Guild Starfire reissues

[Basvarken]

it is just sturdier to build them this way.

Sturdier? I think they mean easier.
They use a mold to press thin layers of veneer into the curved shape of a top. By using several layers glued together the laminated wood stays in shape.

Carving a slab piece into a curve with a planer is much more time consuming. And it requires serious woodcrafting skills.

[Rob]

I'm assuming that it is the same way (possibly more contemporized) Gibson makes 335's and EB2's.

[Dave W]

I'm assuming that it is the same way (possibly more contemporized) Gibson makes 335's and EB2's.

Yes, they were always made this way.

Gibson Custom does make one electric archtop (guitar) with a solid spruce top, the Citation. It's something like $22K.

[Happy Face]

Very interesting! Thanks. I keep learning stuff here.

I'm gonna have to eyeball my three hollow/semi hollow basses.

Not that it really matters all that much.

[Dave W]

It's not an acoustic instrument that relies on a vibrating top for its sound.

The early Höfner 500/1s had solid tops, no doubt because their orchestral strings had solid tops. But they went to a laminated top around 1961-62. I'm not aware of any other production hollow or semihollow electric basses with solid tops.

[Chris P.]

I had a long talk with a guitar designer. Because of the lamination top woods don't really matter. It's more neck middle block, ...