acid_drop Posted June 27, 2003 Report Posted June 27, 2003 ok i plan to make a lp style body out of mahogony here in a while but first i am going to have every single bit of info out there (this would be my first) and considering im 15.. ok a mahogony body im gona style it after one of gibsons lp's and just wondering how much it will weigh and put it in a cost range... i know this all sounds really stupid but oh well Quote
Brian Posted June 27, 2003 Report Posted June 27, 2003 Welcome to the forum The weight can very from body blank to body blank so that part is going to be hard to figure out. Materials wise you need to get together a shopping list of parts from pickups to pot's and switches, bridge to tuners then see who has what in terms of price. There really isn't a magical number, some may say oh yes you can build it for XXX dollars but thats just ball parking. For the hardware you may want to concider actually buying a cheap LP copy guitar, that way you have everything you need including a template to make your body from. Quote
acid_drop Posted June 27, 2003 Author Report Posted June 27, 2003 acualy i didnt mean with the pickups and such i already know what im doin for the bridge and tail pice... im just not sure on how much mohagony costs cause i kinda doubt that the prices at stewmac Quote
Brian Posted June 27, 2003 Report Posted June 27, 2003 You can find a bunch of people that sell it on the bottom of this page, shop around and also check to see if they are close to your location since shipping does make a difference. Quote
krazyderek Posted June 27, 2003 Report Posted June 27, 2003 definitly shop localy, that way the wood has already adapted to the envirnment, and you also want to go through the pile of wood yourself and select a nice peice, ( no warps, twists, bends, chunk's missing, wrotted, or knots) around here mahogany goes for about 7$ a foot or something... and you need about 4ft (2x7) if your' going to cut it in half and have a 2 peice body.. Quote
acid_drop Posted June 28, 2003 Author Report Posted June 28, 2003 has anyone ever tried African Paduak for a body??? Quote
krazyderek Posted June 28, 2003 Report Posted June 28, 2003 i think that's mainly a neck wood cause of the weight.... Quote
acid_drop Posted June 28, 2003 Author Report Posted June 28, 2003 but what i mean is will it sound ok and HAS it been done, key word here being has and if so, successfully?? Quote
Setch Posted June 28, 2003 Report Posted June 28, 2003 I've used it to build an SG, it sounds great but is incredibly heavy. If you plan on using it for a LP type guitar you will need to chamber it or risk a couple of herniated disks trying to lift it! My SG is almost an 1/8 thinner than a stock SG, and has some chambering in the treble bout, but still clocks in around 9 lbs. Quote
Roli Posted June 28, 2003 Report Posted June 28, 2003 WOW! That looks really sweet, is it an extremely hard wood? 'Cause I expect an awesome sustain then. Some body building trainings, and you can hold it even for an hour... Quote
the third eye Posted June 28, 2003 Report Posted June 28, 2003 that looks brilliant!!!!! is it just me or is the body longer than usual?? Quote
Brian Posted June 28, 2003 Report Posted June 28, 2003 what kind or shade of stain did you use on that? Quote
Setch Posted June 28, 2003 Report Posted June 28, 2003 Thanks guys, this was guitar #1 and has quite a few rough edges on it. Regardless it plays very nicely and sounds great. The body is the same length as usual, but appears longer because I used a SG junior style wraparound bridge - so there is no stop tail to fill up the space behind the bridge. The colour is 100% natural - the only finish I applied to the guitar was colron Danish oil. The colour is a feature of padauk, which turns a very vivid red when it is machined or sanded. The colour has toned down a bit, taking on a browner hue in the , but has retained the lovely ribbon figuring. FYI the padauk is quite troublesome to work - I swore I would never use it again after building this, but it is so pretty that I'm sure I'll break my promise! It is very resistant to planing and other bladed tools, though it can be scraped and sanded easily enough. It is also a mild nasal irritant, so a dust mask is recommended (even more so than usual) when working with it. Quote
krazyderek Posted June 28, 2003 Report Posted June 28, 2003 the body looks a tad longer cause of the 24 frets too, heace you had to push the bridge toward the neck a tad aswell.. and i agree with the above, when working with most exotic hard woods you should really be wearing a respirator mask with replacable filters and an out valve. i think it's bubinga that is actually poisonous Quote
westhemann Posted June 28, 2003 Report Posted June 28, 2003 i believe you are thinking of wenge not bubinga.but any kind of sawdust is an irritant. i always wear a bandana over my nose and mouth and i shower as soon as i am done.last time i worked without a bandana was on my v and the alder and walnut made me sick as a dog for about 3 days. Quote
acid_drop Posted June 28, 2003 Author Report Posted June 28, 2003 well it does look very nice and it isnt all that expensive but yeah its proly a bit(h to work with huh well i can get a lp bridge and tail pice for like 50$ together Quote
Setch Posted June 28, 2003 Report Posted June 28, 2003 The really allergic wood you guys are thinking of is probably cocobolo - I've heard of people breaking out in hives all over because of exposure to the dust. Padauk is not that bad, but it will give you a nasty itchy sensation in you nose, and make you sneezy and sore. As Wes said, any sawdust will irritate your nose, but certain varieties are particularly aggresive, padauk being one. I try not to do any routing or sanding of it without an airfed mask. Derek - the neck and bridge in relation to the body are unchanged - I just made the fingerboard a little longer. Quote
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