why pine?

kp8 · June 19th, 2008, 08:43 PM

In the last year and change it seems like everyone and their mama is building with pine bodies. I am not knocking it, but i really want to know what is behind this recent craze for pine tele bodies. I know pine builds are usually pretty light and can be back savers, but it used to be rare that folks went in for pine but now the TDPRI is totally pine crazy. Why?

inquiring minds want to know!

-kp

Rizo · June 19th, 2008, 08:49 PM

I guess because the early Esquires were made with pine.

It makes sense as a tone wood though. Think about it... mandolins, violins, acoustic guitars and a whole host of other stringed instruments use what kind of wood as a top?

Spruce a.k.a pine.

Plus like you said, it's light... and it looks cool.

tonewoods · June 19th, 2008, 09:40 PM

"It makes sense as a tone wood though. Think about it... mandolins, violins, acoustic guitars and a whole host of other stringed instruments use what kind of wood as a top?

Spruce a.k.a pine."

Spruce is indeed in the pine famly, but you're dealing with 2 different animals here...

Using their popular names, "spruce" is spruce and "pine" is pine, and you won't find too many mandolins, violins, acoustic guitars made from "pine"...

"I guess because the early Esquires were made with pine."

Bingo...

Nick JD · June 20th, 2008, 03:09 AM

The pine down here has been bred to reach maturity in 20-25 years and hence is balsa.

It's very resonant and if you were looking for a "real" relic...

guitarbuilder · June 20th, 2008, 04:13 AM

This pine craze isn't new. It has been going on for about 7-8 years it seems. It is just there are more vendors making it available as a body wood option. It started with the limited edition Fender pine esquire reissues ( whenever that was). It is easy to work with when doing a home build and is reasonably priced. It relics well and sounds good. It has more plusses than minuses for many people.

JasonRobert · June 20th, 2008, 04:35 AM

I use it because it is cheap for me to get. As I am just getting into building guitars (I started about 1 year and a half ago) I dont want to spend loads of money on something that could be rubbish. Once I have experience with building guitars then I will move onto using other woods.

Roli · June 20th, 2008, 04:51 AM

This phenomenon's called "The Mojo Of The Pine" (TMOTP). I don't know if you heard about Chupacabra. These creatures live with us, and they are in constant search for special humans. On full moon nights, when you're in your deepest sleep, these smart little guys crawl up on your (often poor and rather anaemic) body, and run a quick blood test - pushing their pointy (not a reference for '80s hair metal guitars) teeth just under your skin - and if you're considered a chosen one by them, they inject a very infectious disease into your system: "The Mojo Of The Pine" (TMOTP). Now this disease will put you in a state of permanent desire for pine bodied Telecaster® guitars. They also kill your chickens.

59TweedVibrolux · June 20th, 2008, 05:34 AM

Pine being a soft wood, how does it stand up to the " abuse " a guitar can
get subjected to..... Dings / Dents what have you ???

Why did Leo change over to Ash & Alder ??

I remember the video done by Jim Weider where he demo's a lot of Strats &
Tele's. He picked up a nice very early Strat which was made from Spruce.
Very tight, snappy tone compared to the later Alder Strats.

old_picker · June 20th, 2008, 05:47 AM

i use one as #1 and its fine
if your gonna be rough on a guitar any kinda wood will ding

reddogbass · June 20th, 2008, 07:27 AM

Actually I didn't realize there was a "pine craze" going on when I first used it. I'm building my 8th right now, and five have been pine. The first pine was an experiment, because I had the wood and thought, why not. I discovered I liked the light weight, and the resonance of pine. And it smells better than most woods when you put the tools to it.

kp8 · June 20th, 2008, 01:01 PM

I heard some student guitars (musicmasters, duo-sonics) were made with poplar. I sometimes wonder why teles aren't made with it.

Flat357 · June 20th, 2008, 01:11 PM

I think people mostly build a guitar using other woods simply to try something different from the norm .

I built a pine tele and an addirondack tele .
Do they sound good ? Sure .

Do they sound different from other woods ? Maybe

Don't think you'll find too much of a difference though .

Also , pine isn't always light weight . Depends on what type you use .
My pine is much heavier than my spruce .

When it comes to pictures , I don't do pretty

6x47 · June 20th, 2008, 07:24 PM

I think Arlo's videos had a lot to do with it.

Brick · June 20th, 2008, 08:49 PM

Cause I already had a bunch of ash and alders and needed an excuse to build another tele.

jedi · June 20th, 2008, 08:55 PM

Here's why........Pine Esquire.....5.5lbs of pure resonance and tone.

beep.click · June 20th, 2008, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kp8

I heard some student guitars (musicmasters, duo-sonics) were made with poplar. I sometimes wonder why teles aren't made with it.

