Guitar Tone Woods???

[oipunkguy]

Here's a topic I don't think been discussed a lot on this forum. And this question goes to a lot of the builders on here. Where do you guys go to look for good tone woods for luthiering projects??? I've picked up stuff from Stewmac, and also a place called West Penn Hardwoods before and been happy. But I would love to hear where you other guys get your stuff at. Thanks!

[TerryTNM]

As the story goes. . . great wood is where you find it.

My guitars are mainly made from curly maple but lately I've been using some mahogany.
Buying online with good pictures sometimes works OK. Ebay at times has some pretty good boards and Gillmer Hardwoods has a good site as well as Exotic Woods in NY.
The best place I've found is at the NAMM show. Usually 4 or 5 vendors there with great wood and you get to see the wood with your own eyes. It's not inexpensive.
A 5A set of book matched curly Maple thick enough to carve for a top or a back will run from $200 to $275. Remember that's for a front or back so you need 2 sets plus neck wood it gets expensive

I wouldn't trust most lumber yards to have instrument grade wood. Nothing against Stew-Mac but you never know what the board is going to look like
if you order. I tried that once from Grizzly Tools - the picture of it was great what they sent was more like firewood.

It's always a hunt for the best wood. I'd be curious to see where others find their wood.

Terry

[Sarah93003]

This will be a very educational thread to read. I've really been wanting to make my own guitar. My first project will be an extreme modification of a trashed out Gretsch that I bought on eBay. I've finally collected all of the components and talked to the luthier that is going to supervise my project. We'll get started after the NAAM show. I'm very stoked about this one. I think I'd like to make a solid bodied electric yet and I've been thinking about the wood and where to get it. We have a local place that sells exotic woods but I don't know if that is the answer. I do know that a local guitar builder buys from them because I've seen one of his tele style guitars made from zebra wood. I think the downside to some of the exotic woods is their weight. I love the look of cocobello but I can't even imagine how heavy a guitar body would be from that one.

I would like to know how much effect the wood has on the tone of a solid body guitar. Do people select mahogany because of it's tone, or because of it's look and workability?

[oipunkguy]

Hey Sarah,

It's usually all about tone. Different woods have large varieties in tone. For example maple is very bright, whereas mahogany is probably the darkest sounding wood. There is other factors as well, like price, difficulty in carving, weight, etc. But usually the primary reason is always tone. Here's a few links to educate you on the differences of woods commonly used for guitars.

http://www.carvinguitars.com/colorwoodguide/
http://www.cbguitars.com/woods.htm

[TerryTNM]

Hello Sarah,
All the best on your project. I've never built a solid body guitar but certainly the species makes a big difference in weight. But I'm not so certain on how it effects audible sound. There are all kinds of emotions when it comes to tone wood but I'm not so certain that it's a measurable quantity.

Master luthier Bob Benedetto states in his book 'Archtop Top Guitar - Design and Construction' - To test a theory, Bob built an archtop guitar, made just like his standard
jazz guitar that would normally be built with a select spruce top with 5A maple back and sides but this one he made from KNOTTY PINE. . . It sounded every bit as good and the spruce/maple version.

So, ever since reading that, I've been very sceptical when someone says something like "Oh, you get a much brighter sound from an ebony fingerboard than rosewood, or something like that. I think those kind of variations may only be seen on an oscilloscope wave, not by human ears.

Certainly on a solid body electric guitar the body wood isn't the main source of tone.

Again, good luck and happy building on your project. Keep us up to date on your progress. If you're going to Deke's Geek Fest stop by our table. I'd like to meet you.

Terry

[oipunkguy]

Hey Terry,

I'm curious, have you ever heard of anyone using Oak for guitar building? I've never seen it, but didn't know why it wasn't used. On antiques I find Oak can splinter terribly at times. That's cool about the knotty pine guitar. That would be a really nice wood to put a translucent finish on. you are always a wealth of information.

[TerryTNM]

Hello Aaron,

No, haven't seen oak used for guitars. For me anyway, the weight doesn't justify the looks and then it's an open grain wood that's harder to finish. I don't see
an obvious technical reason not to use it. It is fairly stable and very ridged. I would imagine there have been some who've tried it.

There are several luthier forums on the net populated by some very knowledgeable builders. That is a good source of information on just about
every aspect of construction. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an archived thread out there about using oak in instrument making.

Take care,

Terry

[Veenture]

There are all kinds of emotions when it comes to tone wood but I'm not so certain that it's a measurable quantity. ...I've been very sceptical when someone says something like "Oh, you get a much brighter sound from an ebony fingerboard than rosewood, or something like that. I think those kind of variations may only be seen on an oscilloscope wave, not by human ears.

Very interesting observations Terry. I've always thought that wood (i.e. the DENSITY of it) plays a part in the sustain of a guitar's sound. So a less dense wood (take Balsa if you like; impractical for guitar-building but as an example) or wood finished with a real thick coat of paint, would absorb the vibrations of the strings more, thereby adversely effecting sustain

The THICKNESS of the woods used in all hollow-bodied guitars and the size of the cavities of course would be significant factors contributing to the character (resonation) of the soundwaves produced. So combined with the TYPE of wood used you get a variation of sustain plus resonation?

[TerryTNM]

Hi Veenture,
I think all of the instrument building techniques as well as the wood type (to a much lesser extent) play a role in the final sound. Your example of using Balsa wood as an extreme comparison would seem to a valid argument if it were not for the archtop jazz guitar made from knotty pine by Bob Benedetto. That's the one comparison that really got my attention. Bob is probably the worlds foremost archtop luthier.

I think sustain is more a part of the density of the neck rather than the body. But heck, these are just my observations. I'm no expert and I have a tin ear anyway.

Speaking of sustain. Have you seen the Gretsch Viking? They had a curious bridge that the strings interwove connecting to a tuning fork that extended into the body.

-Terry

[handbrake]

Hi Terry,
Is there a basic guide available to desirable characteristics of tone woods? I ask because I live surrounded by spruce trees, namely Sitka spruce. The area is also dominated by hemlock, yellow cedar and alder. The other half of the question would naturally be, is there a market for new sources of suitable tone woods?

A while back I noticed there was a guy from Kake, Alaska selling spruce for guitars on eBay. I'm not sure if he's still doing it.

The simple question after all this exposition might be: what do I look for in our local woods that would be suitable (if not desirable) for making guitars?

Thanks!