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It is normal for an instrument to have some degree of lamination to add strength and visual interest. Acoustic guitars can be composed of many pieces. A quality electric bass will often be composed of five to seven pieces of wood and most of the lamination is for strength. Sometimes a layer of laminated wood is added to increase aesthetic appeal. An example is top plates of rare visually beautiful pieces of wood laminated over lessor grade wood. This is a common method of constructing electric guitar/bass bodies. There is also the use of core woods that have different tone characteristics than the surface woods. This is probably better understood in the boutique bass market, because instruments carry a high price and buyers well informed.
Danelectro started production of electric guitars around 1954. Sears also contracted Danelectro to make guitars and amplifiers under the Sears "Silvertone" brand. Guitars were made out of Masonite and plywood to save costs and maximize production speed. And that's how they continue to build their guitars. An example of a Danelectro MDF guitar would be the Longhorn bass. It is not uncommon these days for people to pay $1500.00-$4000.00 for a Danelectro. While I have reservation about instruments with particleboard or MDF bodies this construction method actually seems to hold up well over time. In the case of Danelectro, they met their design objective of building a low-cost instrument. I am sure they never intended for their instruments to last 50 plus years. But they have and some people value them. While their construction method runs counter to my aesthetic sense it isn't necessarily bad. Modern Danos built with MDF pass music journalist reviews and the use of MDF doesn't hinder Danelectro being able to sell their guitars. While I prefer the use of laminated solid wood, cheaper methods of construction are bound to stay the norm.
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