Members BeerBaron Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 My brother recently bought a house and there is a huge cherry tree I will be helping taking out. I was just curious to know if cherry wood would be good use for a guitar body? I'm looking to either do a V or an ML shaped guitar. It is big enough so that I would be able to get 1 solid piece and more if I wanted to do another guitar. What's your take on cherry wood for a guitar? My Norman acoustic is made from all wild cherry. Sounds nice to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Heavey hard wood. Maybe you could cut some thin for a top or something. That's if there is any clear wood. Old fruit trees tend to rot on the inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Godin uses it on the 5th Avenue. Sounds good there. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 It makes a great neck.Also a nice body wood for acoustics.Love those Seagull wild cherry S6 acoustics.Dont see why it woudnt be a decent wood for a solid body as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -Assy- Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 "wild cherry" and youre typical american "cherry" are quite different i think. youre usual american cherry is not used much for guitar making, can't figure out why. ed roman in his infinite intelligence made a double cut out of cherry, he said that it sounded very good, but no one bought it, so he had to clearance it out. ive been wanting some figured cherry for some guitar tops for awile now., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Echad Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 I always wondered about the cherry solidbodies. Be sure to write here if you'll start doing it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MahaloVision Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Very similar to the Maples. It's heavy, but a nicely figured top plate of Cherry on a slab is a good place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Help!I'maRock! Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Ken Brookes, who wrote "Guitar: An American Life" chronicles the building of his cherry acoustic. its a very cool story coupled with the social history and development of the instrument from about 1500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Don't forget to season the wood for a long long while. On the bright side, you'll have plenty of time to plan the build details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Citizen_Insane Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Is the house within city limits? If so you can forget about getting it milled. Mills don't take wood from cities because of the high chance of there being nails and other metal stuff in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members freddybing Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 seagulls are made with cherry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Is the house within city limits? If so you can forget about getting it milled. Mills don't take wood from cities because of the high chance of there being nails and other metal stuff in it. Good point. It's not the worth the risk to their milling tools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ΨWindingΨ Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Good sub for Maple in the same application, but not a solid guitar unless you want it bright and heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members superdistortion Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 It would probably be bright with a a long sustain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funderbunk Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Don't forget to season the wood for a long long while. On the bright side, you'll have plenty of time to plan the build details. Yep, unless you find a place that will mill it and kiln dry it, don't plan on building anything for at least a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Echad Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Based on the stuff I read here, it should be perfect for a solidbody. I also wonder, if you have a whole tree at your disposal, is it possible to get a wood piece that big to do both neck and body out of it? I mean with no glue or bolts for connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 There are a lot of perfectly good hardwoods that aren't customarily used for guitars (e.g. walnut, myrtlewood, redwood, olive, etc.) because they aren't what Fender and Gibson used in 1950. Again, it goes to show how amazingly conservative (as a group) guitarists are. If everybody were like this, we'd all still be driving Model Ts and watching television on our 7" Motorolas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -Assy- Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 redwood is really really soft, i used it for a laminate top before, it dents easier than pine, myrtle wood is used for acoustics all over the place, and walnut is pretty widely used, but severely expensive for good material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 redwood is really really soft, i used it for a laminate top before, it dents easier than pine, myrtle wood is used for acoustics all over the place, and walnut is pretty widely used, but severely expensive for good material. Yeah - but I mean on mass-produced instruments. The market still pretty much demands ash-alder-mahogany. Even Poplar (which sounds fantastic in teles, in my experience) was pretty much rejected by the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Help!I'maRock! Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Yeah - but I mean on mass-produced instruments. The market still pretty much demands ash-alder-mahogany. Even Poplar (which sounds fantastic in teles, in my experience) was pretty much rejected by the market. my MIM Precision is poplar. sounds good to me, especially for $200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BeerBaron Posted September 11, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Based on the stuff I read here, it should be perfect for a solidbody.I also wonder, if you have a whole tree at your disposal, is it possible to get a wood piece that big to do both neck and body out of it? I mean with no glue or bolts for connection. Bright, long sustain and heavy all sound good to me. I'm 6'6'' and a big guy myself. So a heavy guitar would counter balance maybe lol. Just need a thick strap. I do have the whole tree at my disposal.. if the {censored}er isnt rotten inside. I have heard of people doing that. But honestly.. this is my first guitar/luthier project ever. So I am not that skilled I dont think to make a guitar out of one solid piece lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LTJ_roxx Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Tim and terrys has been in business in gainesville for longer than I can rember, several decades. I was talking with tim and he said cherry is about the workability of maple, the weight of poplar, and the sound of mahogany with extra high end. Said that cherry and poplar are the two most under utilized tonewoods.Came from a discussion about the T-45 they had in there that was made of oak(beast, but sounded great).There's a few folks who have made "barncasters" out of cherry on the TDPRI, so i'd ask there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LTJ_roxx Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Also, Let this wood dry for a god 2+ years if you're getting 2 inches thick anywhere on it.Meanwhile, get pallets folks are throwing away and practice on all the pine and oak you can get for free making bodies and necks. You'll be way happy gearing up to use this undoubtedly gorgeous wood for a 1 piece body/neck type build than basically wrecking it in an early build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 The hard part is going to be drying it out. You have to stack it in a way that air will circulate though it for years for it to stabilize. Here you go, though: [YOUTUBE]mnXhtZg06AQ[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Echad Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Bright, long sustain and heavy all sound good to me. I'm 6'6'' and a big guy myself. So a heavy guitar would counter balance maybe lol. Just need a thick strap.I do have the whole tree at my disposal.. if the {censored}er isnt rotten inside. I have heard of people doing that. But honestly.. this is my first guitar/luthier project ever. So I am not that skilled I dont think to make a guitar out of one solid piece lol. Well, then make it neck-through: bolting-on or setting-in the neck with proper angle should be a bit of extra work and provide room for more errors, AFAIK... Never went with a project myself, so don't quote me on this; but I really think that using a whole tree for a short neck (and destroying the fret access on a V with a heel) would be a waste. Although you can use the spare planks to create some bodies to place completed bolt-on necks on... I see cheap Strats with good necks all the time, but rarely with decent, one or two piece bodies. Especially from heavier woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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