Some are. Fender's current Nashville b-bender Tele is poplar.

59TweedVibrolux · June 21st, 2008, 02:57 AM

Interesting, I have some blocks of Blackwood (Ash family) I think,
might get em made into Tele's . Worth a try, it makes beautiful sounding
acoustics.

Tele-writer · June 21st, 2008, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roli

This phenomenon's called "The Mojo Of The Pine" (TMOTP). I don't know if you heard about Chupacabra. These creatures live with us, and they are in constant search for special humans. On full moon nights, when you're in your deepest sleep, these smart little guys crawl up on your (often poor and rather anaemic) body, and run a quick blood test - pushing their pointy (not a reference for '80s hair metal guitars) teeth just under your skin - and if you're considered a chosen one by them, they inject a very infectious disease into your system: "The Mojo Of The Pine" (TMOTP). Now this disease will put you in a state of permanent desire for pine bodied Telecaster® guitars. They also kill your chickens.

& I've also heard that they use a different pointythang for chicken-killings....

tonewoods · June 22nd, 2008, 01:01 PM

"Interesting, I have some blocks of Blackwood (Ash family) I think..."

Actually, it's acacia...

bradpdx · June 22nd, 2008, 01:25 PM

I think the pine thing started with the revelation that the earliest Esquires were pine in 1950. While interesting, it isn't necessarily a reason to do it.

Fender clearly didn't think that the type of wood used was very important to tone - it was a solid body, and so virtually anything was fair game to try. Pine was cheap, light and easy and makes perfect sense for prototyping. Fender was very concerned about appearance, and switched to Ash in order to achieve a better blonde look (black and blonde furniture was the rage then) and to use a harder, less fragile material.

All that being said, the proof is in the pudding. If you make or play a pine Tele and like it, then it works but there are no guarantees of course.

In newer guitars, woods like poplar are used because they are light and cheap. Note than Fender only uses those woods at the low end because of the cosmetic issues (dings).

As to Strats - there may have been an experimental pine/spruce body made back in the '50s, but they were ALWAYS ash/alder from the word "go". Any spruce Strat would have been a one-off.

June 19th, 2008, 08:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
kp8 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 2,705	why pine? In the last year and change it seems like everyone and their mama is building with pine bodies. I am not knocking it, but i really want to know what is behind this recent craze for pine tele bodies. I know pine builds are usually pretty light and can be back savers, but it used to be rare that folks went in for pine but now the TDPRI is totally pine crazy. Why? inquiring minds want to know! -kp

June 19th, 2008, 08:49 PM	#2 (permalink)
Rizo Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Athens, OH Posts: 1,112	I guess because the early Esquires were made with pine. It makes sense as a tone wood though. Think about it... mandolins, violins, acoustic guitars and a whole host of other stringed instruments use what kind of wood as a top? Spruce a.k.a pine. Plus like you said, it's light... and it looks cool. __________________ "You say you want to play country, but you're in a punk rock band."

June 19th, 2008, 09:40 PM	#3 (permalink)
tonewoods Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Orcas Island, Washington Age: 57 Posts: 595 18 Photos	"It makes sense as a tone wood though. Think about it... mandolins, violins, acoustic guitars and a whole host of other stringed instruments use what kind of wood as a top? Spruce a.k.a pine." Spruce is indeed in the pine famly, but you're dealing with 2 different animals here... Using their popular names, "spruce" is spruce and "pine" is pine, and you won't find too many mandolins, violins, acoustic guitars made from "pine"... "I guess because the early Esquires were made with pine." Bingo... __________________ Bruce "Mangler of Bluegrass" "Mandolin Graffiti"

June 20th, 2008, 03:09 AM	#4 (permalink)
Nick JD Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2007 Location: North NSW, Australia Age: 36 Posts: 2,177	The pine down here has been bred to reach maturity in 20-25 years and hence is balsa. It's very resonant and if you were looking for a "real" relic... __________________

June 20th, 2008, 04:51 AM	#7 (permalink)
Roli Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: ¤ Hungary ¤ Age: 30 Posts: 1,449 5 Photos	This phenomenon's called "The Mojo Of The Pine" (TMOTP). I don't know if you heard about Chupacabra. These creatures live with us, and they are in constant search for special humans. On full moon nights, when you're in your deepest sleep, these smart little guys crawl up on your (often poor and rather anaemic) body, and run a quick blood test - pushing their pointy (not a reference for '80s hair metal guitars) teeth just under your skin - and if you're considered a chosen one by them, they inject a very infectious disease into your system: "The Mojo Of The Pine" (TMOTP). Now this disease will put you in a state of permanent desire for pine bodied Telecaster® guitars. They also kill your chickens. __________________ How I Play Fingerstyle Guitar - blog for rookies and not so rookies - with videos now!

