!WOOD!! Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 I have a general idea of what makes a proper tonewood.It seems that mahogany is the mainstay for most bodies.My question would be what are other choices that are acceptable.The reason I am asking is that I ocassionally come across wood that I get for free or next to nothing.My first example is a beautiful slab of walnut that almost ended up in the burn pile. I ripped it and planed it and came up with a gorgeous 4 piece blank that has a stunning white strip down the middle(bookmatched).Is this ok to use as a guitar and if so would it matter what type it should be?Second is the use of oak.It seems to me that oak and ash are similar in density and grain.Will oak make a decent guitar? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Walnut would make a very nice body. Oak is much heavier and harder than the ash that is usually used for guitar bodies. Almost any wood can be used, if you are into experimenting, as long as it is seasoned well, and structurally sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiggz Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 talk to metal matt in relation to the oak guitars he seems to know a bit more than most on this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Oak isn't really considered tonewood by most builders, plus like was already mentioned, it weighs a lot compared to other wood. You could chamber the body to reduce weight though, and I'm not saying you can't use it, but to me there are so many other better choices than oak, for tone and weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gripper Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 It's probably just me but I have trouble finishing the endgrain on white oak. Acts a lot like wenge. Red oak splinters easy and tends to "burn" when I use a router and it is a little bland. Water oak is beautiful and fairly light when it is COMPLETELY dried. The smell is AWFUL, however. It looks a lot like poplar. I would not look forward to routing chambers in any oak to make the guitar lighter but, again, that is just me. I think you should use what you got. Colombus took a chance! ROCK ON! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsman1031 Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 I made a neck thru using white oak with mahogany wings for my first guitar. The neck "blank" came from lowes and cost about $6, However I had to search a couple different stores to find one straight enough. It is hard as iron and has alot of pores, I sanded linseed oil in it to fill the pores and it looked great . It is holding together just great after quite a few years it is still straight. I have yet to touch the double action trussrod. I have robbed all the hardware off of it but I can post a picture of it if you want to see it Oak is VERY bright sounding and you will want to use humbuckers. I do not regret using the oak DONT USE POPLAR I tried that one also. Tommy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 i've never used oak for a guitar though i've thought about it. i have, however made several guitars from walnut and love it. it works well, finishes well and is very stable when cured properly. the colors within walnut run from white to light brown to yellow and even pink. great looking stuff. it's a pretty dense wood and tends to run toward the bright side but with proper pickup selection you can make your guitar sound like whatever you want it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsman1031 Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 I di not mention this in my last post, but I would definatly build another guitar out of oak! I have used nothing but mahogany since but would not mind another oak project. I like the way it smells when you machine it also Go for it use the oak Tommy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 What's everyone's beef with poplar by the way? I haven't used it so I'm not countering that beef... but aren't the Parker Fly Deluxes poplar bodied? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsman1031 Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 What's everyone's beef with poplar by the way? I haven't used it so I'm not countering that beef... but aren't the Parker Fly Deluxes poplar bodied? Chris It sounds OK, it is just really soft. The one I built with a poplar body and neck will dent with just a light fingernail push even after a hardened oil finish. It is also really fuzzy and tears easily when you machine it. I may try it on some wings one day because I really like the purple green and yellow colors on it. I will lacquer it next time though. The different colors is not grain, I actually could not define the grain in the wood. Tommy What's everyone's beef with poplar by the way? I haven't used it so I'm not countering that beef... but aren't the Parker Fly Deluxes poplar bodied? Chris It sounds OK, it is just really soft. The one I built with a poplar body and neck will dent with just a light fingernail push even after a hardened oil finish. It is also really fuzzy and tears easily when you machine it. I may try it on some wings one day because I really like the purple green and yellow colors on it. I will lacquer it next time though. The different colors is not grain, I actually could not define the grain in the wood. I put a HB in it and it sounded like it was made out of cardboard. I then put a cheapie single in it and it really livened it up alot. I guess poplar is allright, but not in the neck Give it a try! Tommy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 woodsman, i would really like to see your oak/mahogany guitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!WOOD!! Posted February 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Thanks all!! I sort of figured that walnut would be ok but I wasn,t sure about the oak.I have a bass made of oak about half done will post pics whenit is ready for completion.Hope it sounds good because I have enogh for about 12 guitars.I also would love to see that mahogany / oak guitar.Let,s see some pics!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 woodsman, did you buy the neck blank from lowes and use it immediately, or did you have it dry, or kiln dried, i want to build an oak neck through now (THANKS A LOT! ) and i would like to know how you made yours, thanks (sorry for the hijack) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druss Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 I'm building my first guitar right now it will have cherry wings with a maple neck. The neck is from Carvin (I'm not building the neck this time) a guy I work with gave me a cherry board so thats what I'm using for the wings. I'll let you know how it sound when I'm done, it will be a while though. If anyones had any dealings with cherry I'd like to know what you think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aakoo Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 I'm now building a Les Paul model guitar with flamy birch top. I guess that bich would also work as body material. I think that it has pretty bright tone, a bit like maple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 I'm building my first guitar right now it will have cherry wings with a maple neck. The neck is from Carvin (I'm not building the neck this time) a guy I work with gave me a cherry board so thats what I'm using for the wings. I'll let you know how it sound when I'm done, it will be a while though. If anyones had any dealings with cherry I'd like to know what you think about it. There's an elderly man I heard about who lives about 60 miles south of me who builds guitars by the name of Bob Pill. I went to visit him and talk about guitar building one day. He's actually used cherry to build a neck and top for a guitar, and it sounded great to me. This is the only picture I have of it, it's in the background behind the acoustic he made; which btw is one of the best I've ever played, period. The sad thing is that he has serious vision problems and is slowly going blind, but that didn't stop him from building these guitars. It's really amazing to me, and he even does inlays. Anyway, he said the cherry for the neck took a while before it became stablized, and that he worried that he might have made a mistake using it, but he put it aside and later it had no problems. So, I'd watch using cherry for a neck wood, unless you want to wait, or use carbon fiber rods to help it out. As far as the body goes, I think it will sound good with cherry wood top, it's worth a try... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted February 15, 2006 Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 Ínteresting. Never seen/heard of cherry used as a soundboard before, but it's a relatively common (and pretty!) alternative back/side/neck wood. I'll be building my first cherry back/side/neck guitar in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.