Acoustic Guitars, Wood or Laminate? - Sound Comparison!

[@BlueCollarLogic]

Laminate is plywood, Gents. This isn't scraps of wood pressed together. It's multiple layers of solid wood sliced thin and glued. the layers are ugly in the middle but not sawdust. Laminate is stronger than solid, but less resonant.

[@LegsON]

I'm pretty sure sawdust was/is used in many models

[@cjgsicknote]

If you watch the driftwood guitars channel, he takes brand new laminate back and sides guitars and cuts them in half so you can see the construction in full. Most of the laminates will use a veneer of the advertised wood around maple in the middle so not sawdust but still essentially plywood.

[@Jerry_Fried]

My Taylor is a solid top, laminate back and sides. It was the best-sounding and best playing of every guitar in the Guitar Center where I bought it of the guitars in my price range, and I played them all before choosing. My D’Angelico Excel Tammany is all solid. It doesn’t sound as good or play as well as my Taylor. They are different shapes, of course, and that makes a difference. I suppose if I’d bought an all-solid guitar instead of the Taylor, it might sound better over the years and decades, but I didn’t buy it as a tone investment; I wanted to play it when I bought it. That was about ten years ago and it still sounds great.

[@masitraproductions977]

Ditto. I bought a 214CE about 15 years ago, solid top, laminate sides. Sounds miles better than lots of solid wood guitars. Pretty much the perfect acoustic tone in my opinion. I don’t buy into the idea that Solid wood sounds better than laminate, at least not with the back and sides. Construction and build quality is key.

[@CitizenOfEverywhere]

That EastCoast for a hundred quid is pretty damned impressive in its own way.

[@lhvent]

I have a Yamaha FG830, an LL6M A.R.E. and an LS6. These guitars are all solid top with laminate back and sides. They sound amazing.

[@hairpig]

I don't think anyone claims the wood doesn't matter for acoustic instruments. I think the only time there's a debate is with electric instruments. For an acoustic guitar, you're literally hearing the vibration of the wood, so it wouldn't really make sense if the wood didn't have a noticeable effect on that.

[@lbguitar]

Thats not entirely true either. You're actually hearing the oscillation of the string, the wood just acts as a trampoline for the sound waves emitted by the strings. Which is why the tonewood debate is completely asinine for electric guitars but also quite overestimated for acoustics as well. It has a lot more to do with the overall shape and size of the guitar than the wood, even in acoustics. If you sing a song in a washroom and you're voice sounds great, you wouldn't say "you're literally hearing the vibrations of the bathroom tiles". You would say just say you;re hearing your own voice but in a beautifully amplified and reverberated way. In a controlled study done by a major university, experts could not tell the difference between expensive violins and cheap violins, and actually chose the cheap violin as the one they preferred in the blindfold test.

[@Chris-MusicTheoryAndFretboard]

@@lbguitar Excellent info. Do you happen to know what that study was called? Or which university conducted it?

[@NoContextOasis]

@@lbguitarthis guy won

[@adamowl4425]

@@lbguitar The wood on an acoustic guitar matters more than the shape and size when it comes to the tonality. I will admit the wood on an electric guitars body is not something I can personally perceive, and I agree on an electric it doesn't effect the tone. If we are talking the fretboard and/or acoustics, it does. Far more than body size when it comes to acoustic wood. Also, just wanted to say, the analogy of a washroom does not make much sense. In your analogy the body of the guitar would be your own human body, that would be like saying "would you play a guitar in a washroom and say it is the tiles". The analogy sounds nice but it makes no sense. Also, preferring a cheap sounding violin to an expensive one also has nothing to do with distinguishing if the wood changes the tone? That's a totally different question, on what we perceive to be cheaper or more expensive sounding, nothing to do with if they sound different. In fact, that study seems to back up the fact that the woods do sound different right? Because why would people prefer one over the other if they sounded the same.

[@kagenotatsumaki]

Tonewood semi matters in acoustics. Not electric. Also, Taylor GS mini that's 90% laminate with the top being the only solid piece somehow sounds a lot better than other brands like Ibanez or Guild that at least say that their 100% solid wood. To my ears anyway, and trust me, I was playing A LOT of acoustics before I settled on the GS Mini.

[@1ndianSummer]

The small Taylors are so underrated, just because they are smaller and a bit cheaper. But they are actually great, the baby too. It's smaller but it's decent and well made.

