Oak And Cedar

[BJPUC]

i recently got a stump of Oak and two of cedar, now the cedar prolly wont be used for a guitar, but the oak is beutiful. it is about a foot and a half in diameter and 2 feet tall....good looking figure,,,, how would you cut it? into flat blanks? tall boards...i just dont want to waste the wood...if i cant make a guitar, maybe i can start a display cabinet with the wood to show off my other guitars etc... any opinions would be awesome! thanx again doc for the pickup info..

[orgmorg]

What kind of cedar?

As for the oak, I would split it into whatever size would fit in my stove.

[Curtis P]

apparently oak is a tone wood, but i wouldnt use it, it also makes one helluva nice fire log, or furniture!!!!

Use the cedar for a top or something, the oak for a fancy guitar stand, or a real nice peice of fire wood

Curtis

Edited February 26, 2005 by Curtis P

[eddiewarlock]

Hmmm, Curtis, no disrespect meant to you by this...but who said Oak isn't a tone wood? if basswood is a tonewood, then even agathis is a tone wood, anyways, Neal Moser has used oak for necks and bodies, so it might not be a common wood for guitar making, but sure it can be used, same as cherry and walnut

[bassman]

Sure it can be used... but I never would use it- I have found oak to be too susceptable to warping with temp/humidity changes. I would not invest any time in an oak instrument, unless my oak furniture and floors suddenly stop massively shrinking, warping and swelling every season.

Edited February 26, 2005 by bassman

[Curtis P]

Hey Eddie!!

I am pretty sure i read on here it wasnt a tone wood, i am going to run a search and keep yea posted on here

no disrespect at all man, i am still a beginner,

Curtis

Edit, apparently it is a tonewood, my appoligies

Edited February 26, 2005 by Curtis P

[bluespresence]

Cedar.....use it for a nice acoustic top or two. Has a beautiful look and a nice sound to my ears on acoustic guitars. I've never heard it on a solid body but I have seen a few pics of them on the web.

Oak....build a table, floor or use it in the fireplace.

[fryovanni]

Man!... Firewood you guys are vicious. Oak isn't usually a common choice, but you said nice figure. Nothing wrong with it as a top. You will have time to think about it as it dries. If Neal has used it with success, who am I to question Neal Moser.

As for the cedar, soundboard material has pretty stiff (no pun intended) requirements. A high number of growth rings per inch (tree would have to have been fairly old). The grain should be as straight as possible. The wood need to be as close to perfectly quarter sawn as possible. Preferable to not have defects, such as knots. Width of material will need to be a min. of 7.5"-8.5" (classical/Jumbo). It must be well dried and stable. If that sounds like the Cedar you have give it a try. You will actually know how good it is after you have it cut and sanded to thickness and give it the tap test. Cedar should be a fairly warm sounding board.

Have fun with it, Rich

[jnewman]

Oak's been used before... the guitar Brian May did nearly every performance and recording he ever did on (that he made himself in the sixties) was a mahogany neck, oak fretboard, oak core semi-hollowbody covered in mahogany veneer.

He seems to like the sound he got with it, as it's the only guitar he ever really used, and millios of his fans agree with him.

[bassman]

double post

Edited February 26, 2005 by bassman

[bassman]

The last place I would use if I had would be the neck, fretboard is one thing but the neck no way. I am not suggesting it wouldn't sound good, my experience has just lead me to believe that it shouldn't be used. Now a good prefectyl quartersawn piece may look nice as a top- with the rays showing- but there are certainly some better looking woods out there.

[orgmorg]

Sorry, my years in cabinet shops in the south have got me sick to death of oak. With the exception of quartersawn white oak, in certain applications, I think the stuff is just plain ugly, and a pain to work with.

Again, I ask: What kind of cedar? Western red is a completely different tree than eastern red. And then there are the white cedars, also different. Where are you located?

[BJPUC]

Im located between Cincy Ohio, and Louisville KY. ITs red cedar........at least it smells good.

[orgmorg]

Ah, yes. Eastern red cedar. I cut a lot of it, mostly for panelling, decks, and other woodworking projects. I just started a guitar body (solid) with it, to see how it does. I have also cut some mandolin and dulcimer tops, but who knows when I will ever get around to those. Eastern red and Western red are not related, at least not closely. In fact, neither are actually "true" cedars. The eastern is actually a Juniper, botanically, and the western is a cypress. Eastern red cedar is fairly weak and brittle, I don't know if it would make a good acoustic top for anything bigger than a mando, without a lot of bracing. I'm certainly no expert on this, though.

[BJPUC]

i guess that it would be eastern, since i got it off a farm close to my house

[BJPUC]

well i cut the cedar and it looks like its gonna work for a at least a top. I hope anyway. three cheers for trying anyway! and the oak i think might be made into some cutting blocks for my kitchen and so forth I think i might be getting some catalpa (poplar?) any ideas for that?

[orgmorg]

I've never used catalpa before. All I know is that it is very light, same weight as basswood. But coarse grained. Durable in ground contact as well, but I guess that's not something you need in a guitar.

[BJPUC]

well free always gives me the desire to try any wood.

[Curtis P]

i think drak used poplar a few times, run a search on poplar and see what you get

Curtis

[BJPUC]

thanx....the search gave me many post.