Will Leather Kill The Sound?

[Gummi De Milo]

I have an idea about covering the body of my forthcoming guitar in a thin leather most likely a pigskin. I was wondering what affect this will have on the sound. Will it really deaden the sound? Pigskin is very thin.

[Mickguard]

I have an idea about covering the body of my forthcoming guitar in a thin leather most likely a pigskin. I was wondering what affect this will have on the sound. Will it really deaden the sound? Pigskin is very thin.

You know it'd look so cool, a little bit of tone loss would be acceptable. But I don't see why it should-- people do material finishes all the time. I suppose to be on the safeside, use a bridge that goes into/through the guitar. That way you're still picking up the vibrations from the wood.

[Dean]

A company by the name El Dorado covered a tele with hand tooled leather for Fender,I think Fender was asking $15,000.00 for it.You can go to their web site and look at it and other hand tooled gear.They make stuff to up grade your guitar with,and are really cool to work with,for people that would like something like that.There are other companys out there ,too.It is not a big tone killer tho,and looks cool.

[crafty]

Not any worse than your arm resting on the guitar...

[ToneMonkey]

Or beer belly. I play laying down a bit and I can't tell no difference.

[Prostheta]

I'd take the view that adding mass to something stops it resonating to a degree depending on the materials, frequencies and overall mass. Like soundproofing. Leather doesn't have a HUGE mass, so i'm of the opinion that it would be barely perceivable under most human circumstances unless you layered on a half inch of epoxy :-D

Even then....it's not like you're coating it in lead!

Good luck.

Edited May 8, 2008 by Prostheta

[avengers63]

Ah... This is bringing back fond memories of Hair Metal. Someone covered their ax in python skin. Suddenly, all the smaller companies were offering it as a custom upgrade.

Why don't you go talk to an upholstery shop about how to get it stretched flat and adhered solidly to the body - especially around the curves & edges. Surely they'll have some valuable advice to offer.

[djhollowman]

Ah... This is bringing back fond memories of Hair Metal. Someone covered their ax in python skin. Suddenly, all the smaller companies were offering it as a custom upgrade.

Why don't you go talk to an upholstery shop about how to get it stretched flat and adhered solidly to the body - especially around the curves & edges. Surely they'll have some valuable advice to offer.

....or those companies that re-trim vehicle interiors??

Also, there's a tutorial on here by (I think) Brian Calvert where he details the process of adding fabric to an RG/JEM body.

Ahh, hair metal! [sigh] Where are Warrant, Skid Row, Roxx Gang et al???

[i liked how you used capitals for the H and M there, BTW! Gives it added significance ]

DJ

[Bryan316]

I goof around with leather from time to time. Cowhide bellies, latigo belt material, and deerskins of different styles.

I'm quite interested to see how your plans for a leather covered guitar turn out. As for the sound-deadening properties, take the adive posted above, and attach all your tone-sensitive parts through the leather, not on top of it. And any effects will be minimal.

I'd love to see someone do up some really evil horror flick inspired leather guitar. Like doing a tribute to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and make a leather covered body with scars, stitches, blood stains, tufts of hair... make it really morbid! Maybe channel Sir Anthony Hopkins to bless/curse it with some Hannibal Lector mojo!

[ToneMonkey]

How about Ricky Horror type leather guitar. Actually I got an email from the wife yesterday saying she found this at work:

Ah crap, can't post pictures, pity it would have made you larf.

[marksound]

Waylon Jennings did it ages ago. You don't get much badder than ol' Waymore.

[low end fuzz]

that would be cool;

you could technically have it covering everyhting, like the hardware; i dunno sounds cool;

.................gummi de milo

thats the real reason i wrote anyhting

[Gummi De Milo]

Thanks for the info guys. When I get my project started I'll post it here and keep you guys up to date. Also, I planned on burning some pattern in it like a brand.

[perhellion]

As for the HM angle, that was Warren DiMartini of Ratt. Many of the copies (including some he used) were airbrushed (not real snakeskin). That was because the real snakeskin was hard to attach, not because of the sound. In fact, I remember Warren saying the the original sounded more resonant after skinning. He thought maybe the skin was really tight, like a drum head.

[borge]

in a recent guitar magazine dvd, "riggs" former guitar player for rob zombie, shows and talks about his pigskin covered guitar.

it had some tattoos, it looked a bit gross, and he said it smelt

[desinet1]

Definitely some quality will be lost, but it will not be that considerable.

[Gummi De Milo]

in a recent guitar magazine dvd, "riggs" former guitar player for rob zombie, shows and talks about his pigskin covered guitar.

it had some tattoos, it looked a bit gross, and he said it smelt

Haha, I honestly never thought about the smell, I don't think it will be too bad though considering it doesn't really smell to me.