Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello Everyone,

Wanted to ask what you all thought would work best with a set of western big leaf maple I am building. My binding choices based on what I have available are, walnut, rosewood, and bloodwood. I am not putting any inlay on the back, just side binding.

What would you do?

Thank you!

Jeff

Hi Jeff
Any of the three would work but I am leaning towards the rosewood.

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The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

I agree with Michael. It is your choice. I have a fondness for bloodwood myself. Here’s a photo of a guitar I built that might help you decide.
Neil38459.552025463

I would do rosewood, it looks like a more elegant combination. Just my opinion. I have used cocobolo, which looks similar to bloodwood on myrtle b/s, and I really didn't like the combination. You can see for yourself:

Tracy

I haven't heard of this great fondness for bloodwood and have only made one guitar bound in bloodwood many years ago. Upchargeing for bloodwood may come from it's difficulty in bending, at least that was the case for me. I think they would all look great so I'm afraid the choice is yours my friend. I struggle with the same thing trying to design something with nice appointments while not over done. A guitar doesn't need a lot of fancy trim to look good. I like to keep it simple and let the wood show it's beauty. By the way Neil, that guitar looks very nice. Most of my backs get just a binding or one line purfling.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

If you are going to put a clear or amber finish on it I am kind of partial to ebony with a w/b side purfling.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

my pick would be the rosewood...

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I'd go with Bloodwood...I like it!

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

personally, i like the rosewood. whatever you choose, make sure to share the pics!

Hey Jeff,

We weren't much help were we? Everyone's got their own opinion on this one. I'm curious, what did you decide?

Neil,

Thanks for asking. To be perfectly honest, I assembled the sides, added the kerfing, profiled the top and back, and then ended up glueing the back on the top side! Yes, if a mistake in guitar building can be made, I will find a way to make it.

I worked carefully to remove the back, thought I had it....and split the side with a big nasty crack. So, binding is no longer an issue for that set of maple. Hopefully I can get another set soon.

Lesson learned. After bending sides and adding head and tail blocks, I now label the sides to indicate top and back with a pencil. Hopefully I will not repeat that mistake again.

Thanks for the help, I do appreciate it.

Jeff

Jeff,

I gotta say thanks for sharing your SNAFU!!! Ya missed a good chance for an experiment, though. Since, I'm guessing, you hadn't glued the top on the back side yet, you could have left the maple on top, modified your bracing, cut a sound hole or two where you could, and then put the "top" on the back! It might have sounded awful, might have sounded good, might have sounded unlike any other guitar (in a good way), and it certainly would have been unique. A lot of strange work, I know, especially modifying the headblock, but sometimes you CAN turn garbage into gold--well, OK, sterling silver at least.

Carlton

Sorry to hear that. How bad is the crack? I repair a lot of cracks so it might be fixable. If you post a picture maybe we could figure a way to fix it.