Need Tonewood Recomendation For Short Scale Guitar

[mojoman]

im looking to build my first guitar , and while i have a ton of woodworking experience i know little about guitars

i have quite short fingers and want to build it to around 24.25 scale thru neck with a pair of emg select humbuckers

and i am into 80's rock , hair bands what wood's would make the emg's ( i already have them ) and scale sound ok ??

thanks .. kevin

ps i have easy access to any wood and #1 concern is playability and action but i dont want to sacrifice too much sound quality !

[Ilikes2shred]

Hi, and welcome to the site!

There's lot of good tonewoods (most hardwoods), so you should figure out what type of tone you are looking for, and then pick out your wood based on that.

Here's a site that will show you the tone you'll get from a certain wood: Tonewoods

On that site it says that a lot of 80's shredders like basswood.

I would also recommend a pretty wood, as they will look great with just and oil finish, which will greatly simplify things for your first build.

So basically, you should just look up what guitars you're favorite bands use (or used) so you could see what woods they are made from.

You have found a great site, and I'm sure you'll get all your questions answered here.

And always remember: The search function is your friend!

Good luck on your first build

Edited December 31, 2008 by Ilikes2shred

[ToddW]

There are a lot of really experienced builders here who have posted on this topic before, so try searching for +tone +wood and +other . . .

Most people say harder woods will give a slightly brighter tone, so a maple neck/fingerboard may be brighter than a mahogany/rosewood neck/fingerboard. But the difference isn't going to be extreme, and if you add a couple of carbon fiber rods in the neck, then who can say. . . Same thing with the top, but probably to a lesser degree unless you're building a hollow body guitar.

Me, I'd use a harder wood for some added clarity with the short scale, even though I think it's partly voodoo. After that, I'd consider weight, stiffness, stability, and appearance. And since you have a lot of woodworking experience, I'd say laminate the neck because it looks cool and may be more stable.

Last piece of advise, worth exactly what you're paying for it, is build a bolt on neck guitar. I'm currently wrapping up a neck through and also working on a bolt on, and finishing the neck through is a PITA! In fact I have doubts I'll ever do one again given how nice some of the new bolt on joints can be and how much easier it is too build the neck and body separately.

Regards,

Todd

PS) Welcome to Project Guitar!

Edited December 31, 2008 by ToddW

[mojoman]

hey thanks guys .. i tried searching guess i coulda tried harder

i wasnt sure which affect the shorter scale would have , and i dont really know the qualities

of the pickups other than price ..free is good

as for the wood pretty is a must i have my woodworkers pride at stake ...

[ae3]

Does it have to be a shortscale?

80's rock guitars are ussually based around a 25.5 inch superstrat scale. And YES, this does affect the tone.

Any wood you say? I don't know where to start with suggestions

[j. pierce]

I once saw a sort of HC/metal crossover type band (think 80's thrash stuff) with a real shredder guitarist playing a shortscale rickenbacker into a soldano. Amazing tone, too for that kind of music. (And stock pickups as far as I know!) So maybe all maple works?

[mojoman]

Does it have to be a shortscale?

80's rock guitars are ussually based around a 25.5 inch superstrat scale. And YES, this does affect the tone.

Any wood you say? I don't know where to start with suggestions

if you seen my stuby lil fingers you wouldnt ask

im lucky enough to live near a very very large lumber place that has about 20 pole buildings

1 building for each common wood ie cherry , maple , oak ect . and then 1 more building

maybe 40 ft by 100 ft of just exotics

best part is i can go search the piles and pick out the peices i want they will even cut the boards

to sell me the part i want although if what i want is in the middle of the board i got to buy from the nearest end

out to the middle ...it has made it possible for me to make some beautiful projects in the past

[godzilla]

im lucky enough to live near a very very large lumber place that has about 20 pole buildings

1 building for each common wood ie cherry , maple , oak ect . and then 1 more building

maybe 40 ft by 100 ft of just exotics

Where is this mill......I want to move there

[ae3]

im lucky enough to live near a very very large lumber place that has about 20 pole buildings

1 building for each common wood ie cherry , maple , oak ect . and then 1 more building

maybe 40 ft by 100 ft of just exotics

Where is this mill......I want to move there

+1

[mojoman]

its in central eastern ohio

http://www.keimlumber.com click photos : then facilities

if you click on the building it shows the inside : upper right is all figured maple in the big building exotics are in the smaller 2 story building beside it

Edited December 31, 2008 by mojoman

[ToddW]

Impressive place. They have a few woods on their exotics list that I'd never even heard of.

