Scrappy_Squirrel

I'm moving from Tucson to Portland. The wood is coming from Gallery Hardwoods in the Eugene area. The Bubinga and Pau Ferro came from Eisenbrand Exotic Hardwoods in Torrance Cali. I'll look into the moisture meter for sure. Am I wrong to think the biggest problem woods have with warping is when they dry out (going from a wet climate to a to a dry one)? So, in essence, I'm guessing that the straighter/flatter a piece of wood is when it's completely dry the better off it will be going to a more humid climate....? I'm making a hypothetical guess. I would imagine that If I build and set the neck in AZ the neck mortise fit will be tighter once I get it to Portland (expansion due to moisture). Am I wrong in my guesswork? The only reason I want to start the build before I leave is because I'll have access to a good shop while I'm in Tucson, but I won't have shop access in Portland. Unless anyone knows of a pay-per-use setup, or something like that, in Portland. I got out of the carpentry industry years ago so my shop access has grown more limited over the years with moving around and such.

I've pulled the trigger on all of my woods and I'd like to get started as soon as I have everything together. How long, optimally, should wood be seasoned in the build environment/climate before beginning the project? If the wood is pre-cured and dried before purchasing does it really matter? The wood I'm buying is coming from Oregon. I live in AZ but I'm moving to Oregon in a month. The cap wood I've purchased has been seasoned for a couple of months in AZ already without any movement. I'll be adding a pre-AZ-seasoned Pau Ferro neck stripe and carbon reinforcement to the neck. This will be a set neck guitar. The woods I've purchased: (*Denotes pre-seasoned in AZ/already have) (#Denotes coming from OR next week) Black Limba# (2 piece lam body) Pau Ferro* (Neck stripe) Bubinga* (1 piece body cap) Ebony# (Fingerboard) Black Limba# - quartersawn (2 piece lam neck)

Hipshot 6 string US contoured trem: I've never played one of these but it looks nice and seems well built. I'm thinking about using one in my project. Does anyone know much about them compared to the quality and stability of other trems on the market? Also, I tend to palm mute a lot and I rest my palm on the bridge most of the time. Will the hipshot design facilitate my playing style?

And what I meant is that When wood reaches AZ from somewhere else it sometimes warps to high hell as it dries out. AZ tends to warp things...people too.

Right on! Looks like I'm pulling the trigger on this one. Thanks for the info.

How could I not have seen that! I was looking all day... I feel like such a dunce Thanks man! Have you or anyone else tried one of these? I'm thinking of the Ebony board but I'm concerned it may warp to hell coming to the arid land of AZ.

I previously posted a thread regarding my issues with building a neck. I kind of figured out a semi-solution to my problem...buying a prefab fingerboard. Anyway, lot's of people sell pre-slotted and single radius fingerboards but I'm not finding anyone who sells pre-slotted compound radius boards. Does anyone know of a vendor who sells compound radius pre-slotted fingerboards?

I wonder how it would sound to have a Walnut back with a 1/2-3/4" Bubinga cap? I would think that the Bubinga would tame the highs some and might help accentuate the mids. Hmmmm, how's the resonance of Walnut compared to Limba? I've heard Limba is one of the most resonant woods.

Heh heh heh, sounds like a hammer is a really bad idea... I guess I was thinking more in terms of a wooden mallet that I typically use for chiseling and wrote hammer... Anyway, I get the point (no hammers, LOL, and I'm guessing wooden mallets are taboo too, LOL). Probably what I'll do is rough cut the cap and back, rout my cavities, shape the cap as much as possible and glue nothing until I have the neck in hand. As an ex-cabinetmaker/carpenter I've done years worth of hinge mortising and built a few pieces of mortis and tennon furniture and I just plain suck at it. I don't have enough confidence in my abillity to hand carve a neck pocket so I'll stick with the router. Whew, this **** gets complicated without a shop! If I knew when I'd have money again I'd just pay someone to build the whole damn thing but for now I have the wood, time and energy to take it on myself. Thanks for the advice guys!

