JJ1 Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 (edited) im looking in to making my first guitar but stuck on what kind of wood to use first just for me to learn how to make it then i will move on to using harder wood i been told by a guitar player i know he said maple body and neck with rosewood fret board on top of the neck what do you think any help will be great thanks JJ Edited August 14, 2006 by JJ1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 im looking in to making my first guitar but stuck on what kind of wood to use first just for me to learn how to make it then i will move on to using harder wood i been told by a guitar player i know he said maple body and neck with rosewood fret board on top of the neck what do you think any help will be great thanks JJ Maple/birch, cheap, easy to come by not heartbreaking when you screw a piece up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logical Frank Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 What type of guitar are you building and what kind of a sound are you looking for? I don't know much about woodworking so I can't tell you what's easiest or best to use in that regard but I know something about the tones they provide... Maple necks are great--actually what I prefer for the most part. I've never played a maple bodied guitar but I suspect it would sound quite bright and the weight would be an issue. Perhaps your buddy meant a maple top. Maple can be very gorgeous and often is used on top of another tone wood for bodies. Anywway--as far as what's best, I suspect you will find in this regard that opinions are like... you know... Everybody's got one. There's a guide somewhere on this site that'll let you know what kind of sounds you can get out of what kind of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 Dont worry about tonal characteristics yet. The first guitar will most likely be sub par to what you are capable of. For what is worth I canabalized by first two because I wasn't totally happy with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 +1 on sound characteristics of the first guitar. I still have my first but I don’t use it. It is too crappy then i will move on to using harder wood Maple IS a hard wood (and I don’t mean hardwood). Mahogany is easier to work with but of cause much more expensive. Try alder or basswood or the body if you need something that is softer to work with. Both are used in guitar building and sound nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 Plain hard Maple neck is good/plentiful/inexpensive. African Mahogany (khaya) or Sapele are also inexpensive and good options for neck wood. Body wood- Khaya, Sapele, Alder, Poplar, Ash, Basswood (tad soft) are all good options, and very reasonably priced. You are talking about 1 bd. ft. for a neck, and about 4.5 bd ft. for a body. If you go to a local wood supplier you will find the cost difference between most of these woods is really going to not be a huge amount (given there is only a dollor or two that seperate these woods per. bd. ft.). If you buy them as instrument parts the prices may vary a bit more as well as be higher. Your biggest expense will be in hardware and electronics (at least in terms of parts). Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom22 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Basswood would be a good start. I made my first body out of pine, and no i never finsihed it, it was more of a prototype but it helped me. I would go with alder or basswood. A lot of shred guitars are of basswood. It is a buit soft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 There are pros and cons to everything. Just a comparison between the most common guitar building woods, maple and mahogany. Maple is hard and heavy, where mahogany is softer and lighter. So mahogany is the way to go if you want something that is easier to cut and shape. However, when it comes to finishing, maple is fairly idiot proof, no grain filling necessary and takes stain/dye fairly well and evenly. Mahogany grain needs to be filled, a lot more care involved in staining and sometimes it even needs to be bleached if you want that translucent look when working with lighter colors. There are more appealing grain patterns and figuring available with maple eg. flamed, quilted, birdseye, burl, spalted etc. etc. but not so much in the mahogany area. Denser woods carry sound faster, so maple would give a brighter tone with more sustain than mahogany. It all boils down to what sort of weight, tone, sustain etc. you are looking for in a guitar. Those features are not good or bad, just subjective to the listener's / player's tastes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ1 Posted August 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 (edited) wow thanks for the responce ok i will go to my local wood store and see what they got as on e bay they only got veneer at the moment so i will play with that at a later date ,, and as for tunes im in to gun'n'roses so it maybe soft rock to blues also i love to learn how to rift at a later date at the moment i got fender showmaster never been played with yet!!! i bought from a kid that took it to school a few times then had a go on a bass and fell in love with it so it went up for sale as new and i grabbed it and i was hooked just got 1 dream is to make my own guitar and like to learn how to read tabs and play "sweet child o mine" one day JJ (hope this will give you an idea of what i like to play as im still learning) Edited August 15, 2006 by JJ1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SG3390 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 If you are looking for killer tone, I HIGHLY suggest black korina if you can find it, but it is more expensive, and you probably don't want to start with it if this won't be your last project guitar. You can read about various tonewoods at: Ed Roman's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoser Rob Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 "A guitar player" told you you should use a maple body. That doesn't mean he/she knows what they're talking about. Maple isn't actually that common in solid bodies. There are a number of suitable woods but the best sounding guitars are usually made of lighter weight wood. I've seen some killer electrics over the last 30+ years and almost all of them were light, if not featherweight. Those old valuable Gibsons and Fenders are much lighter than the modern ones. Lighter wood resonates more freely. it's that simple. All that stuff about heavy body = better tone is pure marketing crap. It started in the 70s when the big makers started using cheaper wood for the bodies. Unfortunately there are a lot of ill informed players who still believe that BS. Try basswood. As someone said, for a first build you don't want to spend a ton of $$$. It's pretty cheap, really easy to work, and resonant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ1 Posted August 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 thank you all for your help right for my first project im going to use basswood body maple neck with ebony for the fretboard disige not known yet but as i go along i will post some new pic's then while that is being done or after it done im going to build my second one for my self using black korina for the body ebony fretboard but for neck im not sure yet i will let you know as i go along thanks again JJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted August 16, 2006 Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 thank you all for your help right for my first project im going to use basswood body maple neck with ebony for the fretboard disige not known yet but as i go along i will post some new pic's then while that is being done or after it done im going to build my second one for my self using black korina for the body ebony fretboard but for neck im not sure yet i will let you know as i go along thanks again JJ Sounds like a good choice. Best of luck with your project. Make good drawings to work with that will help a lot. I wouldn't worry about the wood for a second guitar just yet. When you figure out what you want out of the second you can look at wood then. Black Limba (Korina) is a nice wood (I personally like it a lot) if it suits your design. Don't get stuck on some of the "hype" about holy grail woods. There is no wood perfect for all designs. You will develop personal favorites as you build with and finish different woods. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prs man Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 (edited) I would use alder or poplar not to much $$$ if this is the first building project it might not be perfect but the next one will be better and so on. alder and poplar and bass wood would be a good choice. will you be building neck and fret board that can be a little more money. what I have found building my own. you learn with every project what to do and when to do it. building your own guitar is vary cool. I know I won't buy another guitar as long as I can build them. other thing to think about set neck or bolt on both are cool what bridge will you be using. do your reseach and things should be cool. and use project guitar forum peole are cool and the info is great I agree with Rich There is no wood perfect for all designs. You will develop personal favorites as you build with and finish different woods. great advice Good luck Russ Edited August 20, 2006 by prs man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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