[@joshuafernandes4935]

I have had 2 Taylor GS Minis . They never sounded as good as my takamines . The takamines P5NC and P7NC sound so resonant and rich

[@1ndianSummer]

@@joshuafernandes4935 maybe size matters too :) They are not the best of all, but are not bad

[@joshuafernandes4935]

@@1ndianSummer yeah I like them for their portability. Easy to carry along .

[@kagenotatsumaki]

@@joshuafernandes4935 I mean, I'd expect them to for the price difference lmao

[@el34superlead]

I think you guys are a little confused about laminates used in acoustic guitars. Laminate are super thin sheets of wood laminated together. They do manufacture wood from small tiny pieces of scrap but usually used for necks.

[@alan_davis]

Yep, if you believe in tonewoods then laminates would likely sound better - as they would be thinner for a given strength.

[@chrisl7962]

Clearly two lads that don’t consider laminate guitars as their business

[@jamespitman3357]

from the martin site HPL stands for high pressure laminate. It is a composite material made from paper and resin that is pressed at very high pressure. The surface will have a wood pattern (Mahogany, rosewood, Koa, etc.) and a protective clear coating. It is not a wood veneer.

[@WillyPDX94]

@@jamespitman3357 This is a new process that Martin recently adopted and it is not indicative of how most laminates are made. Most are made from fusing together think sheets of real wood together.

[@JS-wk6jn]

@Pete, good shout about sustainability. Another thing is, you don't feel guilty about playing the laminate guitars around camp fire. My BC Rich acoustic gets a lot of love playing outside at night, sounding good, looking good, and making people happy. Thumbs up. I love you guys at Andertons! By the way, I am winning the Klon pedal, so be ready...!!!

[@bobbywilliams4655]

I would like to watch a blindfold challenge with the solid top laminate back and sides verses all solid.

[@NetVoyer]

What I appreciate most about this channel is highly skilled musicians demonstrating the differences in instruments.

[@WillyPDX94]

Too bad that much of what they said in this video is either false or misleading. Not that they meant to be. But I'm surprised they're not better informed before making a video like this. Certainly laminates are different than all solid wood guitars, but there are great laminate guitars, too. This was one of the worst videos I've seen from Anderton's from the standpoint of providing real advice to guitarists.

[@77guitarts22]

You're satisfied with a laminated until you try a Solid Top, then you're super excited until you try an All-Solid and then you just want more All-Solids and you never look back...

[@alan_davis]

And with your eyes shut you wouldn't know. Don't get me wrong, I have some spendy guitars. I bought them all with my eyes... the one I plays the most was £400...

[@Mullewarp]

I have an (cheap) Yamaha guitar with laminate top wich sounds way better than an cheap fender with an solid spruce top that i owned (and sold for that reason). If it can compete with an expensive Taylor or Martin i don't know.

[@Jbustosalazar]

I have a Epiphone PR-150 bought 18 years ago, and is like brand-new.... the tune stability is unbelievable, could pass months without playing and the tune is there.

[@13coyote13]

You've opened a real can of worms, laminate to most companies is not saw dust made into a flat sheet but thinner sheets of wood bonded together, instead of a solid top that's 9/32's thick they use 3 3/32's of solid laminate glued together which is how Seagull and Taylor do it, a laminate handles temperature changes better than solid wood and tends to be a stronger structure which is why it doesn't vibrate as much as a single solid piece of wood.

[@cchavez248]

Naw, an acoustic guitar will always betray laminate construction. Just play super lightly and then give it some strong strums. If the sound loses all dynamics and compresses badly, you're dealing with a laminate guitar! A solid top helps alleviate this effect a bit, but not completely!

[@alan_davis]

​@@cchavez248not true. Try it with your eyes closed. Proven that shape and volume are the only core drivers of sound.

[@cchavez248]

@@alan_davis I posted this before I watched the video and both Pete and the Anderton's acoustic dude confirmed my experiences with the difference in sound between laminate and solid wood construction for acoustic guitars throughout the video! Laminate is not a factor in solid body guitars with non-microohonic pickups but, with an acoustic guitar, solid wood construction makes all of the difference.

[@adamlegion13]

My laminate backed Martin 000 and my mohogany backed Martin 000…. both with spruce tops (one higher grade)… are both excellent performance machines. One is definitely better, but both are worth their money and both get played a lot in their respective purposes. I have 7 all solid guitars.

