Rosewood Tele

[PaulNeeds]

I see this instrument is for sale again:

I loved this rosewood custom from the first time saw it on the film "Let It Be".

I also really think I would like to have a similarly finished instrument myself, but I don't think I can *quite* stretch to a Customshop jobbie from Fender.

So. Is rosewood available as a veneer in sizes sufficient to do a top and reface the headstock for a tele? Any UK suppliers known of - or maybe even continental Europe.

Anyone ever done a rosewood top?

[Brian]

Cookwoods will ship to the UK, don't know about veneer but they probably have or can get a piece to make the body for you if your interested in going solid. Even at that I bet they can come up with a nice thick slab for a extreme top since they have figured Caribbean rosewood for sale. Really nice people too......

You might also want to ask the Lumber Lady, she's Project Guitar friendly

[Drak]

My Rhoads Shark is Rosewood capped top and back and sides, about 3/16" thick 'panels'.

Coco-Bolo is South American Rosewood.

Then there's Indian Rosewood (the 'plainest', and generally the least expensive)

Brazilian Rosewood (the most coveted)

Bolivian Rosewood

etc., etc...

That Tele looks just like Indian Rosewood. I have slabs of Indian Rosewood and Coco-Bolo here, Indian is usually very straight-grained like that Tele is. The slabs I have here look pretty much just like it, as does most Indian Rosewood lumber.

I've also done a Tele and 2 Icemen in Coco-Bolo, which is I think the most attractive of the Rosewoods next to some sweet Brazilian...but Brazilian is almost unnatainable these days.

Rosewood is as heavy and dense and oily as Ebony, I personally would never want to strap on a solid Rosewood guitar, it would be worse than a solid Maple guitar tonewise and weightwise (IMO anyway)

I would think it would come in around 12-14 lbs.

Rosewood Shark

[PaulNeeds]

Cheers Brian - I'll have a look at those and see if they've anything I can use.

Thanks Drak. I remember being stunned by the figuring on the shark when you posted details of it here. What was the wood like to work with? I'm not experienced, and while it may be a hell of a project to start with, it appeals to me. If I don't rush it, I think it should turn out ok.

The caps you mention are what I first thought of - especially as I would consider an f-hole/tele thinline sort of top. The rest of the body - I've a poplar body tele here which has a very pleasing sound, so I might go with that, or maybe consider mahogany as an alternative.

I guess from your comment about all maple body that the rosewood is fairly bright tonally? If so, the mahogany may be a better choice.

[Ford]

Drak,

How did you finish that guitar? It looks wonderfull, especially with the gold hardware. Did you stain it at all, or is that just the wood itself?

[Drak]

Ford, it's just the wood, no enhancements at all.

Finish is 3-4 coats of catalyzed lacquer followed up with (probably) 8 or so coats of regular lacquer. Catalyzed lac can be deadly, so protect yourself to the 9's.

Paul: C-B presents no problems to me, but a lot of people are sensitive to it.

Hey, that guitar took me 7 years to complete, mostly because it took me that long to find a finish formulation that worked on all counts.

There are several things to consider when using any oily wood. Rosewood, Ebony, Teak, Paduak, etc...

Generally, it's very heavy.

Not all glues stick to it well.

Not all finishes stick to it well.

The sanding dust can be an -extreme- (like, put-you-in-the-hospital) irritant to the chosen few who are allergic to it.

If you use a finish where the new coats melt into the old ones (lacquer) the oils from the wood will creep up into your finish coats and darken the overall appearance considerably.

I started that guitar really not too awfully long after I first started building also, so I know just how you feel. What the hell, go for it.

The shark is also Poplar-based, and it ROCKS!!!!

About tone, this is very shakey ground, since I think everyone has their own idea about what is good and bad tone, but solid C-B I think would be overly bright to the point of -dead- tonally, and unrealistically heavy. Again, that's just my opinion, worthless as it is.

PS, Binding flat-out ROCKS with Rosewoods, it looks tremendous, be sure to do some 5 or 7-layer w-b-w-b-w binding with your C-B project.

All said, between the catalyzed lacquer and the rosewood itself, this isn't exactly a walk-in-the-park project, but you know, I didn't know any of this stuff when I bought my first piece, and I saw my way thru it all not knowing squat about what I was getting into...

[Setch]

Paul,

Craft-Supplies sell 3/8ths thick bookmatched tops, and have 2 flavours of rosewood to choose from, Santos and EI if I remember correctly. Both were the right side of £25, so definately worth considering. They also sell headstock veneers, though they are of pretty variable quality compared to Stew Macs EI rosewood veneers.

Now that I think of it, a tele body off cut would easily yield enough material to cut your own head veneeer... Food for thought.

[PaulNeeds]

Is 3/8" thick enough for a f-hole, with a chamber beneath?

I would love a bound edge, but doubt very much that I'd be capable of doing binding as well.

An idea that occurs though, is to rout out a recess of the white main body, leave the edge proud - like binding - then fitting the rosewood into the recess.

Another notion that occurs is that I have a Fender tele body here, that I could plane down the 3/8ths and fit the rosewood top to. Also have the scruffy Fender neck that could be brought to life, but it's all maple. I could, theoretically, not have a scratchplate either.

Hmm, as you say Setch, food for thought indeed!