If it sounds great, it sounds great. You can't diminish that by saying, "but it's plywood" or "it's made of 7 pieces of wood".

I've a 4 peice natural finish pacifica, I hadn't thought about it [the fact it's 4 peices] until this thread reminded me. In fact the only time i thought about it was when a friend who's a woodworker looked at it when i bought it 5+ years ago.

This also reflects the view of the strings as you look down while holding your guitar. For this reason, think of guitar tablature as your roadmap, for it will provide you with the fastest route to learning guitar songs.

When reading guitar tablature, you will also see numbers on each line of tab. These numbers stand for the frets on your guitar, which are the metal strips found on the fretboard. The frets are numbered 0-24, start at the nut (the piece closest to the headstock), and run the entire length of the guitar neck.

Guitar tablature is read left to right, and all notes shown are in chronological order. When the numbers are in line with each other vertically, they represent a chord. A chord is played by strumming all the indicated strings at the same time. Guitar tab notation is better for beginners than standard notation, for it tells you what notes to play to make the chord and where you can find them on your guitar.

When beginners learn how to read guitar tabs successfully, they must familiarize themselves with the 6 strings and the locations of the various frets. This will allow them to find the proper notes to play while using the guitar tab as a guide.

Most guitars will have 19-24 frets. Each fret is one note or a half step from the other (which can also be referred to as a semitone). There are 12 notes (or frets) in each octave, and most guitars have fret markers on the side of the neck or the fretboard. These markers are typically at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12 frets, and can help you easily recognize the fret positions when playing.

While guitar chords do not have any special symbols in the guitar tab, they can be found easily by their position. When several notes are shown to line up vertically, they are played together making a chord. If a chord is arpeggiated, it will appear as single notes even though you are fretting a chord.

A guitar tab differs from a standard chord chart in a few ways. A chord chart is a diagram showing where to fret each string to make a chord, and it also tells you which finger to use. A chord chart can be included in the guitar tab and is usually positioned over the lyrics of the song to show when the chords are changed.

Chord charts only show the 3 to 4 unique notes that make up the specific chord. However, a correct version of the song may require single notes, notes not in the root chord, or arpeggios (the pattern used to play the individual notes within a chord) that are not indicated. For this reason, chord charts are often featured along with guitar tabs to help beginning guitarists understand how to move beyond the basic chords to play a song.

This differs from the tab, as the numbers used in the guitar tab will show which fret to play, and not which finger to use. For this reason, chord charts can be included in easy guitar tabs to show beginners how to position their hands while playing.

Our music programs are taught by practicing musicians with the experience you need to learn to play. Perform live shows and develop your skills in a supportive learning environment for all skill levels.

Besides lines and numbers, the guitar tab can have different symbols that indicate when to play a specific technique. Learning how to read guitar tabs and symbols and how to apply them will make your playing sound much more authentic and make reading guitar tabs easy.

While done predominantly with your picking hand, muting can be done with either hand or with both. Muting notes adds a dynamic to your playing and is a valuable tool for making you sound more polished. In many songs, the verses may be muted while the chorus or hook is not.

When playing, most guitarists employ muting techniques all the time without even thinking about it. When playing at stage volume, muting keeps you from having unwanted noise or even feedback as you play.

Muting notes is a different technique than palm muting, and it is done by using your fretting hand. In the guitar tab, the notes are still picked, but they are not clearly sounded as the fretting hand does not press the note all the way down on the fretboard. In guitar tablature, this is shown as an X where the fret number would normally appear.

Bending is done by pushing the strings up or down rather than just pressing straight down on the fretboard. For all the strings but the low E, most players push the strings up towards the ceiling, the low E must be pushed down toward the floor. The trick is to keep even, constant pressure on the string as you bend it.

Conversely, when sliding down, it will be shown by a line between the note you are sliding from to the note you are sliding to. If the note you are sliding to is lower, the line will go slightly down.

To play a hammer-on, strike the guitar string with the fretting finger with enough force to sound the note. This will take a little practice to produce a clear, strong note. It is also easier to play on the electric guitar with a decent amount of volume. Start with your open low E string and hammer onto the third fret, and hold the note to let it ring. Repeat this on different strings and different frets.

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