[@mikepick174]

You are right, nobody uses sawdust for guitars. Torres did make a guitar with Papier mache back and sides. Sounded good. It is the top that needs to be solid. Some luthiers including Ramirez made laminate back and sides.

[@intersanctum]

Tap on your soundboard with solid wood and tap on the one that doesn't have solid wood. If two guitars are properly voiced, you'll hear the difference in the sound and in the length of the guitar resonating. If still not convinced, tap on the laminated and solid sides. Once again you'll hear the difference.

[@CW0123]

Haha it doesn’t matter since a fishman pickup is gonna make it sound sterile anyways

[@kingstumble]

Difference if any is minimal. I used to have an all-solid Larrivee. Never liked it--the tone seemed "strangled". At the same time I had a much cheaper solid top/laminated back and sides guitar. Both were parlour guitars but the difference was marked. I had the Larrivee for a couple of years to see if it would open up. It didn't so I sold it and kept the cheaper one.

[@masitraproductions977]

Honestly I think this whole solid wood vs laminate thing is just clever marketing.

[@intersanctum]

@@masitraproductions977 Nah. Tap on your soundboard with solid wood and tap on the one that doesn't have solid wood. If two guitars are properly voiced, you'll hear the difference in the sound and in the length of the guitar resonating.

[@masitraproductions977]

@@intersanctum I own a 214CE, with solid top and laminate sides. It sounds considerably better than many all solid guitars in its price point. While I accept some difference may exist, it is minimal and only one of many factors that accounts for a guitars overall tone.

[@H0kram]

​@@masitraproductions977The top does most if not all the job, that's where it matters and that means wood does make a difference. I think everybody is confused a bit really, because it's all about the top. It's an old debate too. Torres made a solid top guitar but with sides in papier mache to prove his point.

[@lloydmourant8055]

I’m glad for you guys that Mr.P.R.S. wasn’t a guest in this episode!!👍😎

[@alan_davis]

I'm glad for me. He's a marketing BS merchant of the highest order. Which is a shame, because I like many of his guitars...

[@markmullins2756]

For me....any guitar you pick up , laminate or not has its own sound and personality....the East Coast guitar sounds good.....there's nothing wrong with it for any player....

[@WillyPDX94]

Thank you for speaking the truth. Julian Lage on a good laminate guitar would sound 10 time better than almost anybody else playing the most expensive solid wood model. Guitars have different voices and good guitar players lean into that and make beautiful music.

[@looneytunes47]

Older Yamaha Red Label Guitars are Laminated top and back and are some of the most resonate and brightly loud guitars ever made. Prices have sky rocketed on the Red Label ones because of this fact.

[@Flukey_1970]

It's ironic that only guitarists care about this stuff haha. Ive never heard anyone walking out of a gig muttering "it was good apart from the guitarist had a laminate acoustic and the tone was not as good as a solid top" Ive got a Martin Jonny Cash it was £700 and I believe under the matt black finish its laminate. I cant tell the difference between tone.

[@stevepower1372]

I have a Martin 00X 1AE that has a solid spruce top and HPL (High Pressure Laminate) mahogany back and sides, and it feels more solid, plays and sounds better than an all solid Martin I had which was more than twice the price. If you like it... play it 😊

[@stephentyndall159]

@@stevepower1372Yeah I had a Sapele topped one and it sounded great. The necks on those things are indestructible too.

[@likeakite]

It also depends on how well it's constructed and finished like Ben said

[@Brykk]

There are some really good composite guitars out there too.

[@fedup3449]

I need to find out more about this diminishing law of returns that Pete speaks of.

[@1ndianSummer]

To me, solid top sounds better, but overall playability and the skill of the player matter more to how it sounds in the end. A laminate guitar played by a good musician will always sound better than an expensive all solid wood guitar played by me 😅

[@gs5480]

Godin(seagull, Simon and patrick) uses wild cherry laminate that is 3 equal layers of solid wood pressed together. Nice quality timber for back and sides that pairs well with their cedar tops. They just so happen to own the forests where they harvest their wild cherry, which keeps costs down.

[@oldfart0851]

What a dance around and trying not to stepping on the toes of the lower end acoustics. You pay for what you get. Don't get me wrong, I still love that you do this show to help the listeners know there are differences and explain the differences but what a dance. Keep on playing guys.

[@stephenrussell6074]

The laminates as layers of wood bonded with adhesive are much stronger than solid sheets. There are also high pressure laminates which are compressed paper and resin. They are even stronger.

