Okay, friend of mine at work inquired of me today about getting him some wood to make a guitar with. :dontknow: Seems he's wanting to make his own instrument and was asking me if I had anything he could use. Well, all I have are slabs, logs, and big and bigger chunks of wood. Any of you musical instrument makers out there inclined to chime in here, please do so. Thanks in advance for the help.
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Man, those are some pretty woods. I'm confused though as to how one would go about making a guitar out of a solid piece of wood.:confused_:dontknow: Wouldn't it have to be re-sawed into really thin pieces and then formed in some way to get the shape and hollow interior?
:BangHead: Dang, I are shore stupid.:slap: It just hit me.........he's wanting to make an "acoustic" guitar rather than what first came to my mind.:eusa_thin Now it's making sense. :widea:
Dragon-- I'm a little confused. The link from Ernie is actually for solid-body guitars (think: electric... stratocaster.... etc). For an acoustic, a single, wide sheet or a bookmatched pair is used for the top and back (weird.. but for some reason they aren't the "top and bottom" or "front and back") like: http://www.gilmerwood.com/instrument_wood-sets.htm
Most of that page refers to the back and side wood... the top or soundboard is usually made from a short list of preferred woods-- spruce, rosewood, mahogany, koa, maple... (or on cheaper guitars, a laminated plywood).
Here's an excellent exploded drawing of the anatomy of an acoustic guitar:
http://www.its-all-about-guitar.com/acoustic-guitar-anatomy.html
Most of that page refers to the back and side wood... the top or soundboard is usually made from a short list of preferred woods-- spruce, rosewood, mahogany, koa, maple... (or on cheaper guitars, a laminated plywood).
Here's an excellent exploded drawing of the anatomy of an acoustic guitar:
http://www.its-all-about-guitar.com/acoustic-guitar-anatomy.html
oh... and I thought I'd add: I have never made a stringed instrument. I play guitar and researched a lot on constructions techniques... there are some good videos, and I've seen several TV shows on the process. I have to say, IMO, finer instruments are made of thinner, more acoustically live wood, which is in a precarious balance with a requirement for strength and integrity. There really is an art to managing all the stresses that a steel-strung guitar, in particular, has to endure.
Here are a few videos from Taylor and Martin factory tours that show some of the processes of major manufacturers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFNYxjlU_-0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGJJtm22smo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyyNWY3B0M
You can find many more, similar videos in the sidebars on these pages.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFNYxjlU_-0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGJJtm22smo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyyNWY3B0M
You can find many more, similar videos in the sidebars on these pages.
David,
I would have him browse Grizzly's luthier supplies in the print catalog. They can be seen online here:
http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2010/Main/370
and keep clicking the "next page" triangle on the upper or lower right until it quits being interesting.
Besides having decent prices, they also have pretty much everything and a little explanation about what it is for. I think it is no accident that kits are at the back of the section. I bet a lot of people get overwhelmed.
I would have him browse Grizzly's luthier supplies in the print catalog. They can be seen online here:
http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2010/Main/370
and keep clicking the "next page" triangle on the upper or lower right until it quits being interesting.
Besides having decent prices, they also have pretty much everything and a little explanation about what it is for. I think it is no accident that kits are at the back of the section. I bet a lot of people get overwhelmed.
Oh yeah, my point…
After he looks that over and thinks about what he would buy, then see if you can provide him anything that can be worked down to what he wants. Based on what you usually seem to work with, my guess is that you could make him a nice blank if he is doing an electric, a neck either way (electric or acoustic) and possibly the back and sides for an acoustic. Soundboards are trickier because of the species/seasoning/grain for good ones.
Here are some thoughts based on my experience…
You can get pretty good wood at reasonable prices and then the price doubles for every incremental step towards true AAAA. The quality of the sound from the first instrument is not likely to be affected by using pretty good wood instead of great wood and the pain of a potential mistake is easier to bear. Some folks make a good argument for always using the best you can afford. I am not convinced.
You can get a decent (and if you are lucky, a really good one) soundboard right off the shelf at the home stores. Go look at the 4’ 1x12 shelf/project wood. It will have little tags on the end stapled into it. Look for spruce (SP). Look at the ends and find one with the pith dead in the middle of it. You are going to rip this board in half and join the outside edges to get a two piece QS top. If you need wider than the board, you will use three pieces with the middle piece coming from an outside edge where the grain is tightest. Look at the faces and make sure it has a clear areas long enough to make your sound board. It’s okay if the pieces are offset or even from the same side. If you have good resaw capability, you can even make a bookmatched soundboard (assuming it is a flat topped instrument; if it is carved you want to start with the full thickness).
The placement of the nut, bridge and frets is critical. If they are wrong, the instrument will never sound good. The soundboard choice, thickness, bracing and attachment to sides is almost as critical. As long as it doesn’t buzz, almost everything else is subjective, but very few subjects like muddy or muffled sounds. The back, sides and neck have very little effect on the sound.
After he looks that over and thinks about what he would buy, then see if you can provide him anything that can be worked down to what he wants. Based on what you usually seem to work with, my guess is that you could make him a nice blank if he is doing an electric, a neck either way (electric or acoustic) and possibly the back and sides for an acoustic. Soundboards are trickier because of the species/seasoning/grain for good ones.
Here are some thoughts based on my experience…
You can get pretty good wood at reasonable prices and then the price doubles for every incremental step towards true AAAA. The quality of the sound from the first instrument is not likely to be affected by using pretty good wood instead of great wood and the pain of a potential mistake is easier to bear. Some folks make a good argument for always using the best you can afford. I am not convinced.
You can get a decent (and if you are lucky, a really good one) soundboard right off the shelf at the home stores. Go look at the 4’ 1x12 shelf/project wood. It will have little tags on the end stapled into it. Look for spruce (SP). Look at the ends and find one with the pith dead in the middle of it. You are going to rip this board in half and join the outside edges to get a two piece QS top. If you need wider than the board, you will use three pieces with the middle piece coming from an outside edge where the grain is tightest. Look at the faces and make sure it has a clear areas long enough to make your sound board. It’s okay if the pieces are offset or even from the same side. If you have good resaw capability, you can even make a bookmatched soundboard (assuming it is a flat topped instrument; if it is carved you want to start with the full thickness).
The placement of the nut, bridge and frets is critical. If they are wrong, the instrument will never sound good. The soundboard choice, thickness, bracing and attachment to sides is almost as critical. As long as it doesn’t buzz, almost everything else is subjective, but very few subjects like muddy or muffled sounds. The back, sides and neck have very little effect on the sound.
I've seen acoustic guitar wood kits at the Woodworking Shop in Raleigh...I'm not sure it comes with everything you would need, but there's a Sam Ash beside it and a Guitar Center across the street (Capital Blvd.)
Thanks for all the responses here. He's given me some pretty nice sized Maples to cut down that are in what used to be his grandmother's house. He'd like to have something made from, or something that he himself could make from one of those trees. I'm not a musician so the first thing that came to my mind was the traditional hollow type guitar and I was seriously :icon_scra:dontknow::eusa_thin:eusa_thin:confused_ trying to get a grip on what he was talking about. Then, after posting it here and reading the responses, it hit me. I'll have a look-see around several places and see what I can offer him.
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