Guitar body blanks - newbie questions

[Take66]

Greetings,

This is my first post in this forum. If it is misplaced, I apologize.

I am a novice woodworker living in Japan. I follow the work of Paul Sellers, a furniture maker from the U.K. His way of teaching is to not use power tools. This is to lower costs for the beginner and as well as to prevent injury to eyes, hands, lungs and hearing.

I am not a luthier by any means. However, I have the opportunity to acquire high quality wood from local supplier who is moving his warehouse from near my house to another location. He will be looking to get rid of 'smaller' pieces. I think that I may be able able to get some nice guitar blank pieces. If I venture into making a bass, I would have a few pieces to start with.

What I would like to ask is in these areas.

== Quality of wood ==

Does the specie of wood affect in a significant way the sound of a solid body guitar?

The same question for a semi hollow body guitar?

Has anyone worked with the type of wood called Keyaki?

Keyaki | The Wood Database (Hardwood)

www.wood-database.com

Any species that would be worth getting/looking for?

== Dimensions ==

What would be the minimum dimensions for a one piece blank(?) I realize that if I am looking to do bookend matching, the thickness should be at least twice the dimension.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

You will get lots of opinions, here’s mine: Everything affects the sound of a solid body guitar or bass, but the pickups, strings, and electronics vastly outweigh the effects of body wood choice, which is miniscule. Use what you have for wood based on aesthetics, finish choice, etc. I think the relative rigidity of the neck makes some difference too, but still less than electronics and strings.

 

[Take66]

You will get lots of opinions, here’s mine: Everything affects the sound of a solid body guitar or bass, but the pickups, strings, and electronics vastly outweigh the effects of body wood choice, which is miniscule. Use what you have for wood based on aesthetics, finish choice, etc. I think the relative rigidity of the neck makes some difference too, but still less than electronics and strings.

So, if I understand your explanation, I could be looking at aesthetics, and maybe ease of use (cutting, routing, planing, etc.). Does the propensity of the wood to move under changes in ambient moisture conditions come into play? I know in furniture making, we consider this often.

 

[gormsby]

I agree with @Gilmourisgod about the relative affect of wood on solid-body tone: pickups, strings, and electronics are much more important. People have built perfectly good guitar bodies with plywood, masonite, and pine. In some forums, you will find people happy to debate ad nauseam about "tonewood," so if you want to dig into that debate, feel free. But if you find a wood you like, I say give it a try! I recently built two basses and a guitar with hackberry after seeing a nice piece in the store and checking wood-database for the basic stats. No regrets.

For necks, it is more important to find a stiff, strong wood that can stand up to the stresses of string tension. I tend to defer to tradition and the commercial builders when considering neck woods, but that wood-database site you cited is a good resource for comparing the statistics of any wood you might be considering to other tried-and-true neck woods like maple, mahogany, and other traditional favorites. Look at those mechanical properties listed there, and if they look close to those of maple or mahogany, they could be good candidates for neck woods.

For one-piece blanks, most of my designs fit safely within a blank about 36cm wide by about 55cm long. 4.5cm thick would get you just a bit thicker than Fender's typical 1-3/4". But I would suggest letting the wood guide you, as well. If you see some nice pieces that could be glued up into a 2- or 3-piece blank (or even more), that could broaden your options. A two-piece blank also allows you to save some wood if you are planning a non-symmetrical build (long horn on top, short horn on bottom, for example.) My typical builds can use a blank that is 55cm long on the top half but 43cm on the lower half. There are some great examples in this forum of body blanks using several or dozens of pieces to create beautiful patterns of wood.

And lastly, welcome to the forum! We are all learning here, just a different points in the journey. We'd love to see what you are planning, offer advice if asked, and follow your progress.

 

[ddm0502]

I don't see why it wouldn't work. Weight and hardness are similar to commonly used species. How the finished instrument will sound is a mystery but that's part of the fun: build one for us and let us know!

As far as size, if you're looking for a Fender style body blank, they're usually around 20”x14"x1.75" but you could make it bigger or smaller depending on the design you want to use. My bodies are more like 24” long and only 1.25” thick for example. Before you commit to a size, first decide what body shape you want.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

The wood looks good by the numbers and appearance, but seems less likely to have much experience of it given the notes on scarcity at the wood database.

For thickness, check what your choice of electronics needs to fit in the body where you put them.

You can select for thinner body electronics at the design stage, or you can build it thin, find the selected electronics don't fit, and have to search for ones that do - which is less fun. Or build a thicker body (at the cavities anyway,) if you want things that need lots of thickness.