Grateful Dead Music Forum

Wow nice work on that guitar Bill, you are truly talented. I knew oak guitars had to be out there. Also don’t see too many pine guitars.

Neither of us can win the argument unless we can prove that the brass in the wood affected the tone of the guitar. I would say that personally, if it is just there for looks, then my opinion of Doug Irwin goes way down.
If I were making a guitar for one of the biggest stars in the world, I would be able to justify everything I did.
But that’s just me and my standard. Maybe he just thought it looked cool and thought it would be fun to make it that way.

Jon S. wrote: ↑Tue Feb 09, 2021 2:39 pm

wpmartin1979 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 09, 2021 2:27 pm That explains why I’ve personally never seen an oak guitar

And this explains why you'll never again be able to say this!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Special

Wow and from one of the most iconic tones of all time - I guess it was an oak guitar pushing that VOX amp

wpmartin1979 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:11 pm Wow nice work on that guitar Bill, you are truly talented. I knew oak guitars had to be out there. Also don’t see too many pine guitars.

I may be old, but I wasn’t making guitars in 1900! The Oak Parlor guitar was made by Eugene Howard and sold by Wurlitzer.

And I don’t pretend to know the absolute truth about the communications between Doug Irwin and Jerry Garcia. I can only go by what Doug says. I choose to believe that Doug is probably more accurate regarding his communications with Jerry than other people’s beliefs about Doug’s communications with Jerry. Just my opinion. No argument intended.

Bill, tgo

wpmartin1979 wrote:Wow nice work on that guitar Bill, you are truly talented. I knew oak guitars had to be out there. Also don’t see too many pine guitars.

There are tons of pine guitars out there. One readily available example is the squier CV tele.

Pine is resonant, and like poplar is used on a lot of cheaper guitars. Big issue with it is that it is a soft wood, so picks up dings and other damage easily as a result.

Point of interest: my heaviest guitar is an alder MIA strat at a little over 10 pounds. My second lightest electric is a Les Paul at slightly over 7. They both resonate fine, but the LP has more sustain.

I do have a question about the brass in Tiger's body. Is it a solid layer of brass in the hippy sandwich, or just a decorative binding that is inlaid? I've usually seen it referred to as a binding, which would add minimal weight and not really contribute anything to the tone. As others have said, cocobolo, maple, walnut, rosewood and purpleheart are all dense, heavy woods, so even without a brass layer a solid body guitar made primary out of those types could be extremely heavy.

To add to the list of weird woods to see a guitar made out of, one of the most beautiful guitars I've seen was made out of redwood by a master builder who is sadly no longer with us.

Who needs wood for a guitar?

Regarding Tiger, I thought I read somewhere that it was a full laminate of brass. But I certainly could be wrong. Also, remember that Doug was not an experienced master luthier. He taught himself some basic guitar skills in his kitchen, then collected a form of unemployment $ to help pay his wages at Alembic where he learned more. He made Tiger right after leaving Alembic. I doubt he’s made 100 guitars in his entire career, probably less than fifty. He definitely has a talent for woodwork. He’s shown my some wooden neckties he’s made that were incredibly unique and absolutely gorgeous.

As for weird material guitars, Larry Lashbrook who worked on Yngwie Malmsteen’s guitars designed a piezo bridge that he mounted on one of the last things you’d expect a guitar to be made of.

Bill, tgo