June 20th, 2008, 04:13 AM	#5 (permalink)
guitarbuilder Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Hemlock, NY Age: 54 Posts: 290	This pine craze isn't new. It has been going on for about 7-8 years it seems. It is just there are more vendors making it available as a body wood option. It started with the limited edition Fender pine esquire reissues ( whenever that was). It is easy to work with when doing a home build and is reasonably priced. It relics well and sounds good. It has more plusses than minuses for many people.

June 20th, 2008, 04:35 AM	#6 (permalink)
JasonRobert Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paddock Wood, Kent, England Posts: 308	I use it because it is cheap for me to get. As I am just getting into building guitars (I started about 1 year and a half ago) I dont want to spend loads of money on something that could be rubbish. Once I have experience with building guitars then I will move onto using other woods.

June 20th, 2008, 05:34 AM	#8 (permalink)
59TweedVibrolux Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 261	Pine being a soft wood, how does it stand up to the " abuse " a guitar can get subjected to..... Dings / Dents what have you ??? Why did Leo change over to Ash & Alder ?? I remember the video done by Jim Weider where he demo's a lot of Strats & Tele's. He picked up a nice very early Strat which was made from Spruce. Very tight, snappy tone compared to the later Alder Strats.

June 20th, 2008, 05:47 AM	#9 (permalink)
old_picker Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 371	i use one as #1 and its fine if your gonna be rough on a guitar any kinda wood will ding __________________ ray

June 20th, 2008, 07:27 AM	#10 (permalink)
reddogbass Tele-Holic Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Portland, Oregon Age: 61 Posts: 572 5 Photos	Actually I didn't realize there was a "pine craze" going on when I first used it. I'm building my 8th right now, and five have been pine. The first pine was an experiment, because I had the wood and thought, why not. I discovered I liked the light weight, and the resonance of pine. And it smells better than most woods when you put the tools to it.

June 20th, 2008, 01:01 PM	#11 (permalink)
kp8 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 2,705	I heard some student guitars (musicmasters, duo-sonics) were made with poplar. I sometimes wonder why teles aren't made with it.

June 20th, 2008, 01:11 PM	#12 (permalink)
Flat357 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Cheshire Age: 40 Posts: 2,761	I think people mostly build a guitar using other woods simply to try something different from the norm . I built a pine tele and an addirondack tele . Do they sound good ? Sure . Do they sound different from other woods ? Maybe Don't think you'll find too much of a difference though . Also , pine isn't always light weight . Depends on what type you use . My pine is much heavier than my spruce . When it comes to pictures , I don't do pretty __________________ Homepage http://www.soundclick.com/members/de...member=flat357 MySpace http://www.myspace.com/flat357

June 20th, 2008, 07:24 PM	#13 (permalink)
6x47 Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Northern ON - Northern MN Age: 64 Posts: 472	I think Arlo's videos had a lot to do with it.

June 20th, 2008, 08:49 PM	#14 (permalink)
Brick Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: San Jose Age: 57 Posts: 780	Cause I already had a bunch of ash and alders and needed an excuse to build another tele.

June 20th, 2008, 08:55 PM	#15 (permalink)
jedi TDPRI Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: on the bridge pickup Posts: 83	Here's why........Pine Esquire.....5.5lbs of pure resonance and tone.

June 22nd, 2008, 01:01 PM	#19 (permalink)
tonewoods Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Orcas Island, Washington Age: 57 Posts: 595 18 Photos	"Interesting, I have some blocks of Blackwood (Ash family) I think..." Actually, it's acacia... __________________ Bruce "Mangler of Bluegrass" "Mandolin Graffiti"

June 22nd, 2008, 01:25 PM	#20 (permalink)
bradpdx Tele-Holic Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Portland, OR Age: 50 Posts: 674	I think the pine thing started with the revelation that the earliest Esquires were pine in 1950. While interesting, it isn't necessarily a reason to do it. Fender clearly didn't think that the type of wood used was very important to tone - it was a solid body, and so virtually anything was fair game to try. Pine was cheap, light and easy and makes perfect sense for prototyping. Fender was very concerned about appearance, and switched to Ash in order to achieve a better blonde look (black and blonde furniture was the rage then) and to use a harder, less fragile material. All that being said, the proof is in the pudding. If you make or play a pine Tele and like it, then it works but there are no guarantees of course. In newer guitars, woods like poplar are used because they are light and cheap. Note than Fender only uses those woods at the low end because of the cosmetic issues (dings). As to Strats - there may have been an experimental pine/spruce body made back in the '50s, but they were ALWAYS ash/alder from the word "go". Any spruce Strat would have been a one-off. __________________ ---------- Tech Geek and Sensitive Artiste String bender ordinare!