Got wood?

[miroslav]

3 Times Guitar Makers Tried to Ditch Wood

I think they could have also included Hagstrom in there...since they might have actually introduced the idea indirectly, of not using exotic woods for the bodies, and instead, as early as 1958, Hagstrom was using wood laminates or whatever wood they had for the core body, and then covered in acrylic, glitter or MOTS finishes. These other manufactures came up with their idea a little later.

Not to just prop Hags because I'm biased... ...but if you read their history, it's pretty obvious that Hagstrom was quite a major manufacturer in Europe, and they also did a lot of stuff using other brand names...like Goya and Kent...so their impact can be overlooked and everyone focuses on Gibson and Fender. Apparently Fender tried hard to learn the paint process and clear coat finish that Hagstrom had perfected in the late '60s...which was/is one of the most durable I've ever seen, yet maintains the shine and doesn't choke up the tone.

[Greg_L]

Nice article. I got to see and play one original Dan Armstrong guitar in my life many years ago, and it was very cool. There's like this sloped tub carved into it where you can swap pickups in and out without doing much of anything else.

Greg Ginn - Black Flag - Dan Armstrong guitar

[miroslav]

A band I was in, oh way back in my early 20s...the other guitar player had a Dan Armstrong acrylic guitar.
He didn't play it much, he was more into his Gibson Firebird, and I think he also have Flying V...but we use to do one song where I played slide on it, I think it was "Tell Mamma" by Savoy Brown, a nice little boogie tune...and I got to use his Dan Armstrong for that.
We set it up a little higher for the slide.
It was cool...kinda heavy if I recall..otherwise it played and sounded sweet.

[rayc]

Cyril Jordan from the Flamin Groovies has been using a clear one since 71 - that and a Rickie.

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[Armistice]

Cyril Jordan from the Flamin Groovies has been using a clear one since 71 - that and a Rickie.
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I have that LP!

[rayc]

I have that LP!

Et moi aussi!
In fact I have 1/2 a doz Groovy LPs.
Love 'em.

[Lt. Bob]

had a Dan Armstrong ...... super heavy!

Sounded ok but I didn't know enough back then to have any idea if it was good or not

[JD01]

I think the 2nd one is pretty cool. Basically, just a normal guitar with a clear body. I seem to remember someone else doing them 10 or 15 years ago and they were pretty reasonably priced. Crimson have done some too. Theirs was really expensive though.

[muttley]

The electric guitar has grown up alongside the development of alternative plastics and polymers. Frankly I'm surprised that we havent seen more use of them over the years. Part of that is down to some pretty poor attempts and lack of materials science knowledge but also down to the fact that nature has pretty much given us all we need to make a guitar out of...

Also the guitar has always flirted with alternative materials way before that article cites as the start... Tortoise shell, bone, MOP, ivory, were all used early on. Bakelite and early plastics were used, laminates of all sorts have been used fore hundreds of years and even paper-mache. I am currently involved in exploring double top guitars that us lightweight aircraft laminates as a soundboard. It's exciting but dont expect to see radical changes in the buying habits of musicians because essentially they all want these new or alternative materials to sound like wood. They dont.

[muttley]

...and who remembers those horrific Travis Bean aluminum necks. Just awful...