SoundAt11

First, the guitar in question *was* this one: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/al...dat11/my_photos My first build, a Carvin neck-thru section with weigh relieved (sideways) Honduran Mahogany wings in the PRS shape, string-thru, tune-o-matic, direct mounted double cream Seymour Duncan humbuckers, and locking gold Grover tuners. It was a great guitar, although a bit heavy (had it for 2 years and was really hurting my shoulder) and too focused sounding and extremely bright. So I cut the wings off (R.I.P), trimmed off the maple of the neck past the bridge pickup route. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=f800re2.jpg I decided on a deep set neck rebuild, something warmer and fuller sounding, basically I want more beefy tone, so I know I wanted Mahogany for looks and tone. I play a lot of acoustic guitar, so I like that big fat resonant tone, so I'm wanting to go in that direction. I dug out a one piece African Mahogany blank that had nice smooth texture, is lightweight, and just looked right: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=3e30re2.jpg After rough cutting the body shape, I marked my centerline and measurements for the neck pocket and started routing: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=46e5re2.jpg http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=87f8re2.jpg and cleaned up the routing with a sanding drum: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=9c3bre2.jpg and later on I used chisels, rasps, files, and sandpaper to get the neck and the pocket down to a snug fit. The neck is actually tapered, so it's wider on the very end compared to where the heel meets the body. I like this because it locks the neck in place very securely to where it can't be pulled "out" from the end, only pulled out from above. However, I'll be adding a 1/4" top, so once it's glued on, the neck is locked in place on all sides and won't be coming out. Presently, I'm at a standstill, because I'm trying to decide on a top. I can really pick anything I want, so right now I've got a Bloodwood top that would look really nice against the gold hardware, although due to it's likely brightness and weight, I'm also considering: Canarywood, Padouk, Zebrawood, Swamp Ash, Ribbon Striped Mahogany. That and I will also be chambering the Mahogany body significantly and slightly angling the neck (so I'll have to cut the angle into the neck). The hardware will likely stay the same and I shouldn't have to recess the bridge as before. Anyway, that's the status and if anyone wants to make any tone suggestions, please let me know.

Added a lot of new stuff this weekend to my Ebay Store and was hoping folks might have a look: http://www.soundat11.com now includes: Body Blanks: Mahogany, Walnut, & Limba Neck (and Neck-Thru) Blanks: Limba (Korina), Mahogany, & Walnut Bookmatched Tops: Bubinga, Cocobolo, Padouk, Zebrawood Fretboard Blanks: Belize Rosewood (Granadillo), Padouk, and Zebrawood Later this week, I'll be adding a small quantity of Genuine South American ("Honduran") Mahogany, some bookmatched Swamp Ash tops, as well as some Canarywood tops and fretboards, and more laminate neck blanks.

As a seller, I really like PayPal due to how quickly people pay and how few non-paying bidders I have (when I accepted money orders on Ebay purchases, it generally takes 2 weeks before buyers pay and only about 50% of them actually do pay vs. 95%+ of paying PayPal bidders). But on purchases outside of ebay, especially custom orders, money orders are fine, since I can wait and cut the pieces after the money arrives. PayPal's fees stink (approx 5% cut on every payment, plus Ebay takes at least 10%). Where that really hurts is when you've got an overseas buyer buying $100 worth of product and paying $100 worth of shipping costs. PayPal takes $10 off the top and Ebay gets you for another $20, so you've just lost $30 off of $100 worth of merchandise :-( I'll be glad when the summer is over, because there's really only 2-3 hours of usable working time in the mornings before it becomes too hot to work outside, so if you factor in 1 hour to do something, plus set up/ take down of equipment, finding boards, measuring, etc, that time goes by quickly. So winter time is a lot better time to spend the day outside cutting wood and a lot easier to allow some time for custom requests. Pro, I was hoping you'd grab those Bloodwood lams, they're pretty. I did get your package in the mail (very long and skinny), but it's reinforced, I made sure to test it until it wouldn't bend).

