If it's not wood it's no good

An ex band colleague who happens to have been called a troll and looking like a rapist on twitter recently by 2 different people seems to think that if an instrument - bass / guitar isn't wood then it's no good. So I thought to myself is this true or is it just a typically pompous remark that he is well known for? It didn't take me long to find this little jem......
DANELECTRO 56
It's body is Masonite and laminated!
I believe it is the exact same guitar that Mark Everett from Eels uses and also Richard Thompson. If it is good enough for them......
It is also a very cheap guitar all things considered.
If it was an all acoustic then I would probably agree although in the case of electric guitars the main thing that causes the sound is the pickups.It would also be helpful if the neck is made of good quality timber to transmit the sound. I would therefore have to disagree. If it isn't wood then it doesn't necessarily mean it's no good!

John Squire's white jag

I was reminiscing the other day about how good the Stone Roses were in their pomp. Mani with simple but brutally effective bass lines (sometimes simplicity is the hardest thing to do within life), Browny's studio perfect vocals, Reni's unstoppable beats and John Squire's lovely ear for a melody. When together they produced something special. At the time I thought they could be as big as the Beatles but sadly it all went tits up. As a guitar player I've always admired Squire's playing. I have a couple of youtube cover videos up where I've had a bash - vintage ibanez tubescreamer with the jrc445d chip coupled with an alesis midiverb 2 and a dash of chorus will get you a pretty much authentic roses sound from the first album......I was browsing the web over old videos and photos and came across the old white jaguar that John used to play. I remembered how cool it was. I wondered how difficult one would be to build......
After careful research I decided that the only way to get an exact replica would be to speak to the person that made John's. If you look at first it would seem to be a normal white jaguar. On closer inspection it actually has the front of a strat. The person in question was master luthier Stuart Palmer. He made 2 jags for John - one white and one sunburst. The white one was very much the one love era and the sunburst was played at spike island and on tour around 1990. I believe he did a seahorses les paul for John as well and various other projects for famous musicians. I was expecting this chap to be a bit full of himself mixing in celebrity circles and also perhaps a bit short with his time. I couldnt have been more wrong. Stuart was extremely humble, polite, humourous and generous with his extensive knowledge of guitar building and how John's guitar was made. To be honest I was blown away with how warm and welcoming this chap was. Anyway Stuart has kindly agreed to make me an exact replica and i will be sharing this with you over the coming months. During each stage of building Stuart will take a few pics......