[@timnotbrianmay]

Apples and oranges, as they say! Stronger doesn't mean sounds better!

[@stephenrussell6074]

@@timnotbrianmay I was only emphasising the strength as it is a significant benefit of entry level instruments that will most probably be owned by teenagers without the benefit of well padded gig bags or hard cases. The HPL laminate ones also have incredibly strong laminate necks. The other advantage of laminates is they are very uniform. Making a base standard easy to reproduce but also precluding the selection and tuning offered by solid tops.

[@timnotbrianmay]

@@stephenrussell6074 no problem! I understand that price point was a consideration throughout the video, but the title was not! So, consequently, I stuck to the title description 😸...

[@lhvent]

I have an Alvarez AD66SHB that has a solid African mahogany top with laminate African mahogany back and sides. The back and sides are 3 plies of African mahogany. The guitar sounds great.

[@toneseeker4968]

Great video, Guys! But, I am confused. I thought the MD70 Alvarez has the Rosewood back and sides, and that the MD60 has the Mahogany back and sides.

[@HarryBall-fw7pv]

That's great to use the waste for something. But it is not more environmental friendly. Because of the glues, epoxys and especially the Polyester's. Used to glue all the bits together. It would be better for the earth and the future guitars. To use the waste as mulch for the new trees. Growing future guitars 🎸🌱🌳🌲🎸🤘

[@trollstjerne]

I think wood matters, but the built and bracing matters more, thats why a spruce/rosewood guitar from Gibson sounds different from a spruce/rosewood guitar from Martin.

[@DjNikGnashers]

And why a grade AAA tonewood guitar from a hand made luthier sounds better than any Gibson or Martin.

[@Big.E]

Love you guys and love those Alvares guitars

[@gereonH]

I think we need a blindfold test.

[@kagenotatsumaki]

YES. But not with Rob, he'll somehow know the the country the wood came from after 3 chords lmao

[@alan_davis]

Absolutely.

[@MervGinsberg-sc8kp]

I own a Yamaha FG9-R, a Martin D-18, and a Martin OM28. All solid wood guitars. And trust me, they play better, sound better, have better sustain and intonation than any non-solid wood guitars I’ve ever played.

[@stenmartens7179]

not to disregard your efforts that have gone into this video, but you're comparing an apples oranges and pears here. of course laminates will have a different sound, but that difference does not mean anything to somebody who doesn't have a feel for how full wood guitars compare to one another. for example, guitars with sitka or adirondack tops and mahogany or rosewood back and sides. all of that becomes increasingly difficult to compare because most companies will slightly differ their bodyshapes and bracing to one another which all also hugely impact the tone. having said that, budget guitars (like most laminate guitars) have definitely come a long way and are a great option for people who simply are not comfortable spending solid-wood kind of money!

[@glenproctor1999]

Really interesting video - thanks guys!

[@stephencarey6114]

Laminated wood will always be stronger than solid wood especially if the laminates are alternate grain directions and the wood glue makes a laminate ultra strong

[@HarryBall-fw7pv]

Imo your comparing apples to strawberry's. The cheaper the guitar, the less time spent voicing it. If anytime at all. So you need to find a very expensive laminate highly voiced guitar. I can tell from the video that laminate one isn't voiced at all. So of course it doesn't sound as well

[@billyellow4849]

My experience is that if a laminate guitar gets smashed it's a goner, but a decent luthier can repair a solid wood instrument.

[@MartynSmith-g2n]

I find this laminate Vs solid wood misses key points - does the guitar resonate well and is it well balanced? I've played some expensive solid guitars that were dead, however, some change as they age - perhaps coming alive. Some laminates resonate well but can be boomy or boxy. I don't believe there are any real rules except, listen and feel.

[@dlux703]

The part about; "the wood adapts to the way you play the guitar" is quite a load of BS. Even the wood he's talking about "thinks" that. Wood does what it does as it ages and surely how you care for or treat your guitar will affect that, but the only way wood will "adapt" to your playing is if you are like Willie Nelson, who scrapes holes in his guitar top.

[@flaviusfake271]

My guitar is a jumbo laminate mahogany Takamine. I have tried and heard a lot of guitars. That guitar has the best range. It has been used by many bands recording in the studio. You want to sound like Slash playing Patience that is the guitar.

