High-pressure laminate
A decorative sheet of resin-soaked paper pressed under great heat, used on budget acoustics in place of solid wood.
High-pressure laminate, the material of kitchen worktops, is made by stacking resin-impregnated paper and pressing it flat under heat and pressure, with a printed top layer that can imitate rosewood, koa or any other timber convincingly. In instruments the same process makes the laminated backs, sides and sometimes tops of inexpensive acoustics, and it is also used as a decorative cap on some solid bodies. It is commonly described as sounding stiff and closed compared with solid wood, because the resin and the glue lines between layers do not move as one piece of timber would. It is cheap, stable and water resistant, but irreparable and tonally limited.
Example: A laminate-bodied acoustic survives a dry flat and a humid summer without cracking, at the cost of the resonance a solid top would develop.
typical use: Acoustic backs, sides and tops on budget instruments, and decorative caps.
See also
Related
- PageTone wood
- PageLaminate
- PagePlywood
- PageAdirondack spruce
- PageAfrican blackwood
- PageAfrican mahogany
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley