What sort of wood?

[Brian Hunter]

I am going to build myself a d8. I know what I want as far as pickups and nuts/bridges and tuners. But what about the body? I would like to use maple. A lumber yard here quoted me a price of 286 bucks for a 2'x3'x2" slab of soft white maple. Does this sound high? What other woods could I be thinking about? Ideas? Thank you.

[mac639]

Why don't you just go to Home Depot or Lowes etc. They have usually lots of nice maple boards at a fairly reasonable price. A 1 x 8 x 8ft. long is all you need.
Cheers,
Mac

[azureskys]

Dont pay that much for that wood , wayyyyyyy to high sounds like he s trying to rip you off. i personally use a lot of oak, pin , red, white and swamp oak , cherry is good sycamore, walnut even pine works out surprisingly good Ive even seen some pretty good steel guitars made from plywood ,maple is nice wood especially if its got flame in it but then again alot of different woods have flame , some will disagree with me but as far as sound goes maple isnt any better than any other wood, you might try and find a local sawmill who might have a decent price on maple wood if thats what you want.Taylor guitars did an artical one time about oak they made a guitar out of an oak pallet and commented on how it sounded as good as anything they ever made, fender guitars uses pine in some of its telecastors various guitar makers use different woods and they all swear by them , walnut is used alot in custom guitars and there is a pedal steel makes that uses a hard board type of wood over an aluminum frame (dieboard) you have all kinds of options. Russ

[Georg]

... as far as sound goes maple isnt any better than any other wood ...

Should not come as a surprise that I agree entirely.

[Allan]

I just know that the 'purists' will hate it but I have long been of the same mind. Oh, I know the theory and the thoughts that most have but my own experience doesn't agree.
I have actually seen and touched that Taylor made from the pallet. The story behind it is really good, well worth looking up. I am sure it is on the net somewhere.
I have built many guitars (and other instruments) in my time, both conventional and experimental. The best, from the point of view of sustain and over all sound, was a console steel and it was build from a nice piece of heavy, 3/4" ply that someone gave me.
My point is that there is a LOT more to the thing than just paying big bucks for expensive wood. When LF built the early Broadcaster/Telecaster guitars he used a variety of pine as he wasn't even sure that they would sell - he wanted to keep it cheap at that point. Just look at the price that these things go for now! That wouldn't be the case if they didn't sound good.
The 'tone wood' myth is just that in my opinion - a myth. Find a piece of wood that you like the look of and hold it up by one corner and rap it with a knuckle. You will soon know if it is 'live' or 'dead'.
Wood is still a natural substance so the above is just a guide - things CAN change when you cut it but if it starts out 'dead' that is not likely to improve.

There, I probably got a few people steamed with that but it is my experience and I will continue to go with it in my own projects - mostly worked so far!

[Gary Patterson]

That's definitely too much to pay, but maybe OK for that set of dimensions. I suggest you confine your search to 3/4" stock (or whatever thickness you design to) to save money and the trouble of resawing and planing.

I bought a 7" x 40+" x 3/4 birdseye maple board from Bell Wood Products in Ishpeming, MI. Paid $15 + +12 for shipping. They post specific boards on ebay, and you can choose the exact one you want. They also have a website, but I don't know if and how they let you pick your material there.

[Brian Hunter]

Thanks all!
I put the word out on facebook this morning about what I wanted and a friend called to tell me that he has two very nice slabs of oak that he will glue together for me to make what I need. All for the price of a 6 pack.
I'm set for the wood now!

[richard37066]

For whatever it's worth, I'm compelled to add a little something to Allan's post.

I, too, have built a dozen instruments in times past. Classic guitars in the '60's. This was when one could get genuine Brazilian rosewood without wondering whether it was "authorized" for sale or whether one was getting a look-alike masquerading as the real thing.

The term "tone wood" has sprung up in recent years and implies that there is something mystical about a given specie. Hogwash! Any dense hardwood will vibrate readily thus the choice is wide open.

For classic guitar tops and flat-top instruments, however, the story is a little different. The skimpy thickness of those tops virtually require that the wood be quarter-sawn and close-grained. There are two advantages: - the first is that a quarter-sawn piece will have a greater AVERAGE density than slab-sawn. Vibrates more readily. "Rings" when ya knock it with a knuckle. The second is that the considerable string tension on the top requires greater strength to the wood. Quarter-sawn wood does have greater strength, in bending, than slab-sawn.

The only other thing to really consider is the moisture content of the selected piece. If it's "bleeding" when you cut and assemble things then it might well resemble an airplane propeller in a couple of years. NOT! No doubt that piece of oak from a pallet as used in that Taylor guitar was as dry as it would get.

As most will remember, I intend using "die-board" laminated with, perhaps, 1/8" of some exotic wood. The "die-board" will provide the ultimate in the combination of strength and stability while the laminate is just to make it "purdy".

Until someone can show, conclusively, that one specie of wood is superior to another in the construction of the PSG, then as far as I'm concerned just grab the first thing that tickles your fancy and let it fly!

My 2½ cents worth.

Richard

[Pat Comeau]

For whatever it's worth, I'm compelled to add a little something to Allan's post.

I, too, have built a dozen instruments in times past. Classic guitars in the '60's. This was when one could get genuine Brazilian rosewood without wondering whether it was "authorized" for sale or whether one was getting a look-alike masquerading as the real thing.

The term "tone wood" has sprung up in recent years and implies that there is something mystical about a given specie. Hogwash! Any dense hardwood will vibrate readily thus the choice is wide open.

For classic guitar tops and flat-top instruments, however, the story is a little different. The skimpy thickness of those tops virtually require that the wood be quarter-sawn and close-grained. There are two advantages: - the first is that a quarter-sawn piece will have a greater AVERAGE density than slab-sawn. Vibrates more readily. "Rings" when ya knock it with a knuckle. The second is that the considerable string tension on the top requires greater strength to the wood. Quarter-sawn wood does have greater strength, in bending, than slab-sawn.

The only other thing to really consider is the moisture content of the selected piece. If it's "bleeding" when you cut and assemble things then it might well resemble an airplane propeller in a couple of years. NOT! No doubt that piece of oak from a pallet as used in that Taylor guitar was as dry as it would get.

As most will remember, I intend using "die-board" laminated with, perhaps, 1/8" of some exotic wood. The "die-board" will provide the ultimate in the combination of strength and stability while the laminate is just to make it "purdy".

Until someone can show, conclusively, that one specie of wood is superior to another in the construction of the PSG, then as far as I'm concerned just grab the first thing that tickles your fancy and let it fly!

My 2½ cents worth.

Richard

Richard...
why do you always have to complicate things with everything?

life is so simple..just use maple for tone and streight

Pat

[Dave-M]

I use two pieces of 3/4 x 5-1/2 x 48 maple or oak (actual size).

I use five biscuits (those small, oval, thin plywood things to put in a groove made by a biscuit joiner, for those who are not familiar with them) and glue them together.

Alternatively, a tongue-and-groove made with a router, or even a table saw, would also strengthen the joint, but would reduce the width by 3/8".

Four feet is the shortest length available at Home Hardware, and I cut them down to about three feet. The price of the 5-1/2 maple is around $18. I use 3-1/2 wide for the front and back of the body.