[@mark.guitar]

Decent timber, that has been aged properly, costs a fortune, I have a walnut back and sides set that was under £50 ten years ago. It is now stable in weight, still flat, and is worth around £500. Tops are similar. You can tune a laminate top by tuning the braces, but the resonance is very different to solid. Depends a lot on the method of bending and on the glue used to make the laminate. Standard PVA is so plastic when dry it will give you a coffin lid 9 times out of 10.

[@GabrielVelasco]

Solid does sound better, but solid wood is more likely to split.

[@state138champ06]

Played a Taylor 210 recently. Around 1000 USD. Its where i got to the point that i felt spending angmore didnt matter.

[@MrTech337]

Blindfold test with all different woods and several different brands.

[@brocluno01]

Good laminate guitars are great for picnic & beach use 😁

[@oldfart0851]

Have you ever compared an all wood acoustic guitar to a Carbon Fiber guitar? Would be great to hear it.

[@JohnKelly2]

I've got a 1969 Yamaha Nippon Gaki red label laminate I'd put up against any Martin or Gibson.

[@ipponthearth8245]

Nice :-) The all solid seems ROSEWOOD in fact it sounds pretty different from the other Alvarez..! Not so fair :-))

[@Bob-Whiting]

Alright! My favorite subject, Tonewood ToneWorms! Yay! (love the show, liked and subscribed!) lolin'

[@ShiningHourPop]

I have an Eko Ranger 6 from 1981. It’s laminate but sounds great.

[@rebeccaabraham8652]

Mine's 5 years older... a bit ragged round the edges, I've strung it with ball-end classical strings - and it still sounds fantastic! They knew how to build proper guitars back then!

[@ShiningHourPop]

@@rebeccaabraham8652 yes, mine’s ragged too but it’s built like a tank. It’s got a couple of extra unintended “sound holes” 😀. I replaced the tuners which made it easier to tune.

[@jimmythefish]

Tonewood importance in acoustic instruments has never been seriously denied. Completely different topic from electric guitars.

[@BolFelix]

I've had my cheap Yamaha 200$ acoustic guitar for 15 years now and I can say the durability is solid. Would I play it in front of a crowd of people who really know their sound? No, but for everyday use it's still solid

[@lhvent]

I see you were actually playing the MD70BG.

[@garykarlin1777]

Same error on the store website

[@CliffNark]

0:30 laminate top 0:35 solid top, laminate back/sides 0:41 all solid

[@danielegger6460]

Such a bad explanation of what laminates are. For one: no, you can't make laminate materials from dust or chips, you first need to produce sheets that can be laminated together. Secondly: Laminates can have many superior attributes to non-laminate materials, which is why people go through the trouble of actually making laminate materials because they can be better. Thirdly: I have no idea what kind of laminates are used for guitars, but I would assume for guitars, the laminates are simply wood veneer sheets glued together, in which case they'd be still mostly wood (sans the slightly more amount of glue). When done right, laminate woods are way more stable and can have better accoustics despite being easier and cheaper to manufacture.

[@alan_davis]

Yes. Maybe we should just call it plywood and stop confusing folk!

[@danielegger6460]

@@alan_davis Well, plywood implies perpendicular grain on the layers. There's also a construction method where multiple layers of veneer are glued together in a mold in order to form the sides of the guitar, rather than e.g. steam bending a much thicker sheet of solid wood. I'd be interested to learn whether there are actually acoustic guitars which use materials other than wood in the mix. Anyway, I'm pretty sure any difference in tone is due to the instruments being engineered/manufactured to a certain price point, rather than the kind of wood used; a master luthier can certainly produce a guitar with laminated wood which sounds as good or better than a solid wood guitar with much better long term stability but it's quite likely very few people would pay the price for a such an instrument made from such an ill-reputed material. 🤷‍♂

[@markoconnell804]

Do a blind test using a Taylor 214ce dblx ziricote and any other guitar.

[@kevincrouch3956]

I've had a solid top laminate back and side guitar for over 40 years...nobody can tell the difference between it and an all solid. You can get good laminate guitars and if that's all you can afford go for it. After all, if Clapton picks up a laminate guitar he's gonna sound good....so in reality, it's the player, not the guitar.

[@TVsBen]

More of Ben and Pete. More acoustic stuff. I could listen to Ben play guitar all day. Please and thanks.

[@bobbywilliams4655]

The solid top with laminate back and sides sound really good. I don't think that the difference between the total solid is noticeable enough to pay for.

