TAG Bodies - solid or 2 piece?

[michaelomiya]

been looking at my TAG's and others. I've noticed that certain bodies are 2 piece and others "appear" to be solid (lighting, paint, etc. making the determination difficult if not impossible).

Question:
are most TAG bodies 2 piece? (I had a solid 1 piece ash classic from 2003 but that was a special request)
if so, is this a cost of manufacturing issue?
what's the impact on tone? (none that I can tell, but had to ask!:p )
any structural issues w/ glueing (sp?) two pieces of wood together? (again I know this has been done for a long time, but had to ask!:p )

(hard to tell!)
http://www.members.cox.net/eddyrox/back4.jpg

more obvious on these:
http://www.members.cox.net/eddyrox/back2.jpg

http://www.members.cox.net/eddyrox/back3.jpg

http://www.members.cox.net/eddyrox/back1.jpg

[tom]

we see some 1 piece mahogany, ash and primavera. i always would prefer light weight 2 piece to 1 piece heavier. very seldom do we see 1 piece alder or basswood. they are smaller trees and 1 piece wood from them often goes across the middle of the tree which usually means more cupping of the board. they usually won't cut wood that way because it is not as stable. we also normally have 2 piece stuff where the 2 halves are cut consecutively from the same board so the weight and density would be the same. i don't believe a 1 piece body would sound any "better" than that. it will often be difficult to see the joint in wood that is quartered of just has straight grain. swirly grained wood like ash will show the joint much clearer. you can also see the highlights in grain direction(like the blue one above) change from side to side when the wood is butt matched.

[michaelomiya]

thanks tom. so from a structural perspective, joining 2 pieces of wood (glued) does not pose any structural issues. Also is "cupping" having to cut under or around a less an desirable portion of the tree?

[tom]

wood glue is stronger than the wood fibers, so weakness is not an issue.
cupping is when a board warps sideways. if you were to look at the endgrain of a board and you saw arcs that went from the bottom of the outside and crested at the top center(half circles), you would be looking at a board that was cut going through the center of the tree. that board would probably want to warp so the edges were above the center of the board.

[michaelomiya]

got it Thanks Tom!:)

[m_lance]

I didn't even realize it until Bruce pointed it out during a setup. Got it used. Is there anything special about a 1-piece Alder classic other than just the look? Sounds like there wouldn't be any tone difference (and I don't hear anything different from an older classic I had that was 2-piece alder).

It almost sounds like the 2-piece guitars are more stable. Why make any 1-piece?

[tom]

why make one piece? because people ask for it. is it better? no. it does look nice on some light coors. we sometimes take one piece wood and cut it in two so we can deal with what it will do later.

[picnic]

Noob questions, so forgive my ignertz. Does the resonance of a guitar change if the guitar is two piece? How does a cap figure into all of this?

[tom]

there's no way to absolutely say whether 1 or 2 piece sound better. you'd have to have all else exactly the same, and they would still be different pieces of wood. i've made myself lots of one piece and 2 piece guitars, and have made close to 14,000 guitars and can honestly say that 1 or 2 pice has never been the defining factor between good and great sounding guitars.
as for tops, that does change everything, usually because you're adding a different kind of wood to the mix.