LAMINATE TOP OPTION

Beautiful woods are the hallmark of custom guitars. Unfortunately, such woods are often expensive and their sonic properties may not be nearly as attractive as their good looks.

Laminating a thin top to a guitar body does not significantly alter the tone of the instrument. The neck still attaches to the core wood and the bridge screws are anchored through the top into the same core. Of course, in carved top thicknesses, laminate tops do significantly affect the toneality of an instrument.

So, an alder body with a 1/8” thick top will still sound like an alder body, but may have the appearance of your favorite exotic wood.

Making A Laminate Top

The tops are done in what is called a bookmatch. This is accomplished by resawing a plank and…

Opening the resulting 2 halves like a book.

This yields a symmetrical pattern along the body centerline.

How It Is Done – “The Drop Top”

A 1/8” thick exotic top may be formed over the face and forearm contour of a guitar body. As you may see in the pictures, these laminate top bodies have identical contours as the original solid bodies.