Plywood

A manufactured sheet made from thin layers of wood veneer glued with their grains crossing, cheap, strong and dimensionally stable.

In guitar construction it appears mainly in budget acoustic bodies, where its resistance to humidity makes it serviceable and predictable, and in the structures or baffles of some cabinets. As a soundboard it is generally considered inferior to a solid top, because the glue lines between plies interrupt the vibration and the sheet does not develop with age. The same material is common in instrument cases, where its stability and strength are exactly what is wanted.

Example: a plywood-topped acoustic survives a dry room without cracking, but it will not open up the way a solid spruce top does.

Plywood

See also