To flock or not to flock…..

[Roger Crawford]

Some manufacturers do, some don’t. Does it make a difference in tone?

[Austin Tripp]

Hey Roger! I’ve always hated the flocking. To me, it dresses a new steels undercarriage up nicely but after a few hundred hours of bar rooms and oil changes, it gets messy and holds the grime. I’ve always liked the look of a non flocked undercarriage. Whether it actually changes the sound, I have no idea. To me it seems it would, for better or worse I haven’t an idea. It would be nice if someone could build 2 identical steels, one flocked and the other naked and do a comparison.

[Erv Niehaus]

When I redo a steel I like to flock it.
It covers up a lot of mistakes other users have made.

[Roger Crawford]

Erv, I can understand covering up mistakes, but the builder shouldn’t be making any. I love the look of finished wood under there, but if flocking has a positive impact, why don’t all builders do it?

[Bobby D. Jones]

I think some makers did not want people to actually see the wood in the body of the guitar.
They veneered the body with birds eye or some other high grained wood over straight grain maple for the body and aprons.
The flocking is a haven for dirt, oil, dust and picks up odors from every place it sits. Seems like spiders like it because many were flocked black or other dark colors.

I understand someone flocking a rebuild. If some one moved pulls and knee levers all over and drilled holes all over, Or took a back neck off to cover all the holes and the changer hole for a neat appearance.

[Chris Templeton]

Here's an old thread about flocking: viewtopic.php?t=218366

[Detlef Webert]

Hello there,
what does it mean "to flock" or "not to flock" ?
It might be stupid question .

[Roger Crawford]

Flocking is a fiber/powder type material that is usually applied with a spray gun over a freshly painted or adhesive treated surface to the underside of the guitar body. Some builders use it, some don’t. I’m just curious if there are benefits one way or the other.

[Nathan Pocock]

No thanks I’d rather see the wood, even if it has some extra holes and scratches.

[Dave Mudgett]

I think flocking would change the sound of the guitar somewhat. Probably not a lot, and whether or not that is good or bad is probably situational and subject to personal taste. But I prefer a steel flocked about as much as I prefer the back of a Telecaster flocked. And I have seen people put stuff on Telecasters. On a guitar, double-yuck.

Personally, I prefer to see wood. If done well,flocking does look good when it's fresh, but tends to get kind of ratty over time, based on the few I've had that were flocked. If I need to quiet down the pull rods, a piece of slitted foam, as on my ZumSteels, works fine.

As far as dealing with holes goes - to re-flock means to tear the guitar apart, right?. If going to that much trouble, why not just carefully plug the holes, sand flush, and apply a light coat of lacquer if desired? Even if I wanted to re-flock a guitar to hide holes, I'd at least want to plug the holes first. YMMV.

[Ian Rae]

What's the problem with a few holes anyway? Things get moved and they're a fact of life.
You might even argue that it's useful to know where things once were in case you want to put them back....

[Donny Hinson]

Erv, I can understand covering up mistakes, but the builder shouldn’t be making any. I love the look of finished wood under there, but if flocking has a positive impact, why don’t all builders do it?

Extra time for the build means extra cost and slower deliveries. As to any effect on sound and tone, there are easy ways to mitigate that, if necessary. I know some players appreciate the woodgrain, and I can respect that. But realistically, a modern pedal steel body is nothing more than a few flat boards glued and screwed together, with no intricate carving or fancy joinery. Flocking (or painting, as Fender did) hides small imperfections and allows a more consistent-looking product.

[Erv Niehaus]

Donny,
Yes, you are correct.
I've worked on some gutars that look like a woodpecker had been attacking it!
I plug the holes, toothpicks work good, and then flock it.
It covers up a multitude of sins.
Erv

[Dennis Detweiler]

The early MSA guitars were flocked. Then, all of the metal parts were screwed onto it. So, the flock was between the wood and medal. Does it kill some of the sustain? I'm not sure? I removed all of the flock, plus from underneath all of the mounted parts on both of my MSA guitars (1975 and 1976 birdseye maple, lacquer finished). Then, applied shellac to the underside wood. Do they have sustain? I can pluck some strings, go the restroom, come back and still hear it. Both guitars have great tone with Telonics pickups. No stereotypical mucky sounds given to the early MSA guitars. So, I got the flock out of there. Did removing the flock help? I think it did to a minor extent.

[Ian Rae]

Any energy-absorbing material within the mechanical chain or applied to the body will have an effect, however slight. If it's actually detectable, then that's an argument for avoiding it.

[Larry Allen]

Off topic a little. But the other old guys here might remember this. When I was a kid 40’s-50’s..my Dad restored 1920-38 Chev’s, the inside of the trunks were flocked. I remember him spraying it on…

[Jerry Overstreet]

As I recall, the p/p Emmons I had was flocked. I don't remember hearing any muffled sound from that guitar or any other Push Pulls, so I'd say if it affected tone at all, we probably would have heard about it from the master Buddy Emmons.

I really don't know why it was done. I never cared that some of the guitars I've owned had flocking while others, like the Mullen, did not....I just accepted each build as it came.

[J D Sauser]

How times change!

in the late 1990's we had these discussions and back then we had people like Bobbe Seymoure and others on. Most are sadly no longer with us and missed.

Flocking was a BIG debate issue in those early Forum years. And believe it or know, those in favor back then, didn't favor it for looks but TONE, and they did so with unquestionable "authority".
Now, I am one who will agree that EVERY THING will change the tone of an instrument. The question is not only "HOW" but to what degree and how audibly!


... J-D.

[Ron Funk]

Re-reading the link posted above by Chris Templeton ( prior post from Mike Cass), Mike Cass’s understanding was that flocking was used as a moisture barrier on Emmons steels.

[Lane Gray]

Over the long term, it can turn gross.
The 1970 MSA I've got is so nicotinated the stainless looks like brass. It was flocked, and the flocking feels gummy as hell.
Ick.