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Post subject: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 9:41 am
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Hello, folks!

I've noticed, on many stratocasters' bodies, a straight line, around which the wood shafts change abruptaly. So I started wondering if the body of the guitar is made from many pieces of wood glued together. Is that true, or the strat's body is made from a single piece of wood?

Thanks!

Gustavo


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 9:57 am
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Generally speaking, the more expensive the guitar, the fewer the pieces of lumber there are. High-end US-built Strats usually have a two- or three-piece body. The guitars built in Ensenada, Mexico have mostly five-piece bodies with the exception of the Classic Series, Classic Player, Roadworn, and certain artist signature models that are based on those instruments. "Back in the day" when all guitar production was based in Fullerton, California, two-piece bodies were the norm for most Strats and a few one-piece bodies have been observed.

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 10:05 am
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Thank you, Retroverbial!

Could you tell me what is the case for the American Special Stratocaster?


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 11:31 am
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I have no idea but I'd guess the body is a 3-piece.

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 12:21 pm
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Generally, the best matched grains along joints are usually reserved for sunbursts and natural and blond colours as well as transluscent colours , mine is sunburst and is quite a good match on the front but not on the back

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 6:49 am
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My Limited Edition is 2 piece. I would think it would be one piece but I know that Mahogany is in high demand and there seems to be a limited supply of it. It's 3 tone sunburst. I do have to say that they did a great job of matching the grains.


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:22 am
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Alanbama wrote:
My Limited Edition is 2 piece. I would think it would be one piece but I know that Mahogany is in high demand and there seems to be a limited supply of it....


Funny stuff wood. It comes from trees you know?

Any piece of timber will bow along its growth lines, no matter how it was dried originally. In effect the growth lines try to straighten themselves out. Very old timber (as in dried a long time ago) will already have done this, but the majority of timber in this day and age is force dried and quickly processed.

To reduce this the timber can be radial cut (as in along a radius line) but this produces very stripy timber which looks unpleasant and can resort in a short grain across the thickness of the timber which can compromise strength.

More decorative timber is crown cut , tangental to the edge, or cutting the top (the crown) off a log. As you go down through the log, in more cuts, the central cut will be radial so preceding cuts move towards this and look less decorative as they get closer to the middle.

Obviously both of these methods are a compromise and will produce better or less useful/decorative planks subject to where they were cut from in the log. To avoid this, and also to get around variations in the timber subject to denser heart wood, from from the centre of the tree, and softer young pith wood from the outside, timber is cut in more complex patterns.

So, in an ideal world, you would like your guitar body to be crown cut, but sufficiently deeply into the log to avoid the pithy young timber, and still retain reasonably straight annual rings. As you can imagine this would require a pretty damn wide tree. Such trees are few an far between these days.

IMHO (based on 40 years working with wood both man and boy), considering the performance of modern adhesives, you are better off with a two or three piece body. There is a great deal more good timber to be had half a guitar wide than there is available the whole width of a guitar.

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:50 am
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John Sims wrote:
Alanbama wrote:
My Limited Edition is 2 piece. I would think it would be one piece but I know that Mahogany is in high demand and there seems to be a limited supply of it....


Funny stuff wood. It comes from trees you know?

Any piece of timber will bow along its growth lines, no matter how it was dried originally. In effect the growth lines try to straighten themselves out. Very old timber (as in dried a long time ago) will already have done this, but the majority of timber in this day and age is force dried and quickly processed.

To reduce this the timber can be radial cut (as in along a radius line) but this produces very stripy timber which looks unpleasant and can resort in a short grain across the thickness of the timber which can compromise strength.

More decorative timber is crown cut , tangental to the edge, or cutting the top (the crown) off a log. As you go down through the log, in more cuts, the central cut will be radial so preceding cuts move towards this and look less decorative as they get closer to the middle.

Obviously both of these methods are a compromise and will produce better or less useful/decorative planks subject to where they were cut from in the log. To avoid this, and also to get around variations in the timber subject to denser heart wood, from from the centre of the tree, and softer young pith wood from the outside, timber is cut in more complex patterns.

So, in an ideal world, you would like your guitar body to be crown cut, but sufficiently deeply into the log to avoid the pithy young timber, and still retain reasonably straight annual rings. As you can imagine this would require a pretty damn wide tree. Such trees are few an far between these days.

IMHO (based on 40 years working with wood both man and boy), considering the performance of modern adhesives, you are better off with a two or three piece body. There is a great deal more good timber to be had half a guitar wide than there is available the whole width of a guitar.


That just makes to much sense! :) Wow you really know your wood! That was very informative and interesting. It really was! I guess I should be proud of my 2 piece body. Thank you, John.


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:08 am
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John Sims wrote:
There is a great deal more good timber to be had half a guitar wide than there is available the whole width of a guitar.

It depends on the wood species too.

Typical trunk sizes at harvest for a few types (source: The Wood Database):
Red alder (American alder): 0.6-1.0m
White ash: 0.6-1.5m
Linden (basswood): 1.0-1.2m
Honduran Mahogany: 1.0-2.0m
Redwood: 1.8-3.7m

The max width is normally only near the base, and most of the logs will be narrower. Then subtract bark, sapwood and knotholes, and you're left with very little wood that can be used for single piece bodies.


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:29 am
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Somebody asked one time on a post, "What type of Mahogany does Fender use?" I don't think anyone really knows. It doesn't matter. I love my Strat and think it looks and sounds awesome. But I can't help but wonder myself. :)


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 2:38 am
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I stripped the poly finish off of a mexi body I had last year, I think it was about 10 years old.... it had a 7 piece body and was laminated top and bottom!


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 8:52 am
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John Sims wrote:
Funny stuff wood. It comes from trees you know? ...
Thanks for the detailed explanation, John. Very informative.

IIRC from my basic woodworking classes, we were taught that a glue up is required when the width of the board is greater than 4 times its thickness. For example if we're working with 4/4 stock for a crosspiece with a final thickness of 7/8", then the maximum width without need for a glue up would be 4 inches.

Does this apply to guitar bodies? If it does and assuming they're made from 8/4 stock, the maximum width of the blank be about 8 inches which is about 4 short for the width of a Strat body.

Cheers!
BM

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 8:59 am
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I am no wood expert by any means but I know that some woods are stronger than others so maybe you would need less glue joints for the stronger wood. Is the multiple glued pieces an ecomomical choice? Is that cheaper? :?


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:07 am
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Alanbama wrote:
Is the multiple glued pieces an ecomomical choice? Is that cheaper? :?


It's a more efficient use of the available milled lumber. And beneath a solid, opaque finish, it will make no difference visually.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster body: how many pieces of wood?
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:17 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
Alanbama wrote:
Is the multiple glued pieces an ecomomical choice? Is that cheaper? :?


It's a more efficient use of the available milled lumber. And beneath a solid, opaque finish, it will make no difference visually.

Arjay


That makes sense to me! :)


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