All over the place is right but that's ok. Walnut has been the alternative suggested to me in the past but I chose not to use it because I've read too many reports that it combs out certain midrange frequencies (I like all the mids I can get, dialed in or otherwise). If this is all out wrong then tell me so. Although, I'm not apposed to using Walnut as a neck wood! Perhaps my next guitar will be Walnut anyway so all is not lost. I will probably go with a longer scale neck because I have long arms and it feels most comfortable. I'm choosing Limba because I've heard a lot about it being the "super mahogany" and such and I like the typical mahogany sound. If a walnut or maple neck in long scale will better accommodate the Limba body then I'm all for it (In regards to the sound I'm trying to acheive). I'm looking for anecdotal history and sound theory. I'm ready to pull the trigger man but I want to have good aim, catch my drift? I currently have an all mahogany bodied Ibanez with a maple neck, rosewood fretboard and ... hard to explain but... I carved a custom fit walnut support block, placed it under my TOM and released the thumb screws; the tonal and sustain difference was astounding! Anyway, my curent #1 axe is nice but far from great. I want a compound radius, better sustain and more resonance. You get the idea. Anyway, thanks for the input.

Thanks doug and thanks for getting back to me so fast! When you say to do it later I guess I'm a little befuddled. I can work a router better than most but a chisel and hammer after the fact seems daunting to me (I've always sucked at mortising hinges and such. I can't imagine hand mortising a tenon joint in my guitar body after it's built!) What do you mean when you suggest doing it later? Honestly, I've hand sanded a compound radius, done plenty of neck jobs and refurbished existing bolt-ons but I've never built a guitar from scratch so I'm not sure what you mean.

Thanks, nice suggestion! I'll shall inquire.

So, are you saying that your bubinga/mahogany Paul has better bass response than a traditional mahogany/maple paul? What kind of neck-fretboard wood combo are you using? Do you think your Paul would benefit from a brighter fretboard wood like maple or ebony?

Do you mean in conjunction with the Bubinga cap? I already have the Bubinga and it would be nice to use it. Why do you recommend Walnut over Limba?

I'm starting my guitar project soon but I've run into a problem. It's potentially a long story but I'll chop it down for simplicity. All of the hand tools I used to have for guitar building/repair are gone... I had them in storage from moving and they disappeared. Needless to say I won't be building the neck of my guitar without the right tools. Anyway, despite having been out of the carpentry biz for a number of years I now have access to a pretty good shop and general tools for a SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. My money and time are limited so, for now, I can only afford body woods and time enough to build a body. My dilemma is this: I want a glue-in neck for this guitar and I don't have the tools, time or money right now to build one! I'm thinking of building the body and leaving a neck mortis to glue in the neck at a later date. Since I'm moving again (soon) I wont have shop access for an unknown and possibly indefinite amount of time (too many unknowns and I've changed occupations for health reasons). I'm thinking that I'll probably have USA custom guitars build my neck at a later date. Can anyone recommend a body configuration to better facilitate this process? Are there any "standard" measurements or ways of doing things that I should know for this piecemeal project? My only idea thus far is to build the body with a built in heel that accommodates a bolt on neck leaving a mortis cavity between the Bubinga cap and Limba back for a future glue-in neck tenon. I called USA custom and "they don't currently make glue-in necks but may do so in the near future". Warmoth does not make glue in necks and has no intention of making them. Does anyone know of someone who currently builds quality necks (compound radius, tilt-back, glue-in) that can help with my issue? Any more creative ideas to this hairy dilemma?

Thanks guys. I know that Gibson has made a few from Limba but I've never played one myself. Like I said, my biggest concern is that I'll end up with a mushy sounding guitar. From my own research I've found that Limba tends to be a bit brighter and more resonant than mahogany, thus my reason for wanting to use Limba. Bubinga being a dense and oily wood it seems that it might smooth the highs and give me the beef I want for better bass response. I've already done quite a bit of research so I guess what I'm really wanting are personal experiences with how these woods interact. Are there any specific reasons for not using this wood combination (differences in expansion/contraction, tendency to warp, etc.)? The main body will be Limba and I think I'm going to make it a two piece because I've already seen what Arizona dry can do to a one piece Limba blank (it aint pretty folks). Anyway, I guess I'll just have to put it together and find out.

