Best wood for solid body?

  • Thread starter Thread starter getuhgrip
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getuhgrip

getuhgrip

Bring Back Transfat!
I've got several necks and boxes of pickups and hardware.
This winter I'm gonna try my hand at buliding a couple bodies.
Might call it the SG Stratonez Telewing. I dunno.

What are the better woods to use in terms of thick tone and sustain?

On at least one, I want to experiment with a three piece construction like some of the Carvins. I made a malpe/ash/maple table in 7th grade woodshop and it turned out pretty nice! :cool:
 
I'm partial to a bit of ash, mmmmmmmmm. The amount of sustain is more to do with the volume/weight of the wood. I believe Mahogony is great for this (face it les paul's have the sustain and are made of a Carved maple top, Mahogany back); maybe it's the maple-I don't know.
 
This is by no means scientific, but if you tap a piece of wood firmly you can get an idea of what kind of tone it will give you, some wood types give a dull thud with no sustain others will give a sharp bright 'tock' sound which rings for a while.
 
I second the mahogany vote, especially because I like a warm tone.

Here's a quick and dirty breakdown of some popular woods:


Mahogany: Nice sustain and thick tone. Examples include Les Pauls and PRS's.

Alder: Extremely popular wood. Inexpensive. Full sound and light weight. Examples include Strats and most Ibanez's.

Basswood: Light weight, warm tone.

Maple: Bright tone. Often used for necks and guitar tops.

Rosewood: A bit warmer than maple. Often used for fretboards over maple necks.





Matt
 
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