Official Luthiers Forum!

I am looking into building an electric guitar and could use some information on a couple topics.

The first is what wood would you suggest to build the body out of? i see that Basswood is popular and so is swamp ash. I am considering using Paulownia. It is light and comes from a very fast growing tree. Has anyone tried this wood?

How large should the body blank be? Most seem to be around 1 3/4" to 2" thick, 14 Wide, and 21 or so long. Would 1 1/2" thick work or should I get 1" boards and join them?

For the top I have a 15/16" set of spalted maple. I like it and would like to find someone to mill it into 2-3 sets. Any suggestions on who to use for this?

The answer to some of the questions really is very application specific.  The length and width dimensions that you specify would be great for basically any guitar body...The thickness really depends on the model you plan on making or modelling your own after.  Les Paul's are or approach about 3 in thick, while your Tele's and your Strats are closer to the 1.75 in thick. 

In terms of what type of wood that is a tough call too-It is sound dependent. (Obviously there could be a million arguments against the type of wood significantly affecting guitar tone, but I believe that is certainly colors the tone)  Some lower density woods can eat some of the body vibration making your tone more muddy, but this has to be balanced with the final picture of how heavy you want your guitar to be...Personally, I'd go swamp ash, but it is heavier...

It can be anything you want it be though, I guess.

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

Oh yeah,

if your are planning on carving your top, you will probably want the whole thickness of your spalted maple, or you will carve right through it, and have a guitar whose flashy top does not match the body profile...

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

Mahogany is generally my favorite electric body wood, I think it sounds good and looks great.

My LPs are 1.75" of mahogany and a top cap of just over 1/2" carved. The top plates are generally 3/4" give or take when I start the process.

Here is a construction shot of a spalted one.

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

Brock, I love the figure on that, And the fingerboard... Well, that is going to be a nice looking guitar.

Wonderful Brock!
That one has "Hand crafted" written all over it!
Great choice of woods.
Are you making knobs too?

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

Thanks

It is getting rosewood knobs.

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

Jared,
I just used popler for the body wood of my last electric.
I'm not sure how it effects the sound but it is the lightest electric I've made.

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

Geez Brock, why don't you talk about electrics more? You always post
great pics of them. This one's in construction right now? People on The
Gear Page are always posting shots of carved tops that run in the same
range as custom acoustics and don't look as impressive as yours.

Jared, what type of guitar would you like. And within THAT genre, what
type? For example, I like Alder for my electrics, which are Fender type
guitars. The other popular choice for those is ash, but my favorite
recordings have been done with Alder strats, so my new strat is Alder.
Eric Clapton, Edge, John Mayer, etc.

So first, tell us the guitar type, then the application Ziegenfuss wrote.

On his same line, waht about Alder? The last electric guitar body I built was in 1979. I used eastern maple because the thinking was denser wood equals greater sustain. I think that electronics have come a LONG way since then and now you can 'flavour' your sound electronically so you can build a light weight guitar and still have incredible sound. But I am not sure! I do know that I have lots of alder growing on my property and that many are a pretty good size. I also now taht it is becoming a popular wood for guitar bodies. For those taht have used it, does it matter if the wood is quartersawn or not? Also, what about laminations, is a 3 or four piece body accepatable?

Sorry Jared, I hope this isn't a high jack but rather another wood option with more details that will help me out and you as well.

Shane

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Canada

Id also like to know more about alder - as my area is LOUSY with it!!! In fact theres a massive one in my yard that has to come down for a sewer line thats going in this June.
Its not really too popular a choice for lumber around these parts and is considered firewood around here mainly...
Anyhow good questions Shane, Im sure the answers will help blindreality as much as it does yourself and myself.
Cheers
Charliewood

Careful, you'll have Shane standing in your yard waiting for the "TIMBER!"  Then we'll all be building guitars with Alder for the next 5 years.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

No problem Shane, it is all on topic.

 

I am not much of an electric player. I have 60's Fender Tele remake that I like alright, but I thought that if I built one that I might be inclined to play more. I would also give me something to try out some finishing techniques on before I get there with my acoustic. So the exact genre of playing style is up in the air. I figured that I would build another Tele body style with a few minor changes since I have one on hand to examine.

