Which Wood for Guitar Bodies?

[gergbee]

Hi all,

I was talking to the wood shop teacher at the school where I work and he said he's recently gotten a CNC machine. He was asking about guitar bodies so I figured I'd get some info for him.

Can anyone help me out on these questions?

1. What woods are commonly used for guitar bodies and what are the pros/cons to each?
2. Are there good/reliable CNC files (I assume AutoCAD?) online somewhere?

Thanks,
Greg

[Pine Apple Slim]

Short answer to the 1st question:
Gibson: mahogany(SGs, Juniors, a few LPs) and mahogany w/maple cap(LPs). Fender: swamp ash(transparent finishes) and alder(painted finishes).
No idea about #2.

[gergbee]

Thanks for the reminder about swamp ash.

[caveman]

I'd refer your teacher to the Warmoth site, plenty of good info there.

[Angry Tele]

dont forget basswood and maple for the caps.

John Surh says the holy grail for tone is a basswood body and maple cap. EVH and others swear by basswood as well.

[dparr]

Mahogany or Padauk for me.

[gergbee]

Okay, so Warmoth gave me:

Poplar
Basswood
Swamp Ash
Alder
Maple
Mahogany
Black Korina
Walnut

Plus a whole variety of laminates for the top.

I also know about Agathis and Pawlonia. Are there any others I could tell him about?

What about the benefits/detriments of each?


I intend to volunteer to be a guinea pig for him and build a couple of different bodies. I might even try a neck... depends on what CNC files I can find I suppose.

[Pine Apple Slim]

Sure to start a war, but I'll give my perspective, however biased and limited.
Poplar(+)neutral tone, easy to work, light.(-) dings easily but not as bad a basswood, not particularly pretty grain so usually painted.
I've heard some good sounding mexican strats from poplar, Fender Mexicao went to poplar for a while in painted strats. Not much dif tonally than alder.
Basswood(+) neutral tone, easy to work, light.(-) dings easily. Better painted, not much grain. I like it. I had a basswood MIM Fretless Jazz Bass that was great.
Swamp Ash(+) Because thats whats in a blackguard Tele, period.(-) porous grain requires filling for smooth finish. I've never owned a swamp ash guitar. Have a heavy northern ash MIM strat, its twangier than the alder ones I compared it to when I bought it.
Alder(+) A Fender staple. Neutral & balanced tone, easy to work.(-) grain is unspectacular. Never owned an Alder guitar but I've played many of em.
Maple(+) Bright (-) Bright, can be heavy. I have an all hard rock maple Carvin I love. Can be great with the right combination of body size, scale, and pickups.
Mahogany(+) Darker tone. Pretty Grain (-) Darker tone, relatively heavy. Again needs to be combined with the right neck and pickups.
Black Korina-Dont know much about it. Most say its a snappier tone than mahogany but not as snappy as ash. I do know Korina Explorers and Vs are great sounding axes with a unique tone. If I used it I'd pair it with a gibson scale neck and humbuckers. On acoustics, its bright and snappy yet decent bass, and beautiful and expensive.
Walnut-dunno. For an acoustic back and sides, its in between mahogany and rosewood. .Dunno how that translates to elec. I think it would be heavy, and is not the easiest wood to work. Beautiful grain tho.

In my opinion, the wood is just one bit of the equation in the overall sound of an electric solid body guitar. Scale length, body size & shape, fretboard, type bridge, and most importantly pickups also contribute to the tone. Its all the componets in the right combination that makes it special. I have teles with bodies made from plywood, pine, and pawlonia and they all sound different but good. As with all my guitars, they all have different necks and pickups, so its hard to say what the wood contributes. Many would argue it makes no diff.

[billybilly]

Originally Posted by gergbee

Okay, so Warmoth gave me:

Poplar
Basswood
Swamp Ash
Alder
Maple
Mahogany
Black Korina
Walnut

Plus a whole variety of laminates for the top.

I also know about Agathis and Pawlonia. Are there any others I could tell him about?

What about the benefits/detriments of each?


I intend to volunteer to be a guinea pig for him and build a couple of different bodies. I might even try a neck... depends on what CNC files I can find I suppose.

The benefits and detriments are going to depend on what you are after. Alder is a detriment in a les paul and you won't get that growl or lower mids that mahogany gives. Conversely, mahogany is a detriment, IMO, in a strat because you will lose some sparkle and upper range.

