Wood? Does anyone have any idea what to pick for projects like solid body guitar?
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Really depends on what finish you will use, ie., will it be painted or natural wood.
Any wood can be used for guitars, and just about anything else for that matter, even concrete - but that is heavy. Doing a full live set with a Les Paul is very different than doing a set with a guitar made of Alder or Basswood.
Here is a guitar made out of pallet wood:
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Gibson uses Maple exclusively for their necks (I think). Fret boards, something dense usually, ebony, maple, mahogany.
If you really wish to dive into the subject, try Googling - Tonewoods.
Any wood can be used for guitars, and just about anything else for that matter, even concrete - but that is heavy. Doing a full live set with a Les Paul is very different than doing a set with a guitar made of Alder or Basswood.
Here is a guitar made out of pallet wood:
Gibson uses Maple exclusively for their necks (I think). Fret boards, something dense usually, ebony, maple, mahogany.
If you really wish to dive into the subject, try Googling - Tonewoods.
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94 Posts
As other have said, you can technically use just about any wood for bodies
but....
it depends what your ultimate goal is. If it's for your own personal enjoyment the sky is the limit.
However, if you're thinking in terms of resale value, stray from the industry standards at your own risk. For example, good luck ever selling a custom strat made out of red oak. (Although Brian May's main guitar is red oak! This is an anomaly but should tell you something that one of the greatest ever uses red oak )
I've been in the industry for a while now and electric guitar players are traditionalists - if it doesn't look like a strat/les paul/tele shape with the "normal" woods, buyers are immediately skeptical. Bass players are more open to new shapes & woods. I don't know why but they are.
The "safest" woods to use for resale are:
Gibson Style builds:
Genuine Mahogany
African Mahogany
White Limba
Fender Style builds:
Alder
Swamp Ash
Basswood
Pine
Go to the luthier forums on The Gear Page or MyLesPaul to read what experienced builders are using.
Good luck with the build and have fun!
Steve
but....
it depends what your ultimate goal is. If it's for your own personal enjoyment the sky is the limit.
However, if you're thinking in terms of resale value, stray from the industry standards at your own risk. For example, good luck ever selling a custom strat made out of red oak. (Although Brian May's main guitar is red oak! This is an anomaly but should tell you something that one of the greatest ever uses red oak )
I've been in the industry for a while now and electric guitar players are traditionalists - if it doesn't look like a strat/les paul/tele shape with the "normal" woods, buyers are immediately skeptical. Bass players are more open to new shapes & woods. I don't know why but they are.
The "safest" woods to use for resale are:
Gibson Style builds:
Genuine Mahogany
African Mahogany
White Limba
Fender Style builds:
Alder
Swamp Ash
Basswood
Pine
Go to the luthier forums on The Gear Page or MyLesPaul to read what experienced builders are using.
Good luck with the build and have fun!
Steve
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6,311 Posts
Online resources for identifying wood species?
Wood Database: Wood Articles | The Wood Database
Hobbit House Inc: HobbitHouse Wood ID site
Wood Database: Wood Articles | The Wood Database
Hobbit House Inc: HobbitHouse Wood ID site
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2 Posts
Another consideration for body wood is the weight of the guitar. I made my first one from a solid slab of walnut. Beautiful but heavy. So heavy I really don’t enjoy playing it. So now mostly I look at it hanging on the wall. If I could do it again I’d have chosen a lighter wood for the body and capped it with walnut.
For the neck I have made a solid quarter sawn maple, and also a laminated one from multiple species mixed in with the maple. My thought is that I want the neck to be stable and stiff. Fingerboards are usually a very hard wood for durability. Rosewood, ebony are the usual choices. I did one with Ziricote because of the unique figuring.
In addition to the forums already mentioned, I made significant use of advice at TDPRI.
Good luck with your build.
For the neck I have made a solid quarter sawn maple, and also a laminated one from multiple species mixed in with the maple. My thought is that I want the neck to be stable and stiff. Fingerboards are usually a very hard wood for durability. Rosewood, ebony are the usual choices. I did one with Ziricote because of the unique figuring.
In addition to the forums already mentioned, I made significant use of advice at TDPRI.
Good luck with your build.
You've got good suggestions already. Rather than type of wood, I'm much more concerned about scale length, pickup selection, weight, and ergonomics.
Historically, Leo Fender used swamp ash and alder for production guitars, almost exclusively with maple necks. He didn't choose them because they sound good; he chose them because they were cheap (at the time) and he was designing guitars with a production line mentality. Today, Fender also uses poplar and basswood. Several other companies do as well.
By contrast, Gibson used mostly mahogany bodies and necks, influenced in large part by Les Paul (the man) who was a showman. Les believed mahogany was more sophisticated and would be more desirable to professionals. So, Gibson had a very different perspective on why they chose the wood they did, and neither they nor Fender made their choices due to sound (this is true really only for solid bodies; once you get into acoustics and semi-hollows, wood choice matters immensely).
Like was mentioned above, guitar players can be extremely picky and traditional, and Gibson has done an especially good job of marketing to that mentality. But a good solid body can be made from nearly any wood, and often from many non-wood substances.
Now, when we talk about necks, that's a different story. Necks really need some characteristics, simply to manage the string tension. Quartsawn necks really are more stable, but flat sawn necks work well if the grain is straight and the neck is thick enough. I've only made necks from maple, mahogany, or walnut, and the walnut was a maple/walnut laminate. It was fine, but walnut is a little soft for me by itself.
For fretboards, it has to be dense. I prefer the look and feel of ebony, but I've used rosewood and wenge, too. It's gotta be dense enough to hold the fretwire and not dish out (scallop) too fast under playing pressure.
Historically, Leo Fender used swamp ash and alder for production guitars, almost exclusively with maple necks. He didn't choose them because they sound good; he chose them because they were cheap (at the time) and he was designing guitars with a production line mentality. Today, Fender also uses poplar and basswood. Several other companies do as well.
By contrast, Gibson used mostly mahogany bodies and necks, influenced in large part by Les Paul (the man) who was a showman. Les believed mahogany was more sophisticated and would be more desirable to professionals. So, Gibson had a very different perspective on why they chose the wood they did, and neither they nor Fender made their choices due to sound (this is true really only for solid bodies; once you get into acoustics and semi-hollows, wood choice matters immensely).
Like was mentioned above, guitar players can be extremely picky and traditional, and Gibson has done an especially good job of marketing to that mentality. But a good solid body can be made from nearly any wood, and often from many non-wood substances.
Now, when we talk about necks, that's a different story. Necks really need some characteristics, simply to manage the string tension. Quartsawn necks really are more stable, but flat sawn necks work well if the grain is straight and the neck is thick enough. I've only made necks from maple, mahogany, or walnut, and the walnut was a maple/walnut laminate. It was fine, but walnut is a little soft for me by itself.
For fretboards, it has to be dense. I prefer the look and feel of ebony, but I've used rosewood and wenge, too. It's gotta be dense enough to hold the fretwire and not dish out (scallop) too fast under playing pressure.
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