Thread: Guitar timber

Hey, How's it goin?
I too was toying with the idea of making a guitar not too long ago, but a kick-**** solid body, not semi-hollow; I keep thinking of Les Paul's original solid prototype made from a lump of 4 X 4 hardwood...

Anyway, I've developed an unnatural affection for Red Ironbark and would give that a go myself - bugger laminates and veneers! Playing a big hunk of the red stuff, oh baby...

Ahem. I forgot myself for a moment, there. Have you considered Vic Ash, or a Stringybark? (What's the QLD equivalent?) I'm only a novice woodworker, but I see a fair bit of timber and Southern species seem to have the right balance of weight and density for guitar work. They are also light coloured, although rosewood is the traditional choice for the fingerboard, depending on the sound you're after.

When I started on this subject at work it was suggested that I contact a local Luthier for advice; of course I didn't 'cos I'm all talk, but that might just be the way to go.

Regards,
Rus.

I've found good results with tassie blackwood as a solid body cap. Some people use tassie oak for the body wood (haven't tried it myself). I tried Qld Maple for the body & neck for one solid body - but the sound wasn't great. I know Maton use it for some of their acoustics, I assume its probably fairly stable (i.e. for necks). I quite like using PNG ebony (stretching the Aussie timber definition a bit) for fingerboards and for fixing inlay work. I'd suggest the eucalypts wouldn't be a particularly good choice for tone from what I've seen, plus they weigh a ton.
If you're really keen to use Aussie timbers I'd recommend for a first instrument using tassie oak or blackwood. I'd discount Qld Maple, except perhaps for a neck.

Kevin Williams from near Beechworth uses all native timbers in his cellos and viols.
I made a classical guitar using a cedar soundboard, looked beautiful but acoustically dead, stick with my Maton and Rimarez, although Maton no longer make classicals (more to the point, they don't know how to).
Native timbers are not heavy when you consider how thin they are and should not be a concern but I have found that grain direction enhances or resticts resonance.
The straighter the grain the cleaner the tone, and run top to bottom not across.

Hi

Looks like we've got a few people who're into musical instruments here! Excellent!

I'm having fun with some Tassie blackwood at the moment. So far I've almost made a nice electric mandolin (the Mandowinner) with blackwood body and jarrah neck, as well as a few others (mandos, guitar and octave guitar) from pine or Tassie oak bodies and jarrah, pine or Tassie oak necks. I'd like to make something along the lines of a DC Les Paul with blackwood body and cap of something harder, but my budget doesn't stretch to the cost of maple.

I've even made a couple of mando necks from flooded gum floorboards and Tassie blackwood just to see how they work out, but I haven't assembled the mandos or strung them up yet so we'll have to see what they come up like.

On my necks I just use two very light brushed coats of Cabothane Gelclear and then lightly rub the back of the neck with 0000 steel wool. On the bodies I use about 4 coats of the same, but so far I haven't tried to wet-sand and polish them, just left them brushcoated.

I've tried Tassie oak for fingerboards (not too good) but I usually use jarrah. I really need a tablesaw so I can get more fingerboards and less sawdust reducing them down to 5mm from 20mm! So much wasted wood and so much sawdust!

There have been a few threads on the Musical Instrument Makers Forum (www.mimf.com) on Aussie timbers, but most of the contributors seem to come from Queensland where stuff like bunya pine and Queensland maple can be had readily and cheaply! A piece of bunya (240x45x300) for a mando body here in SA costs over $20, and a piece of Qld maple big enough for a mando neck (60x20x450) is about the same. It'd be nice to find someone in Qld who can source the small quantities I need, I'm only making a handful of mandos at a time at this stage.

I was at the Maton factory last week and for their solidbody electrics they're usually using bunya and kauri for bodies (with or without maple caps depending on the model) and Qld maple for necks. My Mastersound has a bunya body with Qld maple neck, but I've noticed that the finish on the neck is deteriorating... lots of little fine crazing along the grain. I didn't take a lot of notice of what they were using for the acoustic guitars, but it looked like there was a lot of spruce tops and blackwood back and sides sets and Qld maple necks on the racks.

Wayne, you said you're using blackwood for the cap. What's the rest of the body made from?

Let's see if we can keep this thread going and share some ideas of materials and sources. We might even be able to help find the right timbers from the right sources.... maybe even at the right prices!

Hi, so, I've been doing some research on the web, and have come to some conclusions on the timber for my new (probably semi-hollow) guitar. This, of course, will be subject to availability and price, as I have no idea how much all this will cost, and it will probably be way more than what I'm estimating. Please keep in mind I have NO experience with timber or guitar building, so this could be the stupidest combination ever, please give me your feedback!

So...it will be a through neck design, with a cavity on either side of the neck..Sort of based on a Gibson, Les Paul, hollow-body kind of thing I think..

The neck and body will be Queensland Maple, with a banksia laminate on the front and rear of the body. The neck will have a black gidgee strip running the length and the same for a fingerboard. I have NO IDEA if this is ok, or anything, more just based on appearance and what I think would be good for sustain, weight, strength, tone, etc.

These are the main websites I've been looking at, so you can understand what I've looking at...

http://www.indeco.net.au/banksia.htm
http://www.mockmickey.com/timber/purple%20gidgee.htm
http://www.woodworld.com.au/timber_types.htm

If we could keep this thread going, it would be great...Nothing really helpful going on the MIMForum ATM... for what I'm looking at any way...

Look forward to your responses.

Thank you very much!!!!

The timber choice sounds fine, if expensive. The guitar will definitely be a sustain monster! )

My only suggestion would be to make the guitar with a bolt on neck rather than neck thru. One of the trickiest things I've learned is neck angle and how it relates to action and setup. With a bolt on neck you can shim or shave to your heart's content until you get it right. I made a botch of the neck angle on one of my electric mandolins and ended up sanding it back and glueing more wood on so I could start again... with a bolt on neck it's very easy to make changes... with a neck through you're stuck with what you've got. A neck through design allegedly adds sustain, but I honestly think it's more to do with your bridge and pickups than anything else.

Start building... and let us all know how you're getting on!

G'day, all;

I like the idea of carving a guitar body and just bolting the neck and hardware on. This is because I am lazy and impatient, i.e. a rhythm player.

I suppose I could do a search for ready-made necks/headstocks but that darn laziness prevents me from doing so. Any one had any experience with buying from local suppliers?

Please note that I will be using a small slab of air dried red ironbark as a body.

Or maybe a burl. Do RIB's grow burls?

Regards;
Rus.

Hi again

If you just want to use a premade neck these necks actually look good... I've seen them "in the flesh:"
http://www.stairwaytokevin.com.au/dept.asp?deptid=436

This guy has most of the AMS catalog on his website. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't buy from him, but most music/guitar shops would have an account with AMS, and they may be able to get a neck in for you to look at. Just give them the AMS part number and tell them it's an Eagle brand neck. Larger guitar shops would possibly have a few of these necks in stock, or possibly another more expensive brand that comes from Jacaranda, the C.F.Martin agent for Australia.

Of course the other option is go to a secondhand shop (like Cashies) and rat an old beater for all the parts you'll need... just do your own body.

Thanks, Rob;

Those Les Paul Necks look OK and the price seems reasonable...I keep forgetting about the cost of decent hardware, though. I haven't been to cashie's for a long time but with labour being all too cheap these days it would almost be viable to buy a new mid priced axe and cannibalise that.

Anyway, my immediate priorities are a "proper" workbench and probably a router,
but I'll happily indulge my guitar fantasies as long as this thread is active...

Cheers,
Rus.