Tonewoods

[G-String]

hey guys, Me and A friend are building A guitar body. Actually, he is. He is an artist with wood and very talented. Actually, we're building three bodies. Two
Strat style and one Telecaster body. We bought this wood yesterday called Purple Heart. It gets more purple the longer it lays in the sun. Very expensive and dense. Also very heavy. Now, I know that Ash and Alder are the two most common in Fender guitars, but I was wondering if anyone might know
What another good tonewood would be? What would be the best. This may be fact or opinion. Thanks....

 

[Light]

hey guys, Me and A friend are building A guitar body. Actually, he is. He is an artist with wood and very talented. Actually, we're building three bodies. Two
Strat style and one Telecaster body. We bought this wood yesterday called Purple Heart. It gets more purple the longer it lays in the sun. Very expensive and dense. Also very heavy. Now, I know that Ash and Alder are the two most common in Fender guitars, but I was wondering if anyone might know
What another good tonewood would be? What would be the best. This may be fact or opinion. Thanks....

Best is of course an opinion.

First of all, purple hear bleads like a stuck pig, so you don't really want to laminate it next to another wood. If you do, you will need to wipe it down with acetone until it stops making the rag purple (good luck on that one). You MUST wipe any glueing surfaces with acetone, because it is a very oilly wood. Some would say to use epoxy with it, but having a reapair shop my montra is NEVER use epoxy, for anything. (At least, not for anything much, and the uses are very selective and limited. I use it for laminating neck blanks and bodies, and that is it.) Purple heart can make a nice fingerboard, and it doesn't need to be finished.

My favorite wood combination is mahogany and ash. The mahogany is warm and chunky, and the ash is bright and punchy.

For more on woods, though, check out Warmoth's web site.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Bassman Brad]

Well, it depends on what kind of sound you're looking for from the guitar, of course. And this is a result of the interaction between the tone of the wood and the tone of the pickups.

Anyway, it sounds like you're looking at building solid body guitars. Some of the most popular and nice looking tone woods for solid body guitars would be Korina, Koa and Mahogany. Many luthiers will also add a maple top, since there are so many lovely variants to be had in maple - bird's eye, flame, and my personal favorite, spalted maple.

Of course, there's all sorts of much more exotic woods to be found, if that's what floats your boat.

Brad

 

[Dani Pace]

Mahogany is a favorite of many players and builders but has a vary "open grain" which makes it difficult to finish to a high gloss. Lots of newer guitars are made of basswood (Ibanez uses it a lot) mostly because it is similar to mahogany but costs a lot less. I have an old 1980 Vantage VS600 which is black walnut with a maple strip through the center, it has the best sustain of any guitar I have ever owned but it is rather heavy. If you have the patience to work with a very hard wood, you might try cherry. I have a friend who builds fiddles (violins to some) and he swears cherry is the most resonate wood on the planet, but only if it is seasoned and cured properly. One last one to consider is willow, it has properties somewhere between mahogany and ash, but lacks sustain, it might be good for bass or if you want a dry sound.
Whatever you use there are other factors to consider, body shape and thickness will affect both tone and sustain. Rule of thumb, thin body=thin sound or more twangy tone, thicker body=more gutsy tone and better sustain. The neck and the way it is mounted (glued in or bolt on) will also have an affect, most noticeable to sustain.
I hope some of this helps, for a more detailed explanation ask a luthier, I'm sure they could explain the technical differences and the physics involved in building a guitar in far greater detail.

 

[G-String]

Hey, thanks guys. The info is very helpful. This is something we may continue to do (build guitars). We are going to do A lot of research on woods to use. Since this is our first one, and neither of us knows tonewoods, all this info
is very helpful. Thanks

 

[Light]

Lots of newer guitars are made of basswood (Ibanez uses it a lot) mostly because it is similar to mahogany but costs a lot less.

Basswood has absolutely NOTHING in common with mahogany. Basswood is a light weight, crappy wood. While it does carve easily, it doesn't take details for shit, is butt ugly to look at (frequently having really ugly greem mineral streaking), and sounds like crap. You are right about one thing, though; basswood IS a lot cheaper than mahogany.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[jimistone]

I like alder...all the old strats that are worth thousands of dollars and have "tone to die for" are made of alder (or ash).

I also like poplar. I have a mexican strat made out of poplar thqt has a nice tone.

 

[jimistone]

Basswood has absolutely NOTHING in common with mahogany. Basswood is a light weight, crappy wood. While it does carve easily, it doesn't take details for shit, is butt ugly to look at (frequently having really ugly greem mineral streaking), and sounds like crap. You are right about one thing, though. Basswood IS a lot cheaper than mahogany.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

All those cheap assed strat kits are basswood.