Scrappy_Squirrel

You're right, I could research this forever and in many respects it feels like I have. I've been wanting to do this for years and it's finally come down it. Thanks for the push guys. Time to pull the trigger. My next question is in regard to purchasing: Is kiln dried lumber ok or should it be air dried? Since I live in the desert (Tucson, AZ) it's difficult to find good wood so Ill be ordering on line. Are there any good sources for quality lumber matched with great prices? The ones I've found so far: http://advantagelumber.com/ http://www.galleryhardwoods.com/pricing.htm http://www.lumberlady.com/listing___alphabetical_order.htm http://www.gilmerwood.com/instrument_wood-parts.htm

Thanks a lot for the input! What do think about a palisander top as apposed to walnut? I was thinking it would give it similar definition to walnut, more resonance and keep the highs sweet, smooth and oily. But the korina would still keep it dark. Although if I use palisander I might have to make the fretboard B. rosewood instead of pauferro. The one thing I was worried about with walnut is how close it is to korina in hardness, resonance, etc... Did you chamber your korina body to lighten it up? what is your hardware setup and what about your neck (laminated/through/glued in?)? Do you think your guitar would benefit from a maple neck, or would it detract from the compressed, dark tonality? I like dark sounding (compressed mids) guitars, like gibsons. But I also love more resonance and tighter lows than what mahogany gives. The highs of mahogany are fine as I prefer less shards. I'm also wanting a split humbucker with a P90 and I think a korina/gison-like combo would be awesome with a P90. This is one good tonewood reference that I've been following. Although there isn't much about rosewood/palisander as a body cap. http://www.jemsite.com/axes/htm_features/wood.htm Here's what I'm thinking now: body: Korina (for compressed mids, tighter than mahogany lows and resonance) neck: Korina cap: Palisander (for definition, better frequency response and glass shard treble attenuation) fretboard: Pauferro (definition) -symetrical design -symetrically chambered body -glue in neck or neck through -24 3/4 scale -laminated neck with rosewood stripe and large fretwire -custom HB in bridge incorporating a split coil P90 -A more traditional PF alnico sounding HB split coil in neck

You seem to have set your mind on Korina.......I would advice you to do search for "tonewood" on this board and see what comes up. Describing sounds of tonewood is always very difficult and very subjective. Korina is described as the ultimate mahogany.....still I have read some people whom have build Korina guitars saying they were little disappointed with it's sound. Don't get my wrong....not trying to move you away from idea of Korina....I'm building Korina JS, Korina LP and Korina RGT as we speak......no of them finished so soundwise I can't help you. I do advice you to read up on Korina and other tonewoods. Walnut or Alder maybe option too........Basswood/Maple combo....the possibilities are endless..... ← I've done more research on tonewoods than I'd like to admit (here and everywhere else). Unfortunately the way they're described is as isolated pieces and not how they sound when together. I don't really have my mind made on korina up perse. It's just that I tend to really like the sound of mahogany bodied guitars and korina seems like a way to get that sound with a little more resonance and better tonal range. But, that's why I'm asking here. I'm trying to get responses from people who have built enough to know how my ideas might work. Does anyone know which woods filter out which frequencies and how the woods complement one another? To be honest I'm a little petrified of buying expensive tone woods and not liking the sound of the damn thing once it's done. I've done a lot of guitar work in the past and I've been a shop carpenter for many years. I've even hand sanded a compound radius ino a neck. So, you see, I'm ready to build from scratch but I'm a little hesitant because of the unknowns. It would be great to have a tone wood reference that gives each wood and point by point their resonance value, weight per sq2 in., frequency response, compressed frequencies, canceled frequencies, stabillity, etc... anyway, I guess I keep dreaming for now and ask if anyone here can tell me anything about my selected combinations. After reading a bit more I'm thinking: body: Korina (for compressed mids, tighter than mahogany lows and resonance) neck: Korina cap: Palisander (for definition, better frequency response and glass shard treble attenuation) fretboard: Pauferro (definition) -symetrical design -symetrically chambered body -glue in neck or neck through -24 3/4 scale -laminated neck with rosewood stripe and large fretwire -custom HB in bridge incorporating a split coil P90 -A more traditional sounding HB split coil in neck I think this will give me resonance. Attenuated but articulate highs. No mud in the lower registers/resonant and tight lows. smooth articulation and versatillity.

Hi, I'm new to this forum and I'm building a guitar soon. I know you guys get asked this all the time but I'd like some advice on my wood selection. I'd appreciate it. I currently own an Ibanez GAX70 all mahogany body guitar. It has a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. I put grovers on it and a tone pros bridge. The pickups are a BL500R - neck and Dimarzio Tone Zone - Bridge. I've got 1 meg volumes and a coil cut. The reason I'm describing this is because it's important to what I'm looking for in my new guitar. One day I decided to try something experimental. I cut a walnut block for under the bridge and tailpiece of the guitar. released the thumbscrews so that the bridge was against the top. This defined the guitar and nearly doubled my sustain. I was surprised at how much better it sounded. It's now twice the guitar it was. Anyway, I've decided that I like the sound of my current guitar but I thought I would take it a step further and have more sustain, a better playing guitar and a more complex tone. I mostly play cult metal and rock now but I also like to play some blues. I'm looking for a very rich sounding resonant and versatile guitar with lots of sustain, vibrant tone, bell-like highs with compressed and complex mids and tight bass. I like the compressed mids that mahogany gives but I like a little less mud and more definition. I was thinking of the following combinations and I was hoping I could get your advice on these combo's. Likewise I'd appreciate any other combo sugestions. I'm thinking Korina for the body because of it's similarity to mahogany and resonance. #1 Body: Korina Neck: Korina/glued in Fretboard: Pauferro or B. Rosewood Cap: Maple #2 Body: Korina Neck: Maple/glued in Fretboard: B. Rosewood/Pauferro Cap: None #3 Body: Korina Neck: Korina/glued in Fretboard: B. Rosewood/Pauferro Cap: Walnut #4 Body: Korina Neck: Walnut/glued in Fretboard: Ebony Cap: none