Music Man JP6 Tone Block

[Blacksheep]

Hey, I hope this is in the right spot. I was checking out the description for John Petrucci BFR Baritone Music Man at http://www.music-man.com/instruments...-baritone.html .
The description says it is an alder body with a mahogany tone block. What exactly is a tone block?

[Robstar]

i think what it means its alder wings with mahogany center sandwiched in the middle and and on top of that bookmatched maple.but i could be wrong.
nice guitar!

[teokiatuan]

thats right, however i don't think the mahogany goes all the way thru, probably just between the pickups, because it has to make way for the bridge cavity

couldnt't tell for sure, my jp6 is non bfr.

you'd have a better chance asking this at the EB forums
http://www.ernieball.com/forums/

[Rachmaninoff]

Originally Posted by Robstar

i think what it means its alder wings with mahogany center sandwiched in the middle and and on top of that bookmatched maple.

This is what I think.

[John C]

Originally Posted by teokiatuan

thats right, however i don't think the mahogany goes all the way thru, probably just between the pickups, because it has to make way for the bridge cavity

couldnt't tell for sure, my jp6 is non bfr.

you'd have a better chance asking this at the EB forums
http://www.ernieball.com/forums/

As I understand it that is correct - on the BFRs the alder body is routed out kind of like a swimming pool route on some Strat-types underneath the area where the pickups and the bridge are placed. That route (I remember Sterling Ball describing it as looking something like an Absolut bottle) is filled with mahogany, then the figured top is laminated to the body.

You can kind of see it in this photo of the 25th Anniversary model (although the 25th Anniversary is also chambered; the BFRs are solid) - the darker wood is mahogany and the lighter wood is alder on this model:



EDIT - I should point out that the koa-topped JP6 and Luke BFRs have solid mahogany bodies under the koa top, not the alder/tone block sandwich body.