I do own one of the 6-string Carvin neck-thru blanks, the NT-6, it has a thin and flat profile on the neck. The fretboard width feels slightly wide to my hands, although I prefer narrower fretboard widths where I can really reach around good. The Carvin neck plays very fast and smooth and has a fairly flat radius, so it's nice if you're into going all over the fretboard with your solos. Build quality is flawless, perfectly made.

Sorry to be grouchy about your order on a public forum; I'm was a bit upset at myself yesterday:-) I'm a "yes" man and time management isn't one of my strong points. It'd be easier if I simply cut out excess strips on a non-busy day to have on hand for requests; this week has been super busy. As a bonus, I managed to get a 3rd Bloodwood strip out of that piece of wood, so I'm coming up with ideas for some sort of laminate neck with the red strip in the middle. I'm imagining a 47" bass neck-thru with a center Bloodwood strip, Canarywood strips on either side, then Walnut next to that, then more Canarywood.

I do sell direct, plenty of forum users PM me or email me and we deal that way. It is cheaper for everyone than listing on ebay, since we don't have to deal with Ebay's fees, but is often more time consuming (email exchanges+selecting wood, measuring, cutting, planing, etc). Ebay has a lot more potential customers, their accounting tools are also very handy, and it's always faster and easier for me to cut standard sizes out of my available lumber and list them rather than some of the really involved custom requests (I spent an hour this morning on $20 worth of Bloodwood laminates when I should have been cutting up several hundred dollars worth of Mahogany or Walnut).

email sent. I've got some more neat pieces for sale now, Cocobolo tops, Bloodwood strips, Zebrawood fretboard blanks, and added Black Walnut body blank (more coming Friday), and some more Mahogany body blanks. Should have some Wenge and more laminate necks listed Friday evening.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/album?.dir=e2fbre2 Here's photos of most of those exotics for reference. Black Walnut and Basswood are on order; I want to have some of all the major woods for sale:-)

Hi Jon, I do have more Bloodwood left from that board, so I can cut out some more and have them listed Tuesday evening.

Hi all, This week I've added several new types of wood to my Ebay listings: Bloodwood, Padouk, Zebrawood, Canarywood, and Granadillo Rosewood. Next week, I'll be adding Wenge and Cocobolo. Also, I've begin selling Fretboard blanks that I've cut from the exotic woods. The Bloodwood and Granadillo are especially nice, both are very smooth feeling and the Granadillo has a deep resonant tap tone, the Bloodwood is more bright and percussive. The Bloodwood is (of course) quite red and is fast feeling; I hope to make some bookmatched tops out of it soon. Next week I will be adding Wenge and Cocobolo fretboard blanks, as well as Canarywood and Padouk fretboard blanks. The Canarywood is silky smooth and extremely colorful in the sunlight (indoor photos don't really capture its beauty). Last week I added some 2-pc Mahogany neck blanks, each bookmatched with vertical grain (quartersawn) and they're really cool looking. Hide Glue is back and more is on the way. As always, I've still got plenty of 1-pc and 2-pc Mahogany body blanks for sale (or to list), as well as Korina (Limba) neck and body wood (keep an eye out for bookmatched Limba tops very soon). http://www.soundat11.com to get to my Ebay Store

Looks great, especially the cherry finish on the Limba, looks perfect. Good choice on the SG and Vox amp, same combo I used to have: RAWK!

I agree, Amber on the flamed maple looks perfect. You might want to have a look at the Gibson Gary Moore signature Les Paul. It's a transparent lemon/amber and looks very similar (and awesome). Great job so far, love the flame maple (and the spalt, gives it character) and the gold fretwire and supreme inlays (nice aged look) look fantastic.

