Hey folks,
I've made a few electrics with the usual mahogany, limba, rosewood & ebony materials, but I'll now thinking about what woods are available in the UK or Europe that are suitable for building.
Off the top of my head (and from the briefest if searches) I'm thinking about walnut, ash, sycamore/maple, lime (basswood). Aside from using sycamore as a top I don't have any experience of these woods.
So I'd love to hear your thoughts on what woods I could consider and/or your experiences are in using any of these woods - what they were like to work or comparative weight etc.
I'm not looking to revive the never ending tone wood debate, not sure why I'd is have time for that! I'll just thinking about what suitable woods are available from cooker to home than Africa, India etc.
Looking forward to responses from the hive mind!
Cheers!
Dan
I've used beech, ash, oak, cherry and walnut so far. All been really good.
Only tricky one is oak because I did a carve top and it's very hard lol
Nice one, Cheers @nsj
How do walnut and cherry work out weight wise in comparison to say khaya mahogany or limba?
I get that it can depend on the blank, but interested in your thoughts.
I've kinda already discounted oak for bodies or full necks because of it's weight and hardness.. Not sure if that's fair...
I've got my eye on a sweet chestnut body blank. I think that's going to more comparable to ash.
@liebe walnut is nice, not to heavy, same with cherry. Made a full start entirely from cherry. Both lighter than limba or at least black limba, posibbly similar to the likes of brazillian mahogany.
You can ebonise cherry which is what I did to the body, put steel wool in white vinegar and leave a few days, then wipe the liquid on and it reacts with tanins in the wood turning them dark.
@nsj you utter hero, this is music (no pun intended) to my ears!
For some reason I thought both walnut and cherry would be heavier. Knowing the kind of weight bracket they're in I'll definitely give them a go.
The strat looks great and the ebonising is really effective!
I also saw Darren bagpress had some walnut neck blanks for sale on his eBay.
Really interesting to hear all your views on this subject. Does the ebonised cherry not smell like a bag of chips though!!🤣🤣 Walnut neck vodka sounds interesting 🤪
There’s a good website that gives you info on different woods, such as weight and hardness which is handy for comparing woods you know and have used with others you might want to try. It’s the Wood Database www.wood-database.com give it a look.
Brian👍😃🎸
@brie Very handy, thanks Brian!
@brie it smelled way worse! But thankfully it's all dried and sealed now. I don't know why you put wire wool on your chips though 🤣
@nsj You should try it, especially with some soap, YEAH, wire wool and soap......its BRILLO!! 🤣 🤣