Thread: Aussie timber for electric guitars

Glad you left the R out! :eek:

1).
Guitarmaking Tradition and Technology by William R Cumpiano and Jonathan D Natelson $75-95
ISBN 0-8118-0640-5 for nthe paperback. There is a hard cover available as well.

This is the bible of guitar making, running text on both Steel-string Folk Guitar & the Classical Guitar simultaneously.


2).
Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock $62-95

Has been the standard reference work for aspiring guitarmakers since 1986........


3 Make Your Own Electric Guitar & Base by Dennis Waring $33-90

Well detailed instructions for building a standard 6 string, solid body model guitar & base. Common tools & materials listed.


I have taken the details and prices from the Carba-tec catalog. They list a few more guitar books.

I have both number 1 and 3. Number one is extremely detailed step by step work of art. Number 3 is less detailed maybe because it really deals with solid body electrics only.

They are well worth their dollars in my opinion.

Useful info on Luthier Mercantile (LMI) and Stewmac sites. Also checkout Guild of American Luthiers website and publications.

Books....Campianos book excellent and reccomended. I have alot of other books in my workshop but cant provide details as Im stuck out in the Timor Sea at present working on an oil rig. Authors that come to mind are Jim Williams and Sloan. Will provide you with a more comprehensive listing when I get home to Adelaide in 2 weeks.

Youve got a bit of experience building solid bodies if I recall correctly. Its a bit of a jump to acoustics so be prepared for a few challenges (eg working with an acrhed top). If it was me Id build myself a conventional steel string acoustic first before going for the Gretsh style instrument.

Keep the forum posted on progress with your guitar building.

Cheers Martin

Thanks for your replies. What my question is really about is moving from the traditional timbers used in Europe and North America into using native Australian species. Hopefully someone reading this forum has done a guitar project or two in Aussie timbers and would be happy to share their experiences.

Sounds like a hollowbody so u r limited to pretty responant timbers....
if u really wanna do it is aussie woods u have 2 main choices..

the tried and tested timber or a bit of experimentation....

tried and tested..

Qld maple ( top back sides or neck)
Blackwood ( back sides neck)
Bunya (top)
mountain ash ( top, back or sides)
king billy pine for the top.
mulga, gidee, beefwood, budgeroo, cassurina for bridge and fingerboards...

experiemtal..

tassie myrtle
sassa fras...
blackwood for top...
laminate Qld maple...sheeets...
use more bunya...

major makers like Maton or Coleclark, or others like Scott Wise or Peter coomes have a lot of info on their websites.....many makers have used alot of aussie woods... Scott is probably one of the most experienced...using jarrah, wandoo, river banksia and bunya tops....

http://www.scottwise.net/

it all depends on whether u r already a good maker or just learning, if learning then it may be wise to try out some cheaper woods to get yr technique up..

all in all u cant relaly go wrong with good quality Qld maple and tassie blackwood...

have fun...

I spoke to a student from The Dwellingup school of wood a few weeks ago and he was telling me about a dreadnaught that he made out of W.A.Sheoak at 1.5 to 3 mm thick depending on where in the body. He claims the sound was very good.

I made my harp fro sheoak as well although I used birch for the soundboard.

I have read a bit about guitars, thats why I could post about the books, but my knowledge is pretty much non existent, so will leave it to you and other members.

Goof luck!

mmm....i bit the bullet yesterday and headed down to bunnings to look at tools and ooops a router and jigsaw fell into the back of the car. You might have guessed that I am a complete neophtye. My experience to date is closely watching a guy do a major refurb on my old tele, painted one tele body [still not complete] and done a neck and fret dress job on an old P bass copy.

Next is to make up a template and decide what wood to start with. I am still going to source the necks outside, i don't feel confident to tackle that bit just yet.

I might just go with some local dressed hardwood [tassie oak] and maybe a maple ply top before i go chomping into any boutique timbers. The neck is a bolt on so i wont waste it if the body sounds crap.
whooo hooo!!

Picker,

Ply is never going to give as good a sound as solid wood on an acoustic...if youre worried about goofing up on your first effort a solid top then go for lower grade wood before working with AAA wood. Scott Wise has spruce top wood in a variety of grades and at a reasonable price. Gilet Guitars also has lower grade wood he classes as "student" grade.

One thing to keep in mind if youre worried about goofing up a top......most of the working is carried out on the underside of the top. If you put in a nick or glue a brace in the wrong place its repairable....cyano glue and a cabinet scraper work wonders on nicks and if a brace goes on wrong you just go in with a chisel and whip it right off...easy.

Re tools...Campianos book has a good listing of tools youll need.

I cant rave enough about the usefulness of a cabinet scraper. get yourself a couple (curved and flat) of good quality scrapers and learn how to burnish them up properly. Chisels....you can get away with a basic set of Marple bench chisels but if youve got the loot shell out on a couple of good quality paring chisels. Planes......get a smoothing plane and a block plane as well. A couple of good Japanese water stones are basic equipment....less chance of gouging out a top if youre chisels are sharp.

Most important of all....dont expect to match the efforts of Torres and other Spanish masters on your first effort. I can guarantee youll make goofs but you rarely make the same goof again. My first instrument looks perfect but look inside or look at the photos taken during construction and youll find boo boos every where.....a very experienced Canadian luthier once told me that lutheiry was the art of covering up your mistakes.

Cheers Martin