The scale you chose isn't that much shorter than a Gibson, so it's not like the 22.5" scale on my daughters guitar, or the 22.75" boards that Erik made for me. Pretty sure he could do 24.25 for you.

Or, if you like, you could go here:

http://www.cncguitarparts.com/index.php?cP...824b64e3a20cfb3

and get a really slick faux bound board. I love that faux binding look! They're 24.6" but I'm pretty sure you'd never notice, it's only .2" more from nut to the 12th fret.

Have fun,

Todd

[ihocky2]

There was plenty of hair metal played on Les Pauls which are all or almost all mahogany and 24.75" scales. I would stay away from basswood, simply because it is very soft and dents easily. Alder or swamp ash will work just fine. As will mahogany and pretty much anything in between. The body wood shapes the tone a little, but not as much as the fretboard or the scale length do. Now, you will notice a difference between mahogany and alder, but alder and ash are pretty close, and alder and poplar are almost identical. I would look at using ebony for the fretboard, it will give a brighter tone than rosewood.

Unless you are 100% convinced that you can not play a 25.5" scale guitar, I would consider using one. 24.75" gives a warmer tone, with less snap that is common to most metal styles of playing. Go the Guitar Center or such and play a 25.5" and see how it feels. Having shorter fingers I would look at making a narrower neck than a shorter scale. Angus Young plays on 1-1/2" nut width necks because he has small hands.

[Xanthus]

I would get a darker-sounding wood like mahogany. Reason being, you have a lot of things going against you that will make your guitar sound possibly too bright.

-EMGs

-shorter scales are more trebly

-thinner strings required for tuning to pitch with a shorter scale are thinner-sounding

[ToddW]

Actually, I've found that you need to use a slightly heavier string. With a short scale, extra lights don't have enough tension at pitch to feel normal.

Todd

[Xanthus]

Actually, I've found that you need to use a slightly heavier string. With a short scale, extra lights don't have enough tension at pitch to feel normal.

Todd

Interesting. I've only played stuff between 24.75-26". I was thinking about basses, though, how the longer scale length requires a thicker string, and applying it in reverse. Cool point you bring up.

[ihocky2]

When you think about it though, thicker strings make sense. On a bass you need thicker strings because of the down tuning compared to a gutiar. But if you take a 25.5" and string it to pitch, now while at pitch cut 1-1/4" out of the neck, those strings are going to be way sloppy, so you'll need a heavier string to bring it back up. With the same strings and the same tuning I can bend a lot easier on a 24.75" vs. a 25.5" because there is less tension on the strings.

I've always found shorter scales to be less trebley. I always look at how 24.75" scales, seem to always sound warmer, whether they are mahogany or not. But I have never played a 24" scale, so I could be wrong. But I know that 25.5" scales are known for their better treble response, and the snap the extra length adds.

I would think that a fairly neutral wood, would be the way to go. If the shorter scale is brighter, the mahogany will tame that, but if it ends up being darker because of the scale, then you might get a muddy tone. Same thing in reverse if you go with norther ash or maple. Alder or poplar sit right in the middle and are some of the easiest to adjust sound with electronics or swapped pickups.

I you don't like the way your current EMG's sound, you can just swap them for a different EMG or switch their positions until you get something you like.

[Geo]

I've always found shorter scales to be less trebley.

Agreed. To preserve the "bite" you want for your style of music, I would use as much maple as possible on the guitar, as well as heavier strings. I really think that a super-short scale will make a very dark guitar, which sounds like it's the opposite of what you want.

BTW thanks for sharing the location of that lumber place, that's only an hour or so away from me!

[mojoman]

BTW thanks for sharing the location of that lumber place, that's only an hour or so away from me!

[Geo]

no problem , im just outside of canton neighbor

Cool, always good to find another Ohioan! I'm in Stow/Kent, depending on whether school is in session.

I think maple will be an important choice in brightening the guitar, but pickups may be even more important.

[Keegan]

With short scale and hair metal, I'm tempted to say maple or walnut if you're not concerned about the weight, swamp ash if you are. Shorter scale lengths lose treble, I think because the string is at a lower tension for a given gauge. Maple has tons of "bite" to make up for that. That's why they cap Les Pauls with it. Jaguars and Mustangs still have plenty of treble at 24" though, so any of the "Fender" woods like alder would also be fine. You may find the EMG selects to be too muddy no matter what wood you use simply because they're cheap pickups. If I were you, I'd save for some real EMGs or if you want to stay inexpensive, try something from GuitarHeads. They have sound samples for most of their pickups, too. If you use active pickups, wood choice will probably be completely insignificant because they pick up plenty of treble.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Keegan