Wood Score!

[cherokee6]

My wife and I were at a juried craftsfair this weekend and our attention was caught by a furniture maker who's not too far (good hour ride) from me. I live in the Hudson Valley of NY and I met him in New Paltz. His shop is located in Columbia county for those of you who are familiar with the area.

Anyway we ended up buyig a hall seat with the coat hooks, etc. I looked it over and noticed it was made of solid hard maple. There was no ply other than the typical cabinet backing. Needless to say, he was undercharging by by more than 1/2. We got to talking about wood, sources for it and guitar stuff. He offered to me any of his cut offs. He uses hard maple, cherry (anyone try that for a guitar body?) and oak. Sometimes other woods such as walnut and mahogany. He said to come up at any time, so I plan to do so and bring my wife's Ford Escape!

[ihocky2]

I haven't used cherry yet, but it is on my list of woods to try. There are some people here who have used it and said it has a great tone, and cherry is known to be very nice to work with. I have a pile of poplar, ash, mahoganny and maple that I have to at least get half way through before my wife will let me go to the mill again. So the cherry is going to have to wait a little longer.

[Vinny]

Hey Tom, Thats great news! Yeah cherry is really sweet, I have some here and might use it for a LP body project. Dont forget to bring donuts when you go there . he he -Vinny

[avengers63]

I've read/heard that cherry makes a dang nice guitar.

As for how it is to work with - there's a reason woodworkers like to use it.

[Daniel Sorbera]

I've had some cherry I wanted to use for a neck but ended up not because of a knot (see what I did there? )

It was pretty cool looking wood. Seemed very hard and close grained. I'm sure it would finish well.

[cherokee6]

I thought cherry was ok for bodies but not for necks? I thought there was something on it in one of the threads about a year ago. Anyway, seems good to try. They dropped off the piece we bought today, had a little coffee, and reiterated the offer. The owner would like me to see him at the next show and up at the shop.

Hey Vinny, we need to hook up; maybe over the next couple of weeks?

[killemall8]

I thought cherry was ok for bodies but not for necks

Actually, its almost the exact opposite. you sure could use it for bodies, but it is almost identical to maple. super hard and heavy. i dont think you would want that on any body design bigger or thicker than a strat basic shape.

it is great for necks. sometimes you cant even tell the difference between cherry and maple. most of the time cherry has a pinkish tint to it though.

[foil1more]

So I'm going to guess that walnut and cherry are a good mix. That's good because I'm thinking of a baritone guitar with a flamed cherry top and neck and a walnut back. The walnut will come from a board that's at least 200 years old. My dad said I could have some (happy dance).