Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey guys! I don't post much, since I've yet to build anything but partscasters, and I have very limited info to offer considering all of the knowledgeable and talented luthiers here. But speaking of building, I have a few questions, but first I need to preface them with a little info.
I would like to build an electric from scratch. I believe I can do this, and do it fairly well. The problem is cash. My wife and I are on a fixed budget(a small one). Every time I think I can afford a body blank, neck wood, etc., something always comes up that requires the limited funds we have. The maple neck wood I can get from Stewmac pretty cheap(around $50-$60 for f/board and neck blank), and that would IMHO be the most important part structurally, so I would bite the bullet and get that from them. My question is about body wood.
I've been toying with the idea of pine. I know that the early Fender Broadcaster prototype was pine, and also I believe a couple of the very early teles were as well. Also, recently there was a post(I think on this forum, but I belong to about 5 build forums, so I could be mistaken) that followed the building of a spruce bodied strat. I realise that pine and spruce are both soft, but they are also fairly light, which might be a plus. So with all that in mind, here's the question: I can get (from the borg) what is billed as spruce pine fir very cheap. I assume the reason for the vague nominclature is that it could be either of the three. Is there any way to tell the difference? Also, has anyone here built an electric with this type of wood? Ideally, I'd like a nice piece of alder, but my thinking is that the experience of the build would be more valuable than the sum of the parts, and I might actually get to build a guitar this year instead of talking about it. Later, when finances are better, I can build with better wood for the body. Any experiences/thoughts on this appreciated.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Well I've seen electrics made with formica tops, made out of pipes, the original Les Paul Log, and i believe that someone recently posted a pine guitar on MIMF. There are many many discussions on how wood affects tone in an electric. I for one dont think there's anything wrong with trying it. However, if you really look around you may have free sources of wood all around you. My first electric was a mahogany body with cherry top. The mahogany was from a bed frame that was given to me and the cherry was also given to me. I also made the neck out of the donor cherry, laminated. Don't rip apart the racecar bed, and certainly not your wife's nightstand, but look around and you may find some other sources.


An additional consideration is that pine has a tendency to weep sap forever.

Darrin

Find out where your local specialty timbers/lumber yard is, then read up on how to select timber for instruments, is my advice.

We've got a place nearby that has great timber at really cheap prices (compared to "tonewood dealers") where I can find enough really good timber to make an electric and I could do it all for way less than $100 Australian dollars (probably closer to $50 or less). Because I know what to look for when I sort through the pile. I think learning how to pick suitable timber from a stack in a lumber yard is the info you really need. That, and how to process rough sawn lumber.

Last time I went, I picked up enough timber for six neck blanks at about $9 a piece.

Wood is the cheapest part of the guitar.

However, you can build with anything that's solid if you can cut it.

I was amazed when folks started using spalted maple.

I always burned every piece I saw. Others use it as the centerpiece as a rosette or in the case of electrics as top wood.

It's amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it.

Good luck, we'll be watching.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

A few thoughts, I use spf in furniture on occasions, I always set aside good looking framing lumber when I come across it, which isnt often. Around here most all the 2x4, 2x6, 2x8's are spruce, 2x10 & 12's can be spruce or yellow pine. All the preasure treated lumber here is yellow pine. I rarely see douglas fir, but out west it is common. Once found it has some issues, moisture content being the biggest .If its below 14% in the lumber yard your lucky I keep my hardwoods stored in climate controlled area, temp above 60, humidity around 40/45%, it takes about 6 months for a peice of framing lumber to dry to 8/10% stored in those conditions and it seems to reach 8 or below in year and I wont use it until then. the best way to learn to distinguish spruce from yellow pine from fir is to see it, and handle it. Yellow pine is harder and heavier then spruce, I have some old growth yellow pine that I believe is harder then oak. All that being said, another good source for usable wood is the trash bin of a cabinet shop, make friends with a small shop owner and they will happy to supply you with cut offs of no use to them that could easily make an electric guitar body. Good luck, happy wood hunting

Thanks, all. I'm still toying with the idea(still trying to find a piece of hardwood if I can). Whatever I decide to do, I'll post when I begin to build, pine or not.





Chris, where is "around here"? Anywhere close to Virginia?



Thanks, and good to know, as I might have more questions.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Well, perhaps I should have looked more closely at what the borg had to offer before posting this. I found some 2x8 marked N SPR GER, which I assume means northern Spruce. There was only one small knot in an 8' length, however, it and every other piece of lumber there is flatsawn. There's not the remotest possibility of finding any thing anywhere close to quartersawn. All of it looks like it would warp or cup if you even looked at it funny. It was a waste of my time simply thinking about it.
Oh well, I guess I won't start building anything anytime soon. There are, however, a couple of lumber yards listed in the yellow pages that are fairly local. I'll check them out as soon as I get a chance. At this point a decent piece of poplar would be a real find! In the meantime, I have a used strat body I can work on finish with, and I'm also finishing a no name LP copy as a favor for a friend, so I've at least got something guitar-like to play around with. Thank you to all who replied. Your opinions/help is appreciated.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.