Biology,
Physics, and Electronics. Strange bedfellows where Guitars are concerned?
I am one
of those people that looks far beyond the "what", which means without further
consideration, investigation, and contemplation leaves "vintage" at nothing
more than "novelty". Aside from the "collectable appeal", what is it that
makes a vintage guitar so desirable? I am the kind of person that is not
satified with just the "what", but am just as if not more interested in
the "why", "how", "where", "who" and "when" as well. Why is it that vintage
insruments seem to sound and play so much better than new ones? (Yes, I
said play. One cannot play an instrument that is sealed in a glass humidor
or packed away in a vault or storage room). I am no scientist, I am not
a scholar, I do not have any fancy degrees, but, I do have a brain that
appears to fuction properly (most of the time) and is unencumbered by chemical
additives.
.
The Wood
in General
I have
talked with many people (some were very skilled luthiers) over the years
in an attempt to understand this vintage phenomenon. It always has and
probably always will seem alien to me. Part of what makes a vintage instrument
sweeter is the age of the wood, magnets, and the manual wear on the neck.
VERY FEW guitars produced today, in particular made in Korea, the Phillipines,
Taiwan, China, and Indonesia are made with the same woods as those "vintage"
instruments. The older instruments were made with natrually aged (dried/cured),
old growth wood which is in VERY short supply today. The breakneck pace
at which the present day guitars are produced and pumped into the market
could not be maintained for long if true quality wood was used. Instead,
nearly all are using artificially cured/aged wood and much of this is new
growth. There are some BIG problems with this, but first one has to understand
the biology of wood first.
.
The "Biology"
Wood at
one time was a living, breathing form of life, and like all other life
on this planet, cellular in makeup. The heart of what makes good tone wood
goes all the way to the cellular level. Old growth wood comes from trees
that are many decades old (some over a century old or much more) coming
from areas that have not been logged or over-harvested were nature has
determined which trees would survive and age. Those that do manage to win
the competition for sunlight and nutrients grow slowly as they are yet
still competing with the rest of the flora in the forest for these limited
resources. As a result, cells are created slowly, and are of smaller size,
more uniform in shape and density, and thereby deposits more solids in
a given volume (more on that coming).
.
The "Cellular"
Closeup
Ecologists,
Biologists, Botanists, and Scientiststs alike for some time now have been
comparing the cell structure, density, and uniformity of old growth wood
to that of new growth. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE! New growth for the most
part is barely decades old and comes from areas where the balance of nature
has been upset by de-forestation, whether it be in "re-planted" managed
forest, or from forest that has been heavily logged already and only the
younger monetarily worthless trees were left to grow unchecked by older
growth. This unrestricted growth allows the trees to grow at a much faster
rate as there is little competition for resources and as a result the cells
are formed at a much faster rate, incorproate fewer solids, and the consistency
in structure and density is more easily affected by environmental conditions
and fluctations in available resources. This creates inconsistencies from
year to year and therefore uneven cell density. These cells at times grow
very quickly and are not as uniform in shape, size, or density, and often
larger. You could almost compare it with cancerous growth, rapid, random,
and unchecked. What is left is a much lower cell count and solids deposits
in a given volume in comparison to old growth.
.
I
have mentioned solids a number of times. The solids are simply the compounds
and minerals deposited in the cell walls in order to make them rigid. It's
not just water pressure or suface tension that holds a tree up! The solids
are not as easily dissolved in water and lends rigidity to the cells. If
not for this trees would be nothing but quivering blobs on the ground,
a mass of goo. Still confused? Imagine there were no calcium in your bones!
Try staning up on nothing but cartilage! Remember, old growth cell structure
is much more dense due to slow growth. With this in mind there is naturally
more solids in a given volume, and the overall cell distribution is going
to be more consistent and even. More solids and more cell walls in a given
volume means stronger, more consistent wood. More consistent wood means
better even vibration transmission and more easily manipulated and evenly
distributed resonance.
.
The Aging or
"Curing" Process
Then we
come to the aging process. In the early days it was normal to mill the
wood and stack the raw stock and allow it to air dry over a period of time.