Pretty Brock! (The guitar I mean...not that you're a bad-looking dude or anything...it just isn't something I'd normally say! ) But, the guitar's a beaut! Is it for you or is it a "seller"?

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Brock--WOW!--that's fantastic.
You make the coolest electrics.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Hey Jared

Well, I said it above, but I love Alder for Fender style guitars. My tele is
Alder, and the new guitar I'm working on is Alder as well (Jazzmaster
body with Strat electronics/hardware). People often say ash, but my
favorites use Alder. John Mayer, The Edge, Eric Clapton... I'm not a
Fender expert who can tell you when they started using Alder instead of
Ash, but I know I like it.

Shane buddy, again, I'm no expert, but I only hear of two piece bodies.
Call USA Custom Guitars to see what they prefer. They're a big buyer and
make the best replica bodies around.

[QUOTE=Brock Poling]
Mahogany is generally my favorite electric body wood, I think it sounds good and looks great.

My LPs are 1.75" of mahogany and a top cap of just over 1/2" carved. The top plates are generally 3/4" give or take when I start the process.

Here is a construction shot of a spalted one.

[/QUOTE]



Brock, when you use a huge piece of spalted wood like that do you toughen it up with CA or Polycryl, or just put your regular finish on it?

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

It could depend on the sponginess of the spalt. I was surprised to find out that the color and the sponginess aren't correlated- I have two pieces of spalted maple and the one which is super colorful is still very hard (I do a fingernail test) whereas the very mildly spalted one is quite soft.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

It depends on the piece. Some is pretty hard and I use it as is, others is so punky that I pour in as much CA as it will take.

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

Brock: nice guitar! Is that fingerboard bound, or 'just' fitted with purfling?

Spalt's funny stuff, and getting good quality, not too checked, not too punky material is a challenge, but it's certainly worth it in terms of looks!

As for body woods, mahogany (real, but mostly Khaya, Sipo, Sapele) is my favourite wood for necks and bodies, often paired with a maple cap, very often also chambered. Swamp Ash is also very nice, has pores the size of the grand canyon though. Millions of Fenders have proved that Alder is also a perfectly great tonewood in its own right, and is dead easy to finish (no pores to fill), moderate weight, non-exotic, so it's always a good choice.

Bodies can be made of all types of woods; Pauwolina's possible, though I've never used it, as is Walnut, Cherry (bit heavy), Maple (soft, and it may be a little bright), Limba (black or white)...list goes on. I also reccomend you not get too hung op on 1-piece bodies. The stuff's harder to find, doesn't sound any better than 1-piece, and you can often find better quality narrower pieces for 2-piece bodies; with woods like mahogany, alder, even swamp ash you can get very attractive blanks that flow nicely. Examples: both of these are 2-piece bodies, flip-matched (cut two pieces, sequential, rotate one 180 degrees so the glued sides are from the same edge of the board):

Swamp Ash strat body


Khaya Mahogany (African) chambered singlecut body:

Nice stuff Matt and Brock...anyone have any wisdom on an SG-type guitar? A teen friend of my daughter is interested in "helping" me in the shop this summer and likes SG's...the only plan I've found is on the "other" forum, but I've found templates from the guy I've used before...

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Wisdom on SG's: use mahogany throughout, and carefully think about how you want to do the neck joint/neck pickup route. You want to be removing as little wood as possible there.

Mattia,
I love the shpae of the Khaya body!
Can we see any more of that one?

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

Brock,
Gorgeous guitar...I am about to start a double cutaway L.P. What is your source of Mahogany? It's starting to get harder and harder to get one piece blanks at a decent price. Also have you tried Ancient Kauri? I have some of that on order...

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Dave Bland

remember...

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

[QUOTE=Wade S.] Mattia,
I love the shpae of the Khaya body!
Can we see any more of that one?

Wade[/QUOTE]

Thanks! It's a slightly oversize version of my solidbody singlecut, will be a sort of 'electric archtop' with a braced euro spruce top and a tailpiece. When I get a bit more work done on it I'll shoot a few more pics.