Good Wood Years?

[soundboy57]

I find it amusing that depending on what year Les Paul is for sale, the time frame for the "Good Wood" years varies.
I have seen 1988-1993, 1990-2000, 1993-1998, etc.

What are the "official" years for "the Good Wood era", and who says so?

 

[redcoats1976]

my wood was better before i turned 50...just sayin.

 

[TheX]

The best years are the years people have for sale, as you already noted. Otherwise, it's all years, or none of them, or.....

 

[rockinlespaul]

My preferred "good wood" years "for me" are 1999-2003. I also like the 2007's.

Anything from 1997-2008 works for me really I guess.

 

[larryguitar]

If I could piggy-back a question onto the OP, what are folks looking for when they refer to 'Good Wood' years? Lighter mahogany, fewer pieces in the body, better quality maple?


Thanks,

Larry

 

[Frogfur]

too much monkey business..

 

[TheX]

I know within 60 seconds whether a guitar is for me or not, once I pick it up. I guess wood has something to do with it since I listen to it acoustically before plugging it in.

 

[paco1976]

Wood good years are long past.
In the old days guitar makers used old growth wood, wild wood that is. Nowadays everything you can get is a crop that has been raised much faster than naturally in the wild.
The old growth stock of wood in the 50s, 60s and early 70s existed, there were stocks of this kind of wood that had been drying for decades, yes decades (I've read about luthiers using wood dried for 100 years). But all this has been exhausted, it does not exist anymore. In the mid to late 70s Gibson along with the rest of the manufacturers finished all the stock they had from natural wild wood (as far as I've read).
If anyone has a few blank of this kind it is for sure in a very small scale, complicated to have a continuity of supply. A big manufacturer like Gibson or any other cannot work with this uncertainty, they need what is available today and tomorrow and in one year time, they can't risk production.
Obviously whatever Gibson is still hiding in the treasure chamber is not meant for us This is the stuff they use when some JoeB, or Slash want something special, not to the average Joe.

People talk about old growth now, but it is not the same you could get 40 years ago. If someone tells you the wood in 90s Gibsons is better than the early/mid 70s he is simply misinformed.

 

[WholeLottaIzzy]

And the guitar they are selling is the best sounding and most vintage 1959 burst, golden years, old growth, Brazilian rosewood, Jimmy Page Hendrix playing guitar ever.

Yeah, we all seen them adverts

 

[grayd8]

Dude, you can make two Les Paul's out of the same two trees and have one that is a real cannon and one that is a dog. There is no "good wood years", there's big sounding guitars, dead sounding guitars and everything in between.

 

[Burst Boy]

Good wood years ended when a realisation started dawning that all the good wood was raped from the planet without consideration for long term sustainability.

I still love the LPs in my collection, all made after 2009, all resonant and looking good. All probably made with less than ideal wood.

 

[soundboy57]

Good wood years ended when a realisation started dawning that all the good wood was raped from the planet without consideration for long term sustainability.

I still love the LPs in my collection, all made after 2009, all resonant and looking good. All probably made with less than ideal wood.

All my Les Paul's are from the 90's, before everything became politically correct.

 

[JCM900MkIII]

It has everything to do with "curing" (chemicals in the plants' cells) and the speed of the drying process.

It has NOTHING to do with a specific year a plant was cut/planted/dried.
Just the amount of time taken to get the wood in a STABLE condition.


Another tonewood thread talking about the wrong specifics...

The real question is, in which years did gibson take most care of their wood storage.

The rest is all misinformation

 

[rockinlespaul]

The real question is, in which years did gibson take most care of their wood storage.

The rest is all misinformation

 

[bosnialove]

For me it is 1993 - 1998, then 2001-2003. Honorouble mentions are 1999 - 2000 and 2013 - 2014.

 

[xbolt]

My opinion is if an LP doesn't sound good to you...and you blame the wood..you should take up the triangle or the rape whistle...

 

[colchar]

I find it amusing that depending on what year Les Paul is for sale, the time frame for the "Good Wood" years varies.
I have seen 1988-1993, 1990-2000, 1993-1998, etc.

What are the "official" years for "the Good Wood era", and who says so?

There is no such thing.

 

[colchar]

my wood was better before i turned 50...just sayin.

There are pills that can help with that. Or so I've heard.

 

[colchar]

If I could piggy-back a question onto the OP, what are folks looking for when they refer to 'Good Wood' years? Lighter mahogany, fewer pieces in the body, better quality maple?


Thanks,

Larry

They are looking for something mythological.

 

[colchar]

Nowadays everything you can get is a crop that has been raised much faster than naturally in the wild.

So we're making wood grow more quickly...

Is this the solution to the deforestation of the Rain Forest?

Is Monsanto involved?

(I've read about luthiers using wood dried for 100 years)

Where did you read this? And how widespread was this practice?

If someone tells you the wood in 90s Gibsons is better than the early/mid 70s he is simply misinformed.

Yes, someone certainly is misinformed.