Solid vs Laminate Wood Acoustic Guitars

Guitar Bracing - Alegre Guitar Factory in Cebu

When choosing between solid vs laminate wood acoustic guitars, there are a number of considerations. Almost all acoustic guitars are made of various types of wood. A small number of manufacturers use composite materials, fiberglass, or carbon fiber (either for the back and sides or the entire structure), but since the vast majority of instruments you’ll encounter use traditional tonewoods, your primary choice is solid vs. laminate.

Economical Laminated Wood

Many low-end acoustic guitars are made of laminated wood rather than solid wood. Laminated wood is economical, but it’s also strong and stable and can withstand a little more abuse than a higher quality instrument. Because it is made up of many thin layers of wood pressed together with glue, it doesn’t flex and vibrate as freely as solid wood does, so the tone may not be as rich or nuanced.

Premium Solid Wood

Higher end guitars use solid wood, which is not only traditional in guitar making but generally produces a better sound than laminate. The tone produced with solid wood will also continue to warm up and improve over time, so a great sounding solid wood guitar will get even better (and even a mediocre-sounding solid wood guitar should improve), while a laminate guitar will generally sound the same through its lifetime. So—buy solid, right?

Not necessarily.

Making the Choice

There are times when buying a laminated-wood guitar is the appropriate choice:

  • Do you live in a particularly dry or damp climate? Laminated wood may be a safer bet for you, since it’s less susceptible to moisture changes that can result in bulging or cracking.
  • Are you looking for a recreation or travel guitar that needs to hold up on the road or around the campfire? Sturdiness trumps tone when you need a basic six-string.
  • Do you need an economical stage guitar? While tone is important, a better quality pickup and electronics (in the hands of a skilled audio tech) can make up for less-than-ideal tonewoods.

Alternatively, to get the best bang for your buck, you might choose a guitar with a solid top (to get the tone-improving benefits), but laminated back and sides (which will overall cost less than an all-solid wood guitar and will add structural stability).

Tone Is King

Ultimately, you want a guitar that sounds pleasing and allows you to make sweet music. When choosing an instrument to perform before an audience of one or hundreds or thousands, ideally an all-solid wood beauty will be in your hands. But sometimes laminated wood can still be an appropriate choice. Just make sure that if you select a laminate-wood guitar that it sounds good. It will not get better with age like solid wood, but if it sounds great now, it will always sound that way. Like with a good red wine, time will define your ultimate choice between solid vs laminate wood acoustic guitars.

Photo credit: suvajack (Flickr: Cebu – Alegre Guitar Shop and Factory) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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