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I understand why most woods found in New England arnt really suitable for instruments. I'd like to make a small, backpacker sized instrument using woods found native to where I live. Any suggestions?

Lots of New England woods are eminently suitable! Various maples, red spruce, cherry, perhaps oak, tamarack, walnut ... I'd avoid birch, poplar, and pine but that's my opinion. You might contact Dan MacArthur in Marlboro VT -- he's built entire instruments with local woods, avoiding all imported species.

Black Locust also has a lot of potential. Also, I believe that there is some Persimmon in N.E., which is an ebony and can be used for fretboards and bridges. There are lots of choices as Rick has mentioned.

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Any reason to avoid Birch? Gibson made some great archtops (including a few Loar L-5's) with Birch. I think they used Poplar for the blocks and lining too.

Hi,
I am building flattop instruments out of birch (flatsawn -flame) with a (gasp) poplar neck, quartersawn white oak (Honduran mahogany neck)
and walnut with a walnut neck.They all have adirondack spruce tops.

I have built plenty of archtops out of local maple with maple necks.

I also plan on using birch (one piece) for tops.

Regards,
Brad

Same question, but what about in the real England, Great Britain? In all seriousness, are there many suitable woods for building in England?

Tom we have quite a few different woods you can use.

Sycamore, Yew, Cherry, Lacewood, Ash, Oak, Pear, Walnut to name a few!

All the best
Dave

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