Oak and Pine

[Jon Bell]

Is there a reason why oak and pine aren't used on guitars? They seem to be used for everything else and must be pretty cheap.

Thanks,

Jon

[krazyderek]

we just had a big discusion about oak so just read this thread

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...=quatersawn+oak

pine.... i have no idea really, but i'm guessing it's to weak, warpy, and just may not be a good tonewood. Basswood is fairly similar to it, and it's fairly cheap aswell.

[john]

Pine is a soft wood and therefore is not suitable for use in a guitar, but i`d love to give it a try some time, but oak is ok for a guitar, although it does have some side effects,

1/ Oak is a fairly unstable wood - it likes to warp!

2/Oak is hard to finish due to the rough wide grain.

i have use some oak in both of my guitars very succesfully(not for necks , just as body laminations)

john.

[canuckguitarist]

Fender have made a couple(maybe only 1) strats out of 100 year old pine they found in a church...not sure how they sounded though. I thought pine and poplar were very similar...and the only reason that people used poplar was because clear (no knots) poplar is cheaper than clear pine.

[Brian]

Pine is generally full of sap as well.............

[Jehle]

My uncle has offered me some 100+ year old heart pine floor boards. Not enough to do a body, but a neck possibly. He's restores houses for a living, and keeps little bits of neat wood like that to make his own projects or add to his own house.

I have a feeling that most pine isn't dense enough for guitars. But, heart pine is dense so it might work better.

I feel an experiment coming on.

[Jon Bell]

Thanks for the quick replies. I think the reasons above answer my question pretty comprehensively.

Jon