Jupiter Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 Hello! We recently had 3 HUGE elm trees cut down on our property. There's got to be several tons of wood in our yard right now! Anyway, it seems like a waste just to give it all away as firewod. Could elm be used to make guitar bodies? It has a nice colour and pretty grain, too. I've heard that it's a pretty soft wood, but lots of soft woods are used in guitar making { basswood, poplar... }. If it can be used, i'll use it to make several solid or semi-hollow electric bodies. Could it be used for acoustics, too? Please help soon before we give it all away! Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vh-guitarstore.com Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 ive never heard of anyone using elm on a guitar.....if its a soft wood i wouldnt bother with it.....poplar and basswood are considered hard woods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 Leave it for the firewood..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spyderbell Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 I thought elm is a hard wood, like what they use for barns and such, i think it'd be worth a try if nothing else, good pratice or you can cut some off send to me and i'll try -Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 what i would do is, make a body out of it , then swap it with another guitar(temporarily) to see how it compares(swap over the hardware and pickups) it wont cost anything so you may as well try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 Just did a bit of searching on the net , Elm IS a hardwood! so i`d definitely give it a try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 Slice n dice it down to body block size's then stack it in a coner with shim's between each piece and let it air dry. That way you'll have the opertunity to use it later when the moisture is gone and you won't freak out by building a body only to see the wood split or warp from curing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spyderbell Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 How long should you let wood dry? this has got me in the mood to go find some junk woods of all kinds and waste my time seeing how well they work for guitars! I think it'd be cool to make a guitar out of a tree that i cut down (or used wood from at least). Thanks, Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 yeah , im scouring our land trying to find some ash to make bodies out of. that reminds me, ive just scored enough beautiful dark mahogany to make two full guitars ...... i`ll have an sg please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 The old lumber yard rule of thumb is 1 year for every 1" thick but with todays modern air conditioning systems (at least here in Florida) you can cut that about in half since a typical air conditioner really pull's the moisture from the air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted April 23, 2003 Report Share Posted April 23, 2003 i may be wrong but i thought elm was an unstable wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremywills Posted April 25, 2003 Report Share Posted April 25, 2003 OLP guitars use Elm in thier Natural finished Instruments and Basswood for thier Painted ones. Just a FYI, now I dont know if thier instruments are worth a crap or not, but I just noticed it the other day and thought Id share that Elm is used in some instruments. Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool Posted April 25, 2003 Report Share Posted April 25, 2003 hey guys , im new to this site I really dig it! its very helpful! as for the Elm i would cut it to lengths for a body and you have to take wax and melt it over the "end grain" of the blanks , this will keep the blanks from "checking" (cracking along the grain length wise). up here in PA most of the luthiers ive talked to let the wood aclimate for up to five years! in the same temp and humidity if possible. but i know i am to impatient to wait that long so i would at least give it a good year of drying. good luck with your project. rye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted April 25, 2003 Report Share Posted April 25, 2003 what a refreshing name."rye is not cool"I LIKE IT.less arrogent than "wes the man"(by the way i'm not arrogant i'm just too lazy too come up with something cooler) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremywills Posted April 26, 2003 Report Share Posted April 26, 2003 wes the man, i just got it, and you been haunting these forums how long now, i been thinkin its pronounced more like WEST HAM IN at least thats what I was thinking, ok nevermind, good luck with your ELM project, 5 years is a long time to have to wait grrrrrrrrrrr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted April 26, 2003 Report Share Posted April 26, 2003 west ham in?I LIKE IT!(ham is good) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_ed Posted April 26, 2003 Report Share Posted April 26, 2003 Waiting sucks, but I would think that not waiting long enough might suck more. Because if the wood is not dry, it will eventually crack & split & do other nasty things you don't want. To paraphrase: Patience grasshopper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Posted April 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2003 Thanks for the info and well-wishes, guys! I'll set some of the wood aside to dry.... in the meantime.... i have some very nice pieces of walnut that need to be made into something useful !!! Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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