Body number of pieces and tone

[Michaelga]

The low cost of a precision bass body made from 3 pieces of swamp ash lured me into making a purchase. Now that I have it, I'm wondering if the number of pieces going into the construction makes any difference. I've seen one-piece bodies and laminates made from possibly 10, 20, or more pieces (checker board design). Would any of this make any difference to the tone, or is it just a matter of aesthetics?

 

[supertruper1988]

There isnt really an issue on electrics for the number or pieces and even the most famous of hollow bodies and semi hollows are laminated plywood.

Its more aesthetics than anything. I wouldnt worry about it for anything 5 pieces or less.

Some folks will say it makes a difference but I have had literal plywood charvette bodies sound awesome so like anything guitar, the tone is a combination of a million variables so focusing on any one too hard will send you down very expensive rabbit holes.

 

[Rick]

No not three pieces, so yeah, it's just asthetics. Some three or five piece bodies look real nice. For some reason I like either, a one piece (or a lam top), two piece, three piece or an odd number. Once you get passed two ... odd numbers look best to me, don't know why.

 

[Orpheo]

5 piece swamp ash body, 2 piece top, 3 ply veneer between fretboard and neck, 5 piece neck, veneer on the headstock. 17 pieces of wood in total. Sounds like a friggin champ. Sustain, sparkle, chime, balls: it's got it all.

1 piece body, 1 piece neck, and a fretboard. Three pieces in total. Does this sound 4x better than the one above? Nop. If anything, the other one sounds a lot better. Number of pieces of wood are not an indicator of tone. I have made guitars that sounded like a million bucks with just 3 pieces, and guitars that sounded horrible with just 3 pieces. And with 17 pieces or more.

 

[stratamania]

Another way to look at it, how many pieces of wood does an acoustic or classical guitar have?

Quite a lot more than three solid pieces, and they produce good tone.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Makes zero difference whatsoever.

 

[aarontunes]

Makes zero difference whatsoever.

Nailed it.

A multi-piece body is more stable too.

 

[Michaelga]

Thank you all!

 

[stratamania]

Nailed it.

A multi-piece body is more stable too.

There is a video for you. Start with a one piece body, have it sawn into three pieces and glued back together to see if there is any difference.

 

[Jebberz]

There is a video for you. Start with a one piece body, have it sawn into three pieces and glued back together to see if there is any difference.

I would love to see this video

 

[stratamania]

@aarontunes if you do end up sawing a body into three, it may be that you might have to use two veneers in between the three main pieces to make up for what is lost to the saw kerf.

 

[mayfly]

For what it's worth, all Rickenbacker solid body guitars and basses have three piece bodies. Not may folks complain about the tone of those... or if they do they usually blame the pickups