MurphC Posted August 15, 2004 Report Share Posted August 15, 2004 I went to an auction today and there was a pallet of beautiful Redwood Burl. This other fellow and I were bidding pretty heavy on it until I hit my price limit, haha. So I went up to him after the auction and bought a nice piece of it that's about 5x2', 2" deep for 30 bucks! He also gave me a piece of mahogany about right for a neck. There is a small split at the top but I am not sure if It will matter unless it grows. In addition to that, I bought a pallet of pine with some small thin pieces as well as thin pieces of redwood which would make a great veneer for a peghead or an inlay. Fifteen bucks. I want to build a hollowbody/jazz style guitar out of it, I wonder if this would work: Bandsaw piece from redwood blank Hollow out the thick piece left over Use the bandsawed piece for a top I know that it's not the traditional method but this wood is too beautiful to put a different top on. Maybe I should just make it a solid body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 15, 2004 Report Share Posted August 15, 2004 How long has it dried? A lot of Redwood I see sold is still wet and unusable until it dries out thoroughly (sometimes years). If you build with it and it's not properly dried, it'll crack and warp on you down the road. Is it quartersawn? If it's not quartersawn, you're not going to get any kind of carved hollow top out of it. Nice score, but maybe unusable for what you had in mind is all. PS, Redwood is too soft to use for the corewood of a solidbody, it'll sound like poop. Leave it out properly stored for a few weeks and check it continually for any signs of it warping or bowing. If it does, it's probably not dry yet. Maybe it is, bt I see a LOT of still-wet Redwood being sold. Sidenote: Wood Turners like their wood wet, so it's not like sellers are trying to rip someone off, other people use wood besides guitar-builders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asm Posted August 15, 2004 Report Share Posted August 15, 2004 also keep in mind if this if your first guitar. maybe a hollowbody isnt the best starter. as a matter of fact its the hardest thing to build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MurphC Posted August 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 Yeah, it is going to be sitting for a while so I plan on weighing it periodically. It will probably be my second guitar, right now I'm still working on my tele. It appears to be quartersawn, the wood is a little hard to see in the room it is in and there is some dirt on it. It needs some preperation. I am not concerned that a hollowbody is difficult. In any case it will give me some good experience for the next guitar. I will probably begin working on this guitar in September if the wood is dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 Is it Curly Redwood or Burled Redwood? Curly is easy to tell if it's quartersawn, burled wood is, well, burled. Sometimes there is no real 'grain' running thru it at all, being burl wood, the grain goes everywhere sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MurphC Posted August 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 It is burled, but the ends look quartersawn. will it work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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