hoffmann530 Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 does anyone have any ideas for a type of wood to use for the body of my guitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJPUC Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 depends on what kind of look and sound and feel your going for...I like all types, but i play a variety of styles of music....are you going to paint it, stain it etc>? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoffmann530 Posted January 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 (edited) I want a really warm vintage sound, really deep sound with great tone Edited January 31, 2005 by hoffmann530 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Some people will disagree, but I think that the deepness of your tone will ultimately have more to do with your pickups than the wood. That said, for "vintage", "deep", or "mellow", you really can't beat good old mahogany. Some people like Korina (also known as White Limba) as a slightly snappier and more porous substitute. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoffmann530 Posted January 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 thanks alot. do you have any sugestions for pickups. I'm going with a strat style with three single coil pickups lace sensors maybe but I really don't have the knowledge to make an intelligent choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Hmm... Strat style... I might have to reconsider the wood recommendation, then. Haven't heard of too many people making mahogany strats... I'm sure it's been done, but I wonder if there's a bit of a mismatch in 'intended tone' and that type of wood. I foolishly visualized a Les Paul style guitar without actually asking you first, which is my mistake. As for pickups, I have no good recommendations for single coil-- and in fact, I haven't had enough experience with other pickups to recommend much either, beyond what I've heard other people saying. Good luck, hope someone comes up with a better recommendation than me. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJPUC Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 i personally would suggest a maple or mahogany. And for pickups,....wilkenson bridge tele in the middle pos. and S. Duncans or Dimarzio in the bridge and neck pos. just my two cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasteven Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 i personally would suggest a maple or mahogany. And for pickups,....wilkenson bridge tele in the middle pos. and S. Duncans or Dimarzio in the bridge and neck pos. just my two cents ← Maple gives you anything but a warm, vintage sounding guitar. Mahogany would be a good choice to get that sound your looking for, but as GregP said, I havent seen many Mahogany strats around. But don't let that limit your choices, build a mahogany strat and let us know how it turns out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoffmann530 Posted January 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 I was thinking maybe alder or ash any feedback would be great. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Alder and ash are more typical strat materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Alder or ash with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro single coils or Classic Stacks will give you a warm sound with a little Strat bite in there. Read some of the tutorials on the main page and check out the pickup manufacturer's websites. You'll get a lot more info that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 (edited) What about Walnut???? Or Korina, or bubinga.......or all maple...or....or... And yep Fender tends to use Alder and Swamp Ash alot......but why would you??? Aren't you building you're OWN guitar.........Don't you want to be bit more creative than big company...constrained by budgets, materials costs....efficiencies......wood availability......easy of CNC operation...etc. If you build your own.....I say do something special. http://www.wellsguitars.com/Gallery/Couple..._Electrics.html http://www.wellsguitars.com/Gallery/Mahoga...gany_Strat.html http://www.wellsguitars.com/Gallery/Maple_...aple_Strat.html http://www.stratcollector.com/newsdesk/archives/000273.html (2/3 down the page) http://www.vintageandrareguitars.com/index...product_id=1837 If you want Alder strat.....go buy one.......there are tons available......do nice refinish, add some pups and you're in business.... If you want truely custom.........do something special, please............... And I hate to admit it.......but you CAN improve a Strat design...... http://www.edromanguitars.com/archive/betterstrat.htm I have seen awesome Walnut, and Limba strats..........Read up on tonewood and make your pick. I think the possibilities will blow you away...... Don't build the next boring Alder strat copy. Edited January 31, 2005 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 What about Walnut???? Or bubinga.......or ....or.... Because Walnut and Bubinga don't sound very vintage and are heavy as hell... Just kidding, RGGR. The guy sounded like he was thinking more about Alder or Ash, so that's why I responded in kind. If I were doing it, I'd pick up a nice grainy piece of swamp ash, bleach it out, fill the grain with blue tinted filler, clear Nitro and throw a nice set of used Bardens in there. But hey, that guitar would cost $400 for the pickups alone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 I just wanted to open his eyes a bit........ I would die for a Koa strat with nice AANJ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meegs666 Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 that is one sweet guitar. i think ash makes for great strat bodies, its nice and twangy with some bite. but the pickups are where you need to be putting the attention to shape the sound after you get the solidity of the basis that the wood provides. it is possible to get a strat to sound mellow with the right pickups. crafty had a good idea with the alnico II pro's. those are gonna give you a nice warm, mellowed down sound for a strat style setup and an ash body. but do as much research as you can before making any big decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 It's the ED ROMAN KOACASTER!! RGGR -1 points for posting ER's handiwork Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 It's the ED ROMAN KOACASTER!! RGGR -1 points for posting ER's handiwork The general opinion seems to be to bash dear old Ed...........but I really don't care about that. I just think it's a gorgeous guitar. And anybody building Mahogany, Walnut, Limba, Koa....Strat is instant hero for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassman Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 