H535 solid or laminateFoll

[houndhome]

Following my opuchase of a 1988 H535 last week (see previous post) I was browsing through old Heritage sales

leaflets that i have and found a disparity. One(1989 Heritage leaflet) says that the H535 has laminate top and back and solid rim.The 

other (U.K.Barnes and Mullins) says that the H535  has curly maple top but solid  curly maple back and sides. Is the back on a H535

solid or laminate?

 

[TalismanRich]

The 535 is laminate on the top and bottom.   The sides are solid, which is different from the ES335 spec.

On our tours of the factory, they have shown us how the actually make the laminates from thin sheets of wood, and then how they steam press the arch into the sheet vs how something like the 575 is carved.   I can't remember wood layers they use for the laminate.   

 

[TalismanRich]

 

[Steiner]

Rich is right.  Only the full hollowbodies at Heritage are non-plywood (Eagles, 575s and 16s).

[bolero]

yeah & it's not anything like the plywood you buy down at home depot either

[pressure]

Let's not forget the discontinued Heritage Johnny Smith or the new H-717. 

Spruce, Spruce baby.

[DetroitBlues]

There you have it. 

The idea for the laminated top of spruce and maple was designed for less movement when playing to help reduce feedback that were a common issue guitarists had playing archtops though loud amps.  If I remember right, Heritage also makes sure the grain of the middle piece goes in the opposite direction of the top and bottom pieces to help keep the top rigid.

Heritage follows the original Gibson recipe for making their semi-hollow bodies.  There could be some out there that are solid tops, but those would be custom orders.

[TalismanRich]

If you listen to the second video I posted,  Pete clearly says that they prefer to use Maple/Basswood/Maple for their laminate, although sometimes they use Poplar for the inner sheet.   

FWIW,  the H-525 is a full hollow body, but uses a laminate top and back.   While thicker than the H530 (also hollow and laminate), at 2 1/4" it is thinner than the H-575.

[nuke]

Collings makes the I35 in both laminate (ply) and solid top form. The I35 LC is laminate wood, like the ES335, H535.  The I35 and I35 Deluxe are carved solid wood. 

Both are very nice and I've demo'd them in the store side by side. I preferred the LC, but that's likely because I had 335/535 on my mind at the time. YMMV and I might even change my mind depending on what day it happens to be. They're different sounding, even acoustically.