Having not worked with Sapele yet (yet, I'm going to buy some soon), I'd agree. The current "Genuine Mahogany", at least what I've found locally, wasn't that great. I'd say a 1/3 of it would be wooly or knotty or full of holes. I flat out won't buy it again unless I can put my eyes on some clean wood. The African Mahogany is plentiful, reasonably priced, and is very good quality. I wish the guitar companies would switch to it rather than using "Honduran Mahogany", just for the name value. On Khaya (African), hmmm.....if it's FAS, it's awesome. Select or Better grade, maybe 10-15% is waste. When you get down into the Common Grades, then it's a gamble. You might find a perfect board mixed in with some wormy boards or the most beautiful board that happens to have cracks on an end or a knot in the middle, although sometimes there's perfect boards that have been overdried/left out in the lumber yard to long, so I'd stay away from Common grade unless you can inspect a cleanly planed piece very closely. This would be the best batch of "African Mahogany" (said on the invoice) that I've run across: http://i2.ebayimg.com/01/i/08/05/80/c0_1.JPG The dark one with dark stripes, must not be Cuban Mahogany. It's certainly not hard, it's very soft and ridiculously light. Must have been a random awesome tree in Africa, because that whole batch of wood was the most perfect batch of Mahogany I've ever run across, lightweight, dark orange color, cuts like butter, and beautiful striping. It looks different than any of the Afr Mahog or Genuine Mahog that I run across and I wish I could find more just like it.

Very pretty, the natural mahogany and inlay-less fretboard looks great as-is, very earthy and clean. I'd suggest a wood pickguard myself.....a mahogany one, of course:-) Fender makes/made an all-mahogany set neck Tele with a Seymour Duncan Invader humbucker bridge pickup. It sounded very fat and thick, nothing like the bright, twangy Tele's I've played, more like an SG or all-mahogany Les Paul.

Photo of body (South American Mahogany with Purplehart accent line): http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=366bre2.jpg Body weighes in at approx 5lbs, is 13" wide and 1 9/16" thick. That's a tad heavier than I'd like, but it also hasn't been routed yet. Wood for top (Flamed Soft Maple and Steamed Black Walnut): http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=b119re2.jpg The Mahogany body is going to be chambered to reduce the weight and hopefully will make it less compressed and more resonant than if were truly solid. The finished body should be 1 3/4" thick and will have a very light carve along the edges and possibly a tummy cut in the back. Neck details still being debated in my head, although it will be a long tennon or set-through (deep set neck) with some portion of flamed Limba

I'm sorry to hear that, Mike. That's troubling to imagine not being able to work with wood without becoming ill. I get covered in Mahogany and Limba sawdust several times a week, for the past 9 months. No problems yet, but I do wear a respirator, goggles, and ear protection, plus I'm not allergic. You may need to stick to buying premade guitars or Warmoth ones :-(

Excellent point regarding the current batches of Honduran and South American Mahoganies. The last bundle I bought was approx 100 bf, FAS (first and seconds, the highest grade) and had a ton of wasted wood and to make matters worse, much of it had wooly graine, which means planing and sanding lead to fuzzy grain. I shudder to think what would have got graded as Common or worse, though this could have been poor labeling on the part of the dealer (I hope there's better trees in Honduras than that). Contrast that with some old stock Honduran Mahogany that had been sitting in a lumber warehouse for ages, which was quite light, straight grain, and flawless. I've cut approx 1000 board feet of African Mahogany, Khaya, and can vouch that it is excellent wood and the stability of the Quartersawn pieces. It does have variety of color, though. I've got some very light yellow colored boards at the moment, extremely lightweight, very conservative appearance. In the past, I've had reddish-brown, orange, and pinkish colored pieces that could have anywhere from swirly grain, plain grain, up to nice ribbon-strip, up to what I call "candy strip" of orange wood with brown stripes, that's the best of the bunch and is super light. It was sold to me as "African Mahogany", but the company was uncertain and I'm leaning towards it being "Cuban" myself, as normally African is lighter colored than South American.

