Bamboo guitars ?

I put bamboo flooring in my house. It is rock solid. Nice sustain and warm tone, too.

 

ESP has a guitar line called Bamboo Inn which, as you can guess, are made from bamboo. However, they're more of a little acoustic-type guitar thingy than an electric though so it's not quite the same. But it's not an entirely uncommon material to use I guess you could say. Is the Yamaha model you're referring to those white AGX models? I don't recall offhand what their deal is, but seem to remember reading something about them having a unique construction.

 

Hmm haven't seen that one before. I kinda dig it actually, but can't seem to find much current info on it. Oh, and a correction to what I said before, I was thinking of the RGX A2 electric.

Anyway, here's one of the BambooInn guitars fwiw:

http://www.digimart.net/gk_detail.do?instrument_id=DS00306343

 

I think it's a good idea for people to experiment with different tone woods. With no experimentation there's no discovery.

 

I heard that those Yamaha guitar kind of self-destructed and pulled themselves apart very quickly since it was all laminated bamboo. I always wanted to play one but never had the chance... I used to see them on eBay now and then about 5 years ago.

 

Bamboo is 3 times stronger than maple.

 

Trouble is that bamboo has to be sawn in relatively thin and narrow strips, and then glued together. That means multiple laminations for an acoustic (read: plywood), and even more laminations for a solid body electric. Might be best to use a mahogany body (a la Les Paul) with a bamboo top.

Check out how a bamboo flooring plank is laminated:

 

I think this is a misconception in the way it is applied to this scenario. Although bamboo is 3 times "stronger" than maple... so is spider web silk. The strength you are referring to is probably due to the tensile strength and flexibility of bamboo. These strengths are pretty much useless in guitar making. I don't doubt that bamboo can be made into a stable enough board to make acoustic guitars out of, but in this case, the strength won't be in the bamboo wood properties alone... it'll be in the collective laminate properties. As someone else mentioned... basically, it's ply wood. And even if its a super plywood, I think a solid top is superior in my opinion.

And I can't even imagine making a laminate thick enough to make a solid body guitar out of bamboo.

Anyways, it's still an interesting guitar, and I'm glad people are experimenting too.

 

John Bolin made a bamboo guitar for Billy Gibbons. I believe there is a picture of it in the Rock and Roll GearHead book. I'm not sure if it's a veneer or more.