Triggs 'Round Midnight

**lgriffin** · 03-08-2022, 05:27 PM

Hi there, first post but have been lurking for awhile. I have a question for you guys:

I just ordered this off reverb sight unseen and I'm trying to figure out what it's made out of.

1993 Jim Triggs Round Midnight Archtop Black Finish | Ray's | Reverb

There's another listing for a similar guitar which indicates it's made from maple with a solid carved spruce top.

Jim Triggs "Round Midnight" 1994 Black | Galletta Guitars - | Reverb

So, i emailed Mr. Triggs, to which he replied: (I am lonnie btw) (he is referencing jimmy vivino, who was conan o'brian's music director)

Hi Lonnie,

I originally built that guitar for Larry Acunto who was the publisher of 20th Century Guitar magazine. He and Jimmy were good friends back then. I made 3 or 4 of those guitars and they were all ply guitars. Back then I most likely used Seymour Duncan pick-ups.

Hope you enjoy the guitar.

Jim

So, my question - according to Mr. Triggs, it's plywood? What does this mean exactly, does it have a carved top or...?

**WilliamScott** · 03-09-2022, 07:58 PM

Triggs definitely makes them with laminate tops sides and back. I have one. It's a great guitar, too. I would believe him that it is plywood.

**lgriffin** · 03-09-2022, 09:04 PM

Wait you have one of these actual guitars even though there was only four or five made?

**citizenk74** · 03-10-2022, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by lgriffin

Hi there, first post but have been lurking for awhile. I have a question for you guys:

I just ordered this off reverb sight unseen and I'm trying to figure out what it's made out of.

1993 Jim Triggs Round Midnight Archtop Black Finish | Ray's | Reverb

There's another listing for a similar guitar which indicates it's made from maple with a solid carved spruce top.

Jim Triggs "Round Midnight" 1994 Black | Galletta Guitars - | Reverb

So, i emailed Mr. Triggs, to which he replied: (I am lonnie btw) (he is referencing jimmy vivino, who was conan o'brian's music director)

Hi Lonnie,

I originally built that guitar for Larry Acunto who was the publisher of 20th Century Guitar magazine. He and Jimmy were good friends back then. I made 3 or 4 of those guitars and they were all ply guitars. Back then I most likely used Seymour Duncan pick-ups.

Hope you enjoy the guitar.

Jim

So, my question - according to Mr. Triggs, it's plywood? What does this mean exactly, does it have a carved top or...?

**WilliamScott** · 03-10-2022, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by lgriffin

Wait you have one of these actual guitars even though there was only four or five made?

s

Sorry I meant I have a laminate Triggs guitar. The one he made for Mundell Lowe actually. Not black. I'm not sure what the problem is. If Jim Triggs says they are ply, that's what you should expect them to be, IMHO.

**skiboyny** · 03-10-2022, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by lgriffin

So, my question - according to Mr. Triggs, it's plywood? What does this mean exactly, does it have a carved top or...?

It means that the top is made of thin layers of wood and pressed in to the shape of the top. Done right they can sound really good, also have an advantage of less feedback than a carved top. Hope you love it!

**AKA** · 03-10-2022, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by [B

So, my question - according to Mr. Triggs, it's plywood? What does this mean exactly, does it have a carved top or...?[/B]

No. It doesn’t have a carved top. It has a laminated (plywood) top similar to a Gibson ES 175. Arched but not carved.

AKA

**lgriffin** · 03-12-2022, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by WilliamScott

s

Sorry I meant I have a laminate Triggs guitar. The one he made for Mundell Lowe actually. Not black. I'm not sure what the problem is. If Jim Triggs says they are ply, that's what you should expect them to be, IMHO.

No problem I'm just trying to figure out what the thing is made out of I didn't know plywood was used for guitar construction. Is plywood in this context made from pine wood? I thought most archtop guitars were made from maple mahogany and spruce.

**lgriffin** · 03-12-2022, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by AKA

No. It doesn’t have a carved top. It has a laminated (plywood) top similar to a Gibson ES 175. Arched but not carved.

AKA

Okay thanks for the information are es 175's made from plywood as well? I thought they had Maple tops?

**Stringswinger** · 03-12-2022, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by lgriffin

Okay thanks for the information are es 175's made from plywood as well? I thought they had Maple tops?

Maple can be used in plywood. ES-175's are plywood, as are Benedetto Bravos and Gibson Tal Farlows and one can find high end guitars from the likes of Jimmy D'Aquisto and Bryant Trenier who made/make plywood guitars. And to add to the confusion, not all solid archtops are carved. Some are pressed into shape using the same process as the ones made from plywood.

**bluejaybill** · 03-12-2022, 02:25 PM

It's not plywood like you're thinking, it's alternating layers of maple and I think poplar in the middle, but not sure? Others will know.

More carefully thought out than normal plywood, and some builders have their own recipes.

Laminate stiffer and less prone to feedback than a carved top.

**lgriffin** · 03-12-2022, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by bluejaybill

It's not plywood like you're thinking, it's alternating layers of maple and I think poplar in the middle, but not sure? Others will know.

More carefully thought out than normal plywood, and some builders have their own recipes.

Laminate stiffer and less prone to feedback than a carved top.

Okay that clarifies things a bit when I hear plywood I think of Home Depot or Pine wood.

**lgriffin** · 03-12-2022, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by Stringswinger

Maple can be used in plywood. ES-175's are plywood, as are Benedetto Bravos and Gibson Tal Farlows and one can find high end guitars from the likes of Jimmy D'Aquisto and Bryant Trenier who made/make plywood guitars. And to add to the confusion, not all solid archtops are carved. Some are pressed into shape using the same process as the ones made from plywood.

Ok so maybe when I'm thinking about plywood I should be thinking about woods applied together rather than like I don't know a pine tree or like lumber from a lumber yard.

**cmajor9** · 03-12-2022, 02:52 PM

Most people substitute plywood for laminate as a sort of insult, to imply that it’s inferior. However, when you’re talking about a Triggs, or Sadowsky, or Trenier, that’s not the case. It serves a different purpose.

**ccroft** · 03-12-2022, 07:20 PM

A lot of very cool things are made with bent laminated wood besides guitars. Eames chair for one. He used the technique with other furniture, as have a great many other designers. It's a very strong way of making these shapes. Much stronger than carved lumber or bent cane. It can be made with any type of wood from soft like pine to hard like rosewood, and every other species in between.

**AKA** · 03-13-2022, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by lgriffin

Okay thanks for the information are es 175's made from plywood as well? I thought they had Maple tops?

Yes. Plywood = Laminate. Plywood (Laminate) guitar tops are made of multiple thin sheets of wood. Each sheet is a ply. They are pressed together (with adhesives) to create a single sheet. The surface layer (Ply) you see on the ES 175 is a maple ply. I suggest you search the internet on this subject - tons of info to help you understand.