John Abbett Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 All, I'm looking to build a Firebird, a neckthrough version. I have this nice birch that I reclamed that's been in my shop for years, I got a large pile of it somewhere and had years of age on it. It's great stuff. It finishes up nice. Doesn't have much figure, but for my application it doesn't matter. Is there any problems with this wood? It will be a neck through with black walnut stripe in the middle of two 1 1/8 inch Birch strips with black walnut wings. If you wonder why I don't use maple, the answer is, I have this stuff paid for, I would have to buy Maple. I would like to use what I have if it would work. Any issues with tendancy to warp or anything else? -John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 I have not tried it, but a fellow swedish builder has made several necks from birch. He claims it to be similar to maple in tone. And he has continued to use birch, so there is probably not any problems with warping etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 If I am not mistaken,birch has been used for acoustic tops as well as for harps...because it is a very stable and stiff wood. I hope I am not mistaken....orthat I did not dream it...but I seem to recall something like that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 http://www.birchharps.com.au/index.html Oh...here we go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 The Janka (or side) hardness test measures the force required to embed a .444 inch steel ball to half its diameter in wood. This is one of the best measures of the ability of wood species to withstand denting and wear. It is also a good indicator of how hard a species is to saw or nail. The higher the number, the harder the wood. The toughness scales reflects the relative bending strength between birch and other wood species measured in Mpa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Carvin uses birch tops on one of their Allan Holdsworth signature models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Abbett Posted March 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Thanks everyone for the sanity check. I appreciate you taking the time to chime in. Oh, and the diagrams are way above and beyond! Building guitars is such a cool hobby. It's nice to turn off the world and think about just one thing every now and then. -John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Carvin uses birch tops on one of their Allan Holdsworth signature models. Hrm, interesting! I was thinking about using birch for the carved top on my next build, simply because it was available in the sizes I needed, relatively cheaply at the shop I buy most of my wood. It was going to be painted anyway, although for a bit of a markup they had some pieces with decent figuring. I didn't end up buying anything that day, but now at least I feel a little better going that route, as it has been done before. Is there a major difference between red and yellow birch, I wonder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copperhead Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 birch as been called "poor man's maple" i think is alot like maple its not quite so hard its good for necks ,acoustic bodies whatever....give er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sami Ghouri Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 oh it seems that i had a HOOGE misconception then.... i thought birch was very unstable.... guess it was beech not birch... anyone confirms zis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotYou Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 birch as been called "poor man's maple" i think is alot like maple its not quite so hard its good for necks ,acoustic bodies whatever....give er That's funny. Where I come from, in Ohio, maple is called "firewood." When I started building I was telling my dad about how much maple costs and he wouldn't believe me. If I tell anyone from there that I built a guitar from maple they usually look confused and respond with "really?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Heh... we had a pretty good ice storm here several weeks back, and there's chopped up maple, walnut, oak, and poplar (and various "junk" trees) EVERYWHERE on the sides of the road. Unfortunately everything I've seen so far has been attacked with chainsaws and is in pieces too small to be useful. I have a bunch of poplar, walnut, and maple on my property, but fortunately didn't lose anything but a few limbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Birch makes really nice drums, and they don't warp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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