Guitar Tone Woods???

[dorkrockrecords]

[oipunkguy]

Hey Jim,

I went by the Martin factory when I was a kid. does anyone remember Martin's short lived solid body electric guitar line? they were called stingers I believe. But it's been a long time since I been there. I saw an interview with Martin's owner. he seems really cool, and said he was using more Cherry in guitars today, and that it was a good alternative to Mahogany. Or something to that affect.
I read on another forum somewhere that Brain May's original guitar was made of mahogany and oak, so maybe it can be used. I'd like to do something like that though, build several guitars with different woods. seems like a fun experiment.

[JimPage]

Hey, Aaron--

I do remember the Stingers, and I believe that was the correct name for them.

Before that, there were some very nice, if heavy, solidbody guitars and basses, and some semi-hollowbody ones and even some amps.

In about 1989, I waffled back and forth for a month or two on a solidbody Martin bass at a used store near my home. Seems like they only wanted $150 for it, too, but it had no case.

When someone smarter than me bought it I was steamed!!!

--Jim

[TerryTNM]

Hi Sarah and anyone interested,

A good builders forum would be the Musical Instrument Builders Forum http://www.mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX?11@235.yINday6xEWI.5@.2cb6b731

Kind of a good name for it.

I'll be looking for you at the Deke Fest. One of my guitars will be on display at NAMM at the Aphex booth in Hall B booth 5695

-Terry

[Perry]

It's possible to get fairly good wood from lumberyards or lumbermills. These generally have the major woods that are used in electric guitar construction. Buy your lumber in rough form and have it cut, planned, or thicknessed for you if you don't have access to wood working machines. It will cost more but will you save a lot of time.

In addition to tone, I would say that weight is another major consideration. Hard maple for bodies is usually too heavy, unless the body is very thin. Mahogany and walnut are very good. Check for twist in the boards you look at. Hard maple is very good for necks.

One general rule before building is to have the bridge you plan to use in hand. This is because it is necessary to determine the neck angle, if any.

I wouldn't spend a lot of money on material or parts for my first guitar. It's a learning experience, even from "mistakes" that need to be corrected.

[TerryTNM]

I wouldn't spend a lot of money on material or parts for my first guitar. It's a learning experience, even from "mistakes" that need to be corrected.

I would certainly support this logic.

-Terry

[Dnepr]

I've gotten wood from Marinas, and airports in the past for very good prices (usually free). Of course I have the space to house a boat or airplane while I extract the goods which helps.
Nothing like 40+ year old spruce or mahogany!

[dorkrockrecords]

Sarah -

I believe that is the short-lived Dobro brand foray into solidbody electric guitars, made back in the late '70s or early '80s.

Adam

That would be very interesting Adam. Can you point me in the right direction to look into that?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0491351113

[woodchuck30]

I done some research on the types of wood used on guitars and came to the conclusion that the bass wood and popel that some builders use are below the midel of the tone quality scale where as mahoganey is in the midel of the scale swamp ash and alder are above the midel of the tone scale. mapel which is harder wood is above the ash and alder. as far as paying big bucks for a blank of any of the above mentionen, Ichoose to go to home depot and select the best mapel boards they have, lamanate them into a blank and go from their

[MOSDAN]

Just my 2 cents here but the type of wood on solid bodies is not as important to coloration of sound to solid bodies as it is to acoustic and hollow body guitars. The weight of the guitar is definitely a factor when it comes to different woods on solid bodies. The type of hardware has the largest effect on sustain and to some degree tone. As an example, if we look back at the 70's and 80's many brands used metal nuts and bridges to increase sustain. Examples are Ibanez Artist series, Daion Guitars, Electra, Westone and of course Mosrite-even though Mosrite nuts technically were a string retainer. Many of the solid body guitars used woods laminated together and if nothing else produced beautiful looking guitars when finished with a clear finish. The old debate still exists today as to the type of neck attachment being the most efficient for sound out of a solid body. Whether it is bolt on, fixed, or thru body has strengths and weakness to all of these designs so it is really up to the individual player for preference. I prefer some of these old vintage guitars over the modern guitars using plastic of varying forms. I have an vintage Ibanez Artist I have put against many Les Pauls and it will sustain longer and sounds better. Several of my friends that have Les Pauls agree with me and I bought a Vintage Ibanez Artist for one of them, who is like a brother, and he never plays his Les Paul any more. The Artist is now his work horse.

By the way Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars built an acoustic guitar from shipping pallets and this guitar sounds amazing and plays great!!!!!! It still has nails in it where the saws cut through the nails. Look it up on the Taylor Guitars web sight. I've played this guitar and found it amazing!!!!