Freestyler Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 Hi, again. Firstly, sorry for starting another thread so soon. Secondly, I am in the next few days going to go in search of some mahogany to build my custom guitar from. What should I be looking out for in terms of what makes good tonewood (apart from it having no knots in it). Does it matter where the wood grew? Will glueing two pieces together make any difference? (For example, my grandad who is a carpenter has some mahogany in his garage he said I can have. It has no knots or anything but its abut 15mm to thin - would there be any problems glueing two pieces together to make the correct thickness. The pieces would be professionaly joined and according to him they 'will act as 1 piece of wood' but this will still affect the tone surley? THis wood is also currently in the shape of cabinet doors - any issues?) Do I need to try and buy wood from a certain country? I hear alot about Brazillian and American woods being used for guitars. Oh and one more thing, apparently you can no longer get new Mahogany in England (it is illegal to cut it down now), but he can get an offcut/used piece the size I need for under £10, this seems far too cheap compared to guitar woods on wesbites - whats so epcial about them !? Thanks, Freestyler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 the difference in what you see on the web for guitars is that the wood has been properly dried and stabilized and cut into the proper sizes for most guitars.glueing pieces together for thickness does affect the tone but not in a negative way imo it is just different.it will still sound good. i get all my wood from a local hardwood specialty store.it is cheaper that way and i can hand pick what i want.i sometimes prefer wood with defects in it because i feel it gives the guitar more character.spalted maple for example.and my local provider also has spalted pecan which looks really cool. brazilian mahogany is purported to be denser than others.i like alder.it is cheaper and easier to finish.but that is just my opinion.i like the sound of alder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 Don't worry about posting so much, we like to help that's why the forum is here dude! The peices of mahogany ur grandfather has sounds perfect (assuming it's a one peice door, not a 4 or 5 peices glued together), then just glue a top on the guitar, just like gibsons do, they glue a one peice figured maple top on they're guitars to get the full thickness. Just check the wood for warps. 2 peice bodies are pretty much the standard for most people, although a 3 peice is also possible and i beleive is a little less suseptable to warping over time. As far as tone goes, if ur doing a bolt on neck, the wood is going to matter, but i wouldn't worry to much about a maple top or all the glue joints hindering the tone. Nationaly of the wood, i beleive there was a thread a week ago about 2 different types of mahogany... but i think both were suited for guitars, just sounded a bit different. Guitar woods on websites are a bit more expensive because they're the pick of the crop, so no knots or warps, and a good flatsawn or quatersawn grain (i think, someone want to confirm the best grain for bodies?) it has also been kiln dried Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 we must have been typing at the same time wes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 yes we were.for bodies the grain direction is not so important.for necks quartersawn is most stable.but the neck i got from carvin is flatsawn maple.but they put 2 graphite rods in for reinforcement.feels fairly rigid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr_XD Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 a 3 piece might be correct to, wouldn't it? in fact i think the special red consisted of 3 pieces... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moojiefulagin Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 Generally speaking, there won't be much tonal difference between woods as long as you avoid knots and checks. if you laminate wood, be sure you get a solid joint!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freestyler Posted August 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 So, I'm going to try and get my hand on some figured maple (tiger maple, that what its called?) and glue that to the top of a piece of this mahogany and make my guitar out of that. Failing this I'll just glue another piece of mahogany on top - nothign wrong with this, right? I have decided to go with a Jem shaped guitar (But without the handle), 2 humbuckers and a string thru hardtail. I was also thinking of adding some black binding, painting the back and sides of the body black and the maple top in a transparent grey finish (unless I don't use the maple, then it will just be solid grey. The neck will be made of maple with either a rosewood or maple fretboard died black (I want the look but not sound or feel of ebony), and will have 24 (or 26 - unique!) frets, with an inlay only on the 12th and 24th. Wish me luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 both woods are fine for the top.it is generally called flame maple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 There is a transparent dye made by Lockwood (powder form) called Silver-Grey that is a really neat color dye and goes great with a black edge-burst, or the PRS-style 'natural' binding look. It comes in both alcohol and water soluble forms. I like using water-based for the 'wiping directly onto the wood' basecoats. I think PRS has done some like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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