THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

This is all I needed and more! Something official I will be buying my lovely sunburst within 24 hours!

Thanks Rob! you the man!

;O)

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rob Schwarz
Director,Fender Customer Service
Proudly serving Fender Customers
for over 30 years

So the MIM Standard is Alder Fender "claims"? I need more proof...DNA testing please...you are NOT the father!


Kidding of course. On a side note I once had the privilege of owning a 70's Strat one piece ash "natural" finish non tremolo. Of the dozens of guitars and Strats I have owned over the years that one had the most spectacular tone ever. Granted it probably had to do with more factors then just the body wood I am sure it played a decent part.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Look for splinters.....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

"You never know if quotes on the internet are true." - Jimi Hendrix

Maybe search the Classic Stratocaster series and see what the
lowest priced brand new models are made of and their features.
IMHO, thats a good way to start, then as the prices rise, you can
compare what was added at the factory. Toppscore

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Here's a good place for this classic shot of MIM Standard bodies from the Mexican factory:

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I own a lot of Fender MIM Standard guitars and I have yet to find one that has 6-7 pieces of wood in it. I don't think Squiers have as many pieces as those blanks in the picture above. I'm just not buying it.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

If you own a lot of MIM guitars, you already bought it. That is a shot from the factory, no secret, that is how they are made. With the veneer on many models, you won't be able to tell how many pieces there are. The solid color bodies obviously won't always show seems.

Guess how many pieces in this body. (hint: 5)

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/195/04cs70snatbodyrear.jpg

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Thanks, Orville. Had not seen that photo before. Toppscore

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I see Four, Three seams, center seam and two, one for each wing...

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Yes, I thought that was a pretty good job of matching the pieces so the seams aren't glaringly obvious. They do use better looking wood for the finishes that show the wood. And the veneers used on some models have convinced a few people that they have a one-piece body.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

I think there is way too much emphasis placed on this issue of if my guitar body is made up of more than 2 or 3 pieces than it is junk and will not have the tone.....

To that I say what about a Danelectro.... That is particle board, mashed up wood glued and pressed and laminated top and back with something akin to 1950's formica countertops.

Some people rave about the sound of these so wood is only a small part of the equation...

let's put it this way, joining pieces of wood has been traditional in electric guitars for decades, it's not new but what is important is the adhesive used and how the center pieces which mount neck and bridge are aligned ( grain direction ) so that string vibration can travel with the least amount of restriction from tuners to bridge.
Two pieces in the center glued with wood glue, not a super adhesive which most are ( Layman ) similar to rubber/ urethane or in other words have vibration damping qualities. Not a characteristic one desires in a musical instrument..
Wood Glue, specifically designed for wood such as Titebond or Elmer's or hyde glue which the latter is really more appropriate for string instruments ( viola family ) and fine acoustics such as Martin's for the reasons that as time unfolds, eventually that instrument will need to be reset which often means removal of a neck or top, Hyde glue allows this to be done since it becomes soluble with heat and water.
Titebond and other such glues are extremely difficult to separate and are actually stronger than the bound wood pieces and if separation is attempted, the wood will fail and rupture before the joint does....

Anyway if my body ( guitar that is ) is made up of 3 to 5 pieces,I have no issue with it as long as all the pieces were picked from the same batch.
This is another important aspect, when building from multiple pieces, choosing wood that is from the same batch or tree baulks will ensure uniformity in the transmission of string vibrations.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Body wood, as well as neck/board woods, make a difference. Its debatable how big a tonal difference. Moreover, its impossible for anyone but you (and I mean "you", yes you) to know what your ears hear and what sounds "good". Some brat that scorched his ears listening to hairbands might not hear the same tones as somebody who blew the little hairs off his eardrum listening to rap. Further, every single thing in the signal chain, including the corrosion on your strings and on the 1/4 socket on your amplifier, changes the tone that comes out the crappy speakers your have in that Crate junkpile your playing on.

However, tone is nothing more than vibration and everything vibrates and everything vibrates a little, maybe a lot, differently. Each materials resonant properties interferes with the natural flow of the vibrations from the strings. This is called "distortion". Those distortions can be very pleasant and sound "good" or "bad"....please refer to paragraph #1.

With respect to body woods and their respective tonal properties, there are basically only two things you need concern yourself with. First, the woods overall density affects tone. The more dense the wood, the brighter the tone. There are two different types of ash. White (also known as swamp ash) is very dense and sounds bright. Black is not so dense and sounds warmer. Alder is about identical in density to black ash. The second thing to consider is the uniformity of the woods density....how variably dense it is? Variable density causes variable distortions and could provide a more individual character or voice to the tone. White ash is dense but not too variably dense. Black ash is less dense and more variably dense. Alder barely less dense than black ash, but is very uniformly dense. One thing to remember, however....the more distortion, the more degradation of the frequencies as the travel through the instrument. The more degradation...the deader the tone. So....too much variability deadens tone. This is the reason speaker cabinet makers often prefer particle board....its dead and doesnt change the sound of the music youre trying to enjoy.

And this tone-variability concept is why Fender prefers alder bodies....Alder is enjoys broadly consistent density, regardless of origin. If you mass produce something, you want to control that each guitar is similar to the next/last one off the production line. Using alder reduces the variability of distortion and raises the consistency of the tone of the guitars.

Now, on multi-piece bodies, the impact is clear. The more pieces of wood, especially from different origin source trees, the more distortions and deadening of tone. Same goes for certain types of glue. Its no wonder that less expensive guitars are more likely to have multi-piece bodies. You can use the scraps left over from the nice and expensive guitars.

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BigJay's Custom '69 Kickassocaster
'90 Les Paul Standard "Vintage"
'00 MIJ '62 Tele RI
'76 Fender BandMaster Reverb
'71 Acoustic Control 2x12 w/Celestion V30s
'71 Martin D18
Mesa Mark IV
'65 Deluxe Reverb RI