Necessary Wood For A Solid-body Guitar
I’m sometimes asked by people who are starting out “What wood should I use to make my guitar and just how much of it do I need?”. Well the short answer is that there are a lot of woods you can use – especially if you’re making a solid-body guitar – and that you don’t need very much of it at all. Here is a quick, hard-and-fast rundown on the basics:
1:- A body blank (e.g. maple, alder, mahogany, swamp ash, basswood or poplar) 45mm (1-3/4″) thick. The size depends on the desired length and width of the body (350mm x 500mm / 13-3/4″ x 20″ will be sufficient for the majority of guitars). Tthe blank can be glued up from two or more narrower pieces.
2:- A neck blank (e.g. maple or mahogany) 25mm (1″) thick; the length depends on the desired scale length and the width on the desired width of the headstock (690mm / 27″ long and 100mm / 4″ wide for a guitar; 860mm / 34″ long and 115mm / 4.5″ wide for a bass). If you glue “ears” to the headstock the width of the neck blank can be smaller. Try to get quartersawn wood wherever possible.
3:- A fingerboard (e.g. rosewood or ebony) 6mm (1/4″) thick; the neck blank must be 19mm (3/4″) thick in this case. If you’re having a one piece neck then you can disregard a separate fingerboard.
4:- A headstock veneer (any beautiful hardwood) 2mm – 3mm (3/32″ – 1/8″) thick.
So there you have it! Not much wood and as far as costs go you can spend anywhere from about a few dollars right up to a few hundred dollars or more! It just depends on what woods you want your guitar to be made from.
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WALNUT CHERRY MAPLE LAMINATED BOWL BLANK LUMBER WOOD US $26.95 Auction Ends: Saturday May-19-2012 13:05:15 PDT | Watch this Item |
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EXOTIC WOOD/LUMBER : 4/4 CURLY MAPLE ITEM #12E05614 US $8.56 (4 Bids) Auction Ends: Saturday May-19-2012 13:30:09 PDT | Watch this Item |
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Super Neat Spalted Ambrosia Maple Figured Project Artwood Lumber 5201 US $19.95 Auction Ends: Saturday May-19-2012 15:06:33 PDT | Watch this Item |
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Beautiful Ambrosia Spalted Maple Live Edge Kiln Dried Craftwood Lumber 5202 US $16.95 Auction Ends: Saturday May-19-2012 15:07:47 PDT | Watch this Item |
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Rustic Black Line Spalted Maple Taxidermy Mount Lumber Slab 5356 US $29.95 Auction Ends: Saturday May-19-2012 16:27:10 PDT | Watch this Item |