I guess electric planers just aren't popular. I use a 13" Ridgid from Home Depot. $350, I think. It's very good. I've punished that poor machine a lot, but it still does the job. The important thing is that you can use it to square up anything up to 6.5" tall. So if you want to square up sides of a 2 piece or 3 piece body, you can (if they're 6.5" or less). I make strips, veneers, tops, etc on it all the time. I can even run guitar bodies through it. It's great in that you can set exactly how much your taking off, so you can hog away a lot of material or set it so fine that it litterally just shines up a surface. It comes in handy for other uses around the house, such as shelves, furniture building, or little wood crafts. Just set your height and toss the wood in there. As long as you're not planing a pile of rough, warped Purpleheart boards, then the blades will last a long time for light duty or occassional use.

Quartersawn/Riftsawn Khaya (African Mahogany) can definitely have some beautiful ribbon striped pieces. Some of them so prominate that they've got the "candy stripe" look without any finish/enhancement. Setch, that Padouk SG looks phenominal. I've always loved the early Cherry SG Juniors (listening to The Who at this very moment) and that's amazing that it nails the visual look of cherry stained ribbon striped mahogany without any staining or coloring. I'm definitely interested in using it as a top wood now, although the dust concerns me.

Way late here, but I'm researching Padouk..... What about simply cutting the flatsawn Padouk neck blank down the center and glue in a 2-piece bookmatched style with the grain vertical? I've done this before with a flatsawn piece of Black Limba and it came out looking great and was essentially "quartersawn" due to the vertical grain. Assuming you've got a 4 x 40 x 2 blank of Padouk, cut it into two 2x40x2 strips, flip'em over, and glue. Asside from the wood lost to the saw blade and planer, you'll have plenty of wood left for a neck.

Finally worked on this today. I debated back and forth on Limba vs. Purpleheart vs. Walnut for the center strip. After tapping on lots of different strips of wood, I found a Purpleheart one with a clear bright tone that sustained longer. The Walnut was quite deep and resonant and the Limba more full-frequency with long sustain. I figure as Purpleheart for the center strip would add a little clarity and high end resonance to the Mahogany (old Honduran) on the sides. Pics will be posted soon, the purple strip looks great next to that orange mahogany. For a neck, it will likely be some combination of Limba, Purpleheart, and Mahogany. Fretboard: still up in the air, something exotic, though. Something brighter than Indian Rosewood, but not as bright as Maple or Ebony. So I've considered Ziracote, Bloodwood, Purpleheart, Bocote, Zebrawood, etc. Frets: Big, Jumbo ones! Top: Considering Padouk with some accent strips of Walnut and Limba down the center. I want something fairly clear and bright sounding and something that looks exotic and colorful. Figured Maple is a little to hard and bright for my tastes, plus everyone does it, so I want something different, but still sounds close to a Les Paul Custom

Got some more big one piece Mahogany blanks, 15", 15.5", and 16", as well as a few 13" wide ones and some 2-pc ribbon striped sets. Also more Limba and Flamed Limba necks listed. www.soundat11.com

I kinda prefer the 1-piece top. It really makes the top look larger and more spacious. Also bookmatched tops always draw my eyes directly to the center line, so that's all I see on the guitar top is that seam down the center. With the 1-piece tops (or 1-piece looking in the case of a neck-thru), it really adds a lot of visual space. That Walnut looks great next to the Mahogany, great choice.

I can definitely vouch for the quality of this Mahogany, it's very light weight, quite pretty in person, and extremely easy to cut/sand/plane.

Hi J, what about using some of the leftover Mahogany wood to cut a small block to fit in the cavity? Might be kinda tricky (of course a dark finish or sunburst would cover it). One thing to consider is what Gibson uses on the Tom Delonge model 335. It has no neck pickup, so it has a little decorative plastic cover over the neck joint, kinda cool looking. What could look really cool would be to do that out of wood (say, the matching mahogany) or the fretboard wood.