[@picksalot1]

It's somewhat ironic listening to guitar tone/tonewood comparisons on loudspeaker cones made of paper/woodpulp, plastic/polypropylene, or other synthetic materials. 🤔

[@stoneysdead689]

Using that logic all music would sound the same, we wouldn't be able to hear any subtleties- at all- we're hearing via that same paper cone- right? Ok.- so apparently that paper cone is very capable of reproducing the subtleties and intricate details of sound- especially if you buy a quality, high end speaker. The things you guys convince yourselves of when you try to reason things out is hilarious.

[@picksalot1]

@@stoneysdead689 The point I was making is people focus on all kinds of special properties in one domain and then ignore them in a similar domain. I find that hilarious. In 1862, Renowned Classical Guitar Maker Antonio Torres built a guitar using Paper Mache for the back and sides to demonstrate how little those affect the tone of the guitar. Though that guitar still exists, it is in ill-repair. Fortunately, Fabio Zontini built a similar "Papier Mache" Classical Guitar, and we can all hear the results on the YT called "Fabio Zontini 2023 Papier Mache Classical Guitar Review." Enjoy 😁

[@MatveichAF]

Laminate sounds way more transparent, we as players just love energy of low resonances on solids, which will be removed by sound engineer in any sane mix.

[@Anaberhaus]

Woot!

[@bernardthefourth]

After getting a Taylor 314ce I can hardly stand playing laminate guitars.

[@vicenteochoa6498]

do Ben playing on dirty shoe laces tied to the knocked over tree in my backyard vs me on a Martin d28 blindfold challenge

[@stephencarey6114]

I have a 1970s Eko Ranger that is built like a brick xxxxhouse and weighs a bit. So some acoustics are heavy

[@petdoe8938]

Makes a beautiful slide guitar, but like you said really heavy

[@stephencarey6114]

@@petdoe8938 funnily enough I use it for slide, on my lap

[@hutchfromba]

On electrics as well. GOOD Tone wood matters. ❤ Perhaps not as much as the Pups.

[@timnotbrianmay]

WOULD MATTERS MORE THAN PICKUPS; pickups capacitors and electronics and hardware won't fix a bad piece of wood! That cost me a WHOLE LOT OF MONEY TO FIND THAT OUT!

[@petdoe8938]

Even strings of the same make sound different and can play very different

[@wonderfullife3108]

I once made an accoustic guitar out of a big tissue box and elastic bands. Solid top, back and sides but didn't sound too good.

[@stephenrussell6074]

Would be good to hear them with the same strings.

[@capitalistdeathculteffects]

I'm going to watch this video, but first, allow me to declare that it was Pete's hair+facial expression in the thumbnail/title frame, NOT the actual subject matter that hooked me... that is all.

[@AdemVessell]

What a weird video. It literally seems like you guys have no confidence or clue of what you’re talking about anyway nice guitars love the channel. what

[@c3920]

I love my 20 year old DX-1, but I’ll happily trade it for a D-28 if anyone is interested. They sound the same. Believe me. 😉

[@The-11]

Pete loves to check out wood, he'll be down at the Tesco later.

[@wretchedrider2157]

Pete looks a bit tired, here. Feel better soon, Pedro!! 🍻

[@FrankyTempels]

Maghony solid top of ibanez 230eu verry good sound

[@SeanDS1989]

12:21 if you want to hear the guitars

[@rinkydinky-ob9pe]

please stop the sustainability nonsense while wearing nike shoes

[@peterasmussen2933]

come on Pete , wood is sustainable, always will be. It grows like grass man! Sure really great quality is rarer and always will be but it will be available.

[@petersage5157]

This might be KZbin compression or my old ears (or the two are not mutually exclusive), but the Alvarez guitars sound muddier to me than the shaffordable one. Today's entry level guitars are so much better than the catalog guitars from the dawn of recorded music - some of which fetch high prices on auction because some famous guitarist played that particular model of Silvertone or Stella or whatever - that I think it's laughable for a working class musician to *not* have at least one affordable guitar in their arsenal. Also, laminate guitars are more dimensionally stable through rapid changes in temperature and humidity, so their action will remain more stable and they're less likely to get sudden soundboard cracks or top separations. Got back-to-back gigs in Phoenix, Denver, and Atlanta? Leave your nice all-solid-wood guitar in its case and rock your laminate beater.

[@Mig-El_Romed]

Guys, I really love you but I have to say this. Lee needs to be on every video. He is the best host and he can keep Pete under their control. Ben is nice, but he lacks a but of charisma and the confidence to shut Pete up. Pete is a great player but he can be too much.