[Meowy]

Extending the list...

northern ash, bright and dense
Paulownia, very lightweight and resonant. Tonally somewhere between mahogany and swamp ash, but soft and easily dented
Pine (sugar pine, white pine)

[Pine Apple Slim]

Originally Posted by Meowy

Extending the list...

northern ash, bright and dense
Paulownia, very lightweight and resonant. Totally somewhere between mahogany and swamp ash, but soft and easily dented
Pine (sugar pine, white pine)

I have a white pine tele, very light, tonally its hard to describe but its pretty resonant. I consider it to be similar overall to lightweight swamp ash.
I just recently did a pawlonia one, extremely light. Tonally it's very resonant, has an almost acoustic quality to me, similar to a tele with an f hole.
Regardless what the body is, the tonal quality of the wood can be either enhanced or offset by everything else.

[Brendan]

I have heard that swamp ash can be a little unpredictable - meaning a seemingly fine specimen can produce a sonic dud. True for all woods to a degree. I've had a few disappointing outcomes when using it. Alder is my favorite. I've had some good experiences with poplar too, although it is much maligned on some forums. Fender once did a blind test with some identical looking strats using a variety of woods. Pros who came to the factory were asked to try and the guitars with poplar bodies scored well. I'm looking forward to trying pine on my next build.

[Pine Apple Slim]

Pine can vary tremendously from species to species.
Some folks claim success from plain old SYP, tho its generally heavy.
Theres been some really good guitars built with plywood, or even cutting boards from Ikea.
Really old reclaimed pine lumber can work very well but it can be sappy and hard on tools.
Most folks prefer eastern white pine of some type or western sugar pine.
Its generally light and easy to work, and it has good tonal qualities(in a tele at least).
If you can't find white or sugar pine locally, then some type of spruce, fir, or even cedar would be very similar I'd bet.
Another often overlooked common wood is Sycamore.

[gergbee]

Thanks for all the input! I really do appreciate it.

I found a few files floating around online but I have no idea if they are the right ones or not. Anyone have any suggestions there? He just unpacked the machine before the Christmas break so he hasn't really had a chance to use it and he didn't really know what kind of computer stuff it used (yet).
Greg

[Steadfastly]

 

Originally Posted by caveman

I'd refer your teacher to the Warmoth site, plenty of good info there.

 

Here is where you will find your answer very nicely spelled out.

[Pine Apple Slim]

If you look around the Tele forum TDPRI there is an accurate Tele template, poss a Strat one as well.

[GAS Man]

Originally Posted by caveman

I'd refer your teacher to the Warmoth site, plenty of good info there.

+ 1 That's what I was going to say.

My bit:
Mahogany for warmth and depth
Alder for a lighter but nasally resonance
Ash for a bit more attack (I can only tolerate Swamp Ash)
Korina can sound a bit more hollowish

But I like the Warmoth tone-o-meter for their description and that meter

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies...odOptions.aspx

[Meowy]

This is an acoustic site but provides a comprehensive A-Z list of tone woods and attributes

http://tonewooddatasource.weebly.com...tails-a-b.html

[gergbee]

Originally Posted by GAS Man

+ 1 That's what I was going to say.

My bit:
Mahogany for warmth and depth
Alder for a lighter but nasally resonance
Ash for a bit more attack (I can only tolerate Swamp Ash)
Korina can sound a bit more hollowish

But I like the Warmoth tone-o-meter for their description and that meter

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies...odOptions.aspx

Originally Posted by Meowy

This is an acoustic site but provides a comprehensive A-Z list of tone woods and attributes

http://tonewooddatasource.weebly.com...tails-a-b.html

Thanks for both of these links. I'm sure they will be very valuable to him.

[wagdog]

Wood from trees is a good start.



Glad to help out.

[gergbee]

Originally Posted by wagdog

Wood from trees is a good start.



Glad to help out.

Not all trees http://www.kaizenbonsai.com/shop/images/kit_ib037.jpg

[Bbreaker]

Swamp Ash................

[dparr]

Originally Posted by wagdog

Wood from trees is a good start.



Glad to help out.

This guitar is made out of bamboo. A grass.

[tommyld]

Basswood is wonderfully light, and I hear it's very easy on the routing bits and other tools.

Everyone always repeats the line that it dents super easy, and I guess it's comparatively softer than some other guitar body woods...but I've owned a few basswood guitars and they've never dented easier than others. I've even taken screwdrivers to the pickup cavities to test how soft it is, and it's plenty tough imo. Sounds great, so easy on the shoulders.

[billybilly]

Originally Posted by tommyld

Basswood is wonderfully light, and I hear it's very easy on the routing bits and other tools.

Everyone always repeats the line that it dents super easy, and I guess it's comparatively softer than some other guitar body woods...but I've owned a few basswood guitars and they've never dented easier than others. I've even taken screwdrivers to the pickup cavities to test how soft it is, and it's plenty tough imo. Sounds great, so easy on the shoulders.

I'm a basswood fan too. I think it gets a bad wrap due to consistency in resonance but all the ones I have had sounded great. Dents? Nothing that a little poly can't protect.