I'm ready to pull the trigger on some tone woods and I wanted to run the combo by some experienced builders to make sure I'm buying the combo I really want. I'm going for resonance, sustain and good bass articulation with dampened highs. I'm wondering if the following combo will give me what I want (I already purchased the woods with the stars**): Body: White Limba Cap: 1/2"-3/4" Bubinga** Neck: White Limba Fretboard: Pau Fero** (I'd prefer Braz. Rosewood for the fretboard but I'm afraid it will dampen the highs too much compared to Pau Fero) I'll be playing mostly cult metal and blues based rock but I'd like to have a versatile guitar. I'll most likely put custom humbuckers in it that incorporate a high gain single coil in conjunction with a P90 split. Thanks for any input you can give me

Hmmm, all good advice. I think I'll go with a 1 piece korina body, from A&M and a bookmatched or one piece top; after seeing that curly Bubinga top I couldn't help myself. Smitten. So, curly Bubinga it shall be! I'll also go with a quartersawn laminated korina neck, just for the purpose of stabillity, and a Brazilian rosewood fretboard. It seems that with a beefy 3/4" Bubinga top it would help counter any minor attempt at warping down the road (I hope). I've had several one piece guitar bodies in the past and they all seemed puperior in resonance and sustain. Mojo or not the one piece body placebo has made an impact on me. I've played around with the idea of a two piece body but...maybe next time. It will have a clear Nitro or oil finish. Possibly lightly stained. The body will be chambered. Any reason why cutting an "F" hole, or similar, in the top would kill it? Anyway, if anyone can see any reason why these woods shouldn't marry then speak now or forever hold your peace...

Has anyone purchased from this place? They have pretty good prices on guitar body blanks compared to some. I'm wondering about the quality. http://www.forloversofwood.com/us/instrumentFrame.html Also, does a one or two piece body make a difference?

I'm not three, damn you!... I'm four and a half, thank you very much!

Possibly he's wrong but I tend to believe him because he's a physicist and he's done a lot of research on his Travis Beam. Apparently it's a known issue with alum necked guitars.

For acrylic you can add colorants to make any color you want. Aluminum may be stabe for bodies but I have a friend who has an aluminum neck Travis Beam and an Aluminum neck Kramer and he tells me they shift and move with temp. That doesn't sound very good to me. So, all said, it would be best to use alum for the body and resin for the neck. MDF would be an interesting project but it would have to be sealed really well (polyester resin or urethane). MDF is pretty sensitive to moisture. I've heard good things about Reverend guitars and they're made with composites and alt. materials.

So then why don't we all just make guitars from aluminum and acrylic resin and forget about wood altogether?

Yeaaaah. Knew that NRA membership was good for something. ;-) Somewhere there was this great thread pinned with all these great links to all major online/offline suppliers.......Can some re-cap that post?? Oh, shoot....that's what the Search button is for, hey? http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...l=wood+supplier And post some pics while you're building. That's why we all keep coming back here.....to see other cool projects. ← Great, thanks! Why is it when someone posts an image I get text "user posted image" instead of the actual image? ← Oddly enough I'm seeing the image on my work computer but not on my home computer! Anyway, when I start the build I'll be sure to post pics for sure. Thanks for all your help guys!

Yeaaaah. Knew that NRA membership was good for something. ;-) Somewhere there was this great thread pinned with all these great links to all major online/offline suppliers.......Can some re-cap that post?? Oh, shoot....that's what the Search button is for, hey? http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...l=wood+supplier And post some pics while you're building. That's why we all keep coming back here.....to see other cool projects. ← Great, thanks! Why is it when someone posts an image I get text "user posted image" instead of the actual image?