[@pouyatorkiyan3258]

Nice 👍

[@WSBM]

When you buy quality you pay once, cry once.

[@keithsnowdon8672]

Thanks for this gentlemen. You have just convinced me not to buy a budget guitar. You make them sound like the musical equivalent of butchers offal.

[@timnotbrianmay]

The only piece of crap wood that a guitar was made of that I ever heard that sounded good, actually AMAZING AND SPECTACULAR, is Brian May's red special! Block board!

[@bldallas]

Martin’s HPL is Formica. It is mostly plastic with paper smashed together within in. It is vastly different from a laminated wood (I.e., plywood) guitar. I have been a BBC Martin fan for decades, but I HATE HPL. It sucks. It definitely does not feel or sound like wood, even laminated wood. I would pick a $200 Epiphone or Fender laminated wood guitar over a $550 Martin HPL guitar any day of the week. Period. Martin should be ashamed of the crap they are putting out with HPL, and the ridiculous prices they charge for it. It’s so un-Martin of them.

[@WillyPDX94]

You're right about the HPL process, but I work in a guitar shop and I can tell you that the HPL laminate guitars sound quite good and they're a great value. If you're Julian Lage you're not going to be able to achieve the tone you want on a laminate guitar. But Julian Lage can make a laminate guitar sound 10 times better than you playing an expensive solid wood guitar. You don't have to like the way laminate guitars sound, but criticizing Martin for innovating to provide good sounding guitars at a price point people can afford is uncalled for. It is not un-Martin of them to do this. Not everyone can afford a D-28. Don't punch down at people who play laminate guitars. Good laminate guitars are gig-worthy instruments.

[@bldallas]

@@WillyPDX94 I’ve owned them and, yes, they SOUND, great. But they feel like a plastic guitar. A Martin PLASTIC guitar. And they are charging $500+ further. I’ve loved and owned Martin wooden guitars, like my D18E Retro, for decades. But I freaking hate their HPL crap. Now, I could see a company like Epiphone deciding to go all-in with plastic guitars, but they sell sub-$300 acoustic guitars made out of….wait for it….WOOD. And they feel and sound amazing. Hell, I even bought a killer sunburst finished $150 Epi acoustic, on same at Guitar Center for $100. Yep 100 dollars. I bought it as a wall hanger for office, but it played great, too. Just don’t get why Martin, a company know for making really good quality and really expensive wooden guitars would go the other way on their less expensive stuff. It’s like you’re paying an extra $400 for the Martin headstock logo on a $100 guitar.

[@WillyPDX94]

@@bldallas I totally give you the right to your opinion on this. I own about 25 guitars (hazards of a guitar lover working in a guitar shop) and many of my guitars are lower cost guitars. I also own a few high dollar acoustics, including both Martin and Collings. I'm not trying to impress you or even to claim that owning a lot of guitars makes me an expert. I just have my own opinion. I don't think the HPL Martins feel like a platic guitar. They sound very good and play quite well. And I think they're priced appropriately for what they are. But to each his own.

[@bldallas]

@@WillyPDX94 like I’ve said before, they clearly sell a ton of them, so my distain for HPL is not wide spread. I just wish they made a solid top plywood back and sides Mexican Martin, and sold it for $500ish dollars. PS, I’ve lost count, but I think I have you beat on the guitar count. 🤓🎸👍

[@DjNikGnashers]

For so-called 'experts' these two really are showing how little they actually know about woods. A load of waffle but no real knowledge.

[@keithskelton4914]

as a new player 100 quid investment is a great start later maybe another model ? the fun factor and initail progress is fine loss or damage is factor my Martin 00028EC is so fragile and is my legacy to my grandkids my 600 quid up Yamaha's on the otherhand are much more durable carefree playing good video but put the new comers top of your purchase lists later perhaps as players they will invest more

[@4vinylsound]

Pete, I love you, but you interrupt (talk) too much. Lol

[@peterasmussen2933]

cheaper guitars need setup and they don't have great intonation so sound awful as one plays higher on the fretboard. The braces and top wood is not as premium as more expensive axes. And cheaper guitars are not "made well" they are poorly made also.

[@mikaellavrell]

I don't know if it's the KZbin compression, but the sound samples recorded with the small diaphragm microphone sounds very compressed. Is there any compression added to the microphone tracks in post? This most likely reduces the differences between the guitars and also changes the tonality due to transient alteration.