This required a great deal of time as moisture dissipated slowly, taking
up to years at times. In the past this became uneconomical for some industries
so a quicker method had to be devised. Enter "kiln dried". Kiln drying
in a nutshell is nothing more than "baking" wood in a hotter dryer environment
to speed up the process of curing so the wood can be taken to market in
much less time. This unnatural curing method unfortunately results in uneven
drying, and has an impact on the shape and internal tension of the wood.
The moisture content on the outside surface of any given piece is forced
to drop considerably in relation that of it's core. All of you have seen
what water damage can do to wood, making it lumpy, uneven, twist, and warp.
This also happens at the cellular level, and cell walls are torn, and can
produce indiscernible fissures, weaknesses, and cracks within the wood.
This is perfectly acceptible for pine 2x4s, but for tone woods where consistency
is a must, this is a bad thing.
.
Due
to the overwhelming negative impact of consumerism, old growth wood is
becoming scarce, and is at a premium. This is particularly true for woods
that have been cured slowly. It is a fact that old growth wood that has
been cured slowly, and is now aged such as that used in older guitars made
20 or more years ago is going to have much more consistent and richer dynamics
than the majority of woods used in guitar making today. A good, OLD WORLD
luthier can for the most part duplicate the tonal characteristics of
"vintage" gutars and come very close to the original but the cost of doing
so would be high (but surely not tens of thousands of dollars though).
On the other hand the end result would be a new instrument with the characteristics
of one with 20+ years on it. Now, the wood is only one aspect of a "vintage"
instrument's tone and feel.
.
The Pickup Issue
It is
common knowledge that older pickups as a rule are mellower, lower output,
and usually not quite as "thick" as ones more recently produced. A number
of factors besides the general design affect and in essence create the
"vintage tone" associated with them. One significant factor that plays
a part is the impact age has on magnets, pole pieces, and other iron based
metal components is time. Over time a magnet will become weaker, and at
the same time, the iron based metal components will themselves take on
a magnetic polarity of their own (such as pole pieces and metal covers
on humbuckers).
.
All
this can be reproduced if someone wanted to take the time to do so. All
of the original materials are still available. The use of a gauss meter
would be imperative as the strength and distribution of the magnetic field
will need to be analyzed and reproduced. By using the correct magnets in
the correct mass, magnetizing the components with the correct polarity,
and using authentic grade materials nearly any pickup could be reproduced
close enough that even the above-average human ear could not discern any
difference. There may be rare individuals that could, but walking talking
oscilliscopes/waveform analyzers are not born every day. Some makers of
hand created picukps know these secrets, and command respectable prices
for their unique high quality products.
.
Understood,
this would be a rather expensive proposition as each reproduction would
have to be checked for accuracy which mass production could not possibly
allow. By the same token though, I doubt serously it would cost the $5,000.00
or more some individuals would pay for say an authentic PAF. Considering
the fact that exact duplications would be so labor intensive we could never
hope to see them adorn the display cases at the local guitar mega-store.
Then again, I am being nit-picky here and this narrow degree of tolerance
is not likely to be demanded by the average guitar mega-store patron.
.The
"Player Wear" Factor
Unless
an older instrument has been packed away from the start and is in effect
a "time capsule" example, it will have player wear, which is another consideration
regarding the feel of a "vintage" instrument. A neck that has been played
for years is going to have a much different feel than one that is new.
The finish wears, the frets wear, and the neck settles in over time. These
attributes can also be reproduced by a skilled luthier.
.
Yet the nagging
quesiton remains...
With all
this in mind, it would seem the "vintage" tone so desperately sought after
could for the most part be obtained without the need to spend such large
sums of money at times. I am sure there are makers out there that are doing
just this, and some are probably coming pretty close. I guess my question
now is, with the knowledge and resources available, what is it that drives
someone to lay out 3 or more times the amount to achieve the same result?
Is it as I suspect? The prestige, status, and novelty that make the difference?
Is it the same ego thing that makes a yuppie go out and buy a Harley Davidson
then act and dress like a biker? Could it be the fact that psychologically
one knows whether a guitar is an accurate and faithful reproduction or
the real McCoy despite the fact it cannot be heard? I guess I will never
understand. |