the glue underneath a veneer is absolutely the biggest tone killer ever,ha?! What about the glue holding the two piece bodies together, and the dye in the wood, and the finish on the wood, and the dyes in the finish, and the subatomic particles left on top of the finish by the polishing compounds. If you want to hear the opposite end of things, then check out www.ctbasses.com .... carl himself ridicules the many myths of guitar building in a very odd way,just check out the interview. I am glad I ran across his interview, because that is the way that O often feel about everyones unfounded claims about tone, and what really matters in affecting it. Oh yeah blue tinted instruments sound better than red ones because of the differentiating manner in which they reflect/absorb light waves- thus matter and energy. Not to bash anyone but there are just way to many unscientific, hairsplitting views on topics of tone. Build it tight and good with decent wood, and good pickups, the rest is just icing on the cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoffmann530 Posted February 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 I talked to a guitar tech and he suggested alder or basswood for the body with a seymour duncan JB on the bridge with a fender noisless for the middle and neck pickups. any ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 It'll sound warm, for sure, but not anything like a vintage Strat even if you put a split on the JB. A basswood body and a JB is more of a recipe for a shredding machine than a vintage-style tone machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 Fender already makes a Honduras Mahogany guitar, the Strat-O-Sonic maybe something you want to model your guitar after or just buy.. lol One thing to consider is the weight issue with using heavier woods, I personally would route out tone chamber in them to lighten them up some as Fender did. That's part of the reason I like Swamp Ash, it's ultra light wood, has great tone balance, plus has some great grain pattern to show off. Alder also has some good grain pattern. Fender mostly uses Alder on transparent finishes because it's cheaper and is a great tonewood also. For solid colors where you won't see the grain pattern they mostly use Poplar, and sometime Alder. Basswood would be a great alternative also like someone suggested for a solid color. The great thing is that you can build it just like you want it with whatever wood, pickups, radius, fretwire, etc. you want. So have fun. Also as far as best pickups I've tried so far. I'm real partial to the Texas Special Pickups. They sound really great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meegs666 Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 the glue underneath a veneer is absolutely the biggest tone killer ever,ha?! What about the glue holding the two piece bodies together, and the dye in the wood, and the finish on the wood, and the dyes in the finish, and the subatomic particles left on top of the finish by the polishing compounds. If you want to hear the opposite end of things, then check out www.ctbasses.com .... carl himself ridicules the many myths of guitar building in a very odd way,just check out the interview. I am glad I ran across his interview, because that is the way that O often feel about everyones unfounded claims about tone, and what really matters in affecting it. Oh yeah blue tinted instruments sound better than red ones because of the differentiating manner in which they reflect/absorb light waves- thus matter and energy. Not to bash anyone but there are just way to many unscientific, hairsplitting views on topics of tone. Build it tight and good with decent wood, and good pickups, the rest is just icing on the cake. ← i think i missed something. no one gave any of the stupid falsified opinions that ive seen on here, especially about glue and finishes. i think where it was going was that he needed to get good wood and good pickups. im hoping that was mostly sarcasm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 2, 2005 Report Share Posted February 2, 2005 No, it's just the Ed Roman bashing. Just about everything mentioned in that quote has been said by ER at one time or another. Although, I never heard the one about blue vs. red instruments... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreigner Posted February 8, 2005 Report Share Posted February 8, 2005 Well, if this is your first guitar, then i *suggest* that you use something fairly cheap and easy to work with. Alder, Ash, Mahogony, heck, Agathis if you want to; the point is that the sky is the limit. It doesn't have to be traditional to be a great guitar. As far as pickups go (and i know that people are going to ridicule me for this) I really would suggest Mighty Mite single coils. You could go and pay $50-75 per name brand coil, and get a great sounding guitar. Or, you could go to Mighty Mite and pay $25 per coil, and get a great sounding guitar. I'll put it this way: my brother has a crappy old Squire strat. It was like $120, and sounded terribble. $75 later, his guitar sounded like a $700+ strat. I know they're not brand name, and some people turn their noses up at Mighty Mite, but these pu's are really great. If you do go that route, just make sure you get the Alnico's, and not the Ferrite ceramics. It's probably just personal preference, but I think they sound a lot better, and you'll get a much more fat vintage tone with Alnico. Thats my $.02. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 8, 2005 Report Share Posted February 8, 2005 I think Alder or Ash would be good choices. The price is good and it is fairly easy to find good quality pieces. Mahogany is a bit more expensive but still pretty easy to find. Basswood very easy to find and cheap, but dings up a little too easy for my taste. All are pretty nice to work with. Alder is a nice neutral wood I.M.O., well balanced and predictable. As for pickups. My #1 choice is Rio Grande for my Strat. It is really hard to say which pickup is best for anyone unless you conscider the rig they want to play through. Maybe I will get hammered for saying this, but in my experience getting the pickup that fits well with the amp and speakers makes a much bigger difference than different wood combinations (assuming the guitar is in good working order). How about a little info on speakers/cab and amp you wanna play through. Whatever wood you choose really try to get a good tight neck pocket. The finest pieces of the most expensive wood in the world cannot compensate for a bad neck/body joint. Best of luck to ya!!!! Hope to see those progress pics A.S.A.P. Fryguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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