Sorry if this topic has been posted in the past, but I'm at work and don't have time to check every page. My question is this. Is a guitar or bass with a body made of acrylic (plexiglass) going sound at all decent as far as tone, sustain, etc. compared to guitars/basses made of wood? The music stores in my area don't have any in stock, or I would just go and try one out for myself. I'm curious, because I've seen some advertised on the net (B.C. Rich makes a few), and I'm thinking of buying one because it looks really cool! Of course, a cool looking guitar that sounds horrible isn't cool. :oops: That's why I'm asking. Any replies would be appreciated.
Thanks
Like anything, some like 'em, some don't. The classic see-thru is the Dan Armstong, which has been around a very long time. Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters uses one as his main axe these days. See the videos here:
http://www.foofighters.com/media/index.php
He plays it on All My Life -- maybe others as well. If you like that sound, you may wish to consider an Armstrong, but it may be pricey compared to a B.C.R.
As far as comparisons to wood, a man-made substance such as acrylic is far more uniform than wood. So all other things being the same (materials, shape, pups, neck ...) there should be less unit-to-unit sonic variation in the plexi-acrylic vs. wood. Tonally, I think as most of these have been sold to and used by rock and metal players, that's probably were they work best. They sound good for overdriven playing -- clean? Dunno.
-=tension & release=-
When I saw Robert Plant on Austin City Limits his bassist used one. I'm not a bassist and not an expert, but it sounded no different from any other one I've heard.
-Metaellihead
From what I've experienced, they tend to be rock or metal guitars, to me they sound harsher than other guitars of similar shape and mass, but on the other hand, they also tend to come equipped with hard rock/metal oriented pups, so that could certainly be contributing to the effect.
As with any guitar, play one and see how you like it. It really does depend on how you feel out of it and how it expresses your emotions musically.
Try and judge it critically with your ears.
Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life...
