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Purpleheart Bodywood?


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Does anyone have a guitar with a purpleheart body? I know Metal Matt you do, if you have one done, what does the purpleheart project in tone? I know it's pretty hard, so is it really bright? Would it be too much with a quilted maple top and maple neck? My local stores have it cheap so I looked at it and it sounds like it wouldn't be a bad idea at all. And the guy told me it finishes well and ages good. Just need some opinions. Thanks for your time! Jason

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Actually, Im wondering the same thing. I jumped at the purpleheart because of the look, and I didnt consider tone or weight untill after I started doing some reasearch. If you are going to band saw the body, use a thin blade with a higher teeth per inch count, or cutting the body will be a nightmare. (still have all 10 fingers...,.whew).

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ahh the wonders of purple heart, i love the stuff, it looks good and is heavy as all hell, im currently working on 2 guitars with 1 1/2 thick purple heart bodies. one is a flying V with a purple heart neck and rosewood board, the other is flamed rock maple and purple heart laminate neck purple heart body wings and i havent decided on a fboard yet. the board i got for the second one, gonna be a neck thru soloist, weighed prolly 50 -60 lbs, dimns were 3' long by 8 inchs wide by 8/4, the thing was a tank and a half. tone wise purple heart is bright its hard

MzI

PS ill have some more pics up in my thread in the progress section so you can see what im doing

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Hey man I have done a few like that and I was realy happy with the sound

I LOVE PURPLEHEART Im no good at describing Tone But I would say it is an extremly thick bright but heavy botom end sound :D

Sorry I told You I suck at describing Tone B)

!!METAL MATT!! :D

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Hey no worries that sounded like a good desciption to me. I like to have that solid brightness, but I also want that strong defined bottom end.METAL. It sounds like purpleheart is the way to go for me. I will be adding a quilted maple top, so that will even all the hardwood that I'll be using. I know maple ain't soft, but western maple is definatly softer or less dense at least. I also saw a wood named Jatoba at the store, I'm interested in what it could be used for, tops, necks, bodies, fingerboards, ect.

Thanks for your input Matt. Keep us informed on your projects! Jason

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Hey man by the sound Of thing's Jatoba should work Great for All of that stuff-

tops, necks, bodies, fingerboards

Hear's a Link

http://www.hardwoodbarn.com/Hardwoods/jatoba.htm

!!METAL MATT!! :D

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Thanks for the link. It sounds like it will work great. Maybe depending on price I will look into using it as my body with the quilted maple top. Either purpleheart or jatoba. I don't the price of b/ft but I will find out today. The jastobe looks super nice, looked like finished stained wood and it wasn't even sanded down smooth! Thanks for checking that out! I've been seeing a lot of guitars at different site that have been using cocobolo as tops and fingerboards, man that stuff looks sweet! It would go well with as a fretboard for a maple neck! Hows the progress coming Matt? What are you doing as a finish, a clear finish or solid color. The clear finish tinted would look good to bring out the flamed purpleheart. Jason

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I LOVE PURPLEHEART

I got it! I bought a 20x14 6/4 piece solid purpleheart. Damn it's heavy, I'm sure after cutting it down and routing it will be perfect. I'm thinking that Matt had a great desciption, it has to be a thick sound being that it so dense, and a bright sound because it's super hard. I can't wait to get started. Is a bandsaw my best bet for cutting the general profile? I think I need to get one, so where would the best place for one Ebay? Also is it necessary to have an angled headstock? My factory ibanez doesn't. It has a recessed headstock. Would that be stable enough with a maple neck and cocobolo fretboard with truss rod and skunk stripe? My friend has my camera, so when I get it back I'll show you the fat piece of purpleheart I got. It was $6.54 B/FT. About the same as alder and soft maple(not figured). Thanks for the info guys! Jason

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  • 16 years later...
On 6/1/2005 at 6:20 PM, jmrentis said:

Does anyone have a guitar with a purpleheart body? I know Metal Matt you do, if you have one done, what does the purpleheart project in tone? I know it's pretty hard, so is it really bright? Would it be too much with a quilted maple top and maple neck? My local stores have it cheap so I looked at it and it sounds like it wouldn't be a bad idea at all. And the guy told me it finishes well and ages good. Just need some opinions. Thanks for your time! Jason

Hi Jason, I own a 2016ish €pi Nighthawk Custom built of Purpleheart. Maple top, rosewood board. It's a fantastic guitar! It is BRIGHT! Very versatile, I use it mostly for Cleans with minimal effects. But it's ULTRA DYNAMIC,  so makes a pretty great Jazz instrument.  Its a special guitar, and I love it! I'm going to try to tack on a few pics, and I'd be happy to try to answer any questions u might have, the best I'm able to anyway. Hope that helps...

John McLaughlin 

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