[@MattSwain1]

The best you can ever hope for in any of these videos, whether it’s acoustic guitars, electric guitars, tube amps, solid state amps etc is get a flavour of what’s going on. Once the sounds have been captured by a mic, processed by a computer, compressed by KZbin, and again affected by whatever you’re using to listen to the video on, then you’re so far away from the original sound in the room that it’s really comical when people in the comments start talking about the sound characteristics of one item versus another

[@mikaellavrell]

@@MattSwain1 that is ofcourse true. But knowing if compression was involved in post at least gives some insights to how to interpret the video.

[@MatthewCuda]

No doubt, the sound gets better with every upgrade. As long as the guitar maker designs the guitar properly.

[@alan_davis]

Hmmm.... define "better".

[@WillyPDX94]

I love Andertons and I don't want to be a troll, but this video is full of misinformation and pure nonsense. There are many different methods of making laminate wood. Most of the higher end laminates use thin layers of wood fused together and not reconstituted saw dust. Laminate wood guitars will not achieve the same level of tonal complexity or sustain as solid wood instruments, but they can still produce good sound quality, especially when quality construction techniques are used. You could have done a real service to people by explaining what laminate guitars do well. I own both high end acoustics and laminate acoustics, and I always will.

[@ToxinInMyVeins]

11:50 Regarding different woods not sounding different on laminate instruments: My girlfriend and I have pretty much the same ukulele - The only visible difference is the wood (Laminate Mahogany/Laminate Dao). These 2 instruments sound COMPLETELY different. The Mahogany one sounds very warm while the Dao one has much more high-end.

[@rjester21]

Can we have Anderton’s partner with Glenn Fricker and Chapman guitars. Chapman can provide identical guitars, but made of different tone woods, Pete and the captain can play and Glenn can do the recording set up an measurements and conduct the experiments 🔬 from clean, crunch, driven and high gain. We can end the debate with science 🧬 for electric guitar tone wood. We would need to have the same new strings, set up and action, intonation and pickup height measurements. Then to make it over the top conclusive, pick one guitar and do the same tests with 2 or 3 sets of pickups to see if pickups change tone.

[@stoneysdead689]

I didn't think there really was much of a debate when it comes to acoustics- I think everyone understands the wood definitely makes a difference when talking about acoustic instruments. Imo it also makes a difference when talking about electric guitars- but I admit, the difference is much, much smaller and harder to hear. And no, I'm not interested in debating it with anyone- if you disagree fine, why would I care? Luthiers know it makes a difference, and they're going to continue exploiting that fact so- I could careless whether ppl believe it nor not really- it doesn't change anything.

[@consgchaos]

If you don't want to debate, don't comment. No one cares about your garbage opinion.

[@BackWoodsBillyCraftBeerReviews]

Tone wood matters with ACOUSTICAL INSTRUMENTS.. However for a beginner a decent guitar... A violin is extremely important Tone Wood, as you move up viola then Cello next Tone wood Bass & Cello Not as important for the acoustical cello & Bass... Electrical Acoustical some what important. But it wood take an experienced sound engineer or Musician to pick up the difference. With an Electrical Guitar TONE WOOD NOT IMPORTANT, Spent money on SPEAKERS & speaker Cab then Amp next pedals.. Strings one of the most important things you can do is get Good quality strings.. The Player is the most important thing in what makes an instrument sound good... Cheers 🍻🥃🥃😎🎸 🎼🎵🎶🎶🎶

[@alan_davis]

Opinion. Not fact. Except the electric guitar comment. That is 100% factual.

[@BackWoodsBillyCraftBeerReviews]

@@alan_davis actually you need to look at how electric guitars work they send a signal to the pedals and or amp then to the speakers called the signal chain. The signal is electric so you strike a cord etc it vibrates over the 🧲 magnetic field which is then converted to an electric signal that comes to the speakers as vibrations which basically move air this creates the sound we hear see SOUND WAVES SEE HERTZ SEE MUSICOLOGY DEFINITION OF HOW SOUND IS HEARD . Next see violin studies under MUSICOLOGY.

[@GabrielVelasco]

Solid wood breaks in better than laminate. It matures faster and better than laminate.

[@mars-jr5uu]

How long to mature?!

[@christurbo3314]

Solid only top guitars feedback less when played live.

[@alan_davis]

Not true. *some* solid top guitars feedback less than *some* laminate guitars when played live. And vice versa.