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Home Depot Lumber

#21
newyorkiddo said:
Hello! I recently finished designing a bass I thought would be really cool to make, and so I'm ready to start building! However, since I am flooded with projects and bills, I do not have much cash, and therefore, this has to stay relatively low cost. I already have a neck, so I am not worried about that.
I recently got a job at Home Depot, and I thought maybe I should give their lumber a try. I've never tried making a body from scratch (I usually mutilate already make bodies) so I think this might be an adequate starting point. I'm not familiar with lumber and what sorts of tones they create, but I am also not looking for "the best tone ever", I just need something that will get me a nice, rigid body to mount my leftover electronics and hardware. This is basically my intro to body making, so if i think it comes out well, I will try it with better suited lumber. I digress...
Have any of you made a body from lumber purchased from Home Depot? If so, which species did you select, and how does it sound. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...
I just Googled "guitar body blanks" and found quite a few hunks of wood for sale that look pretty nice. Here's one..
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#24
Home despots lumber is crap. It warps, is usually still wet and is quite often not stable. A cheap alternative is to find a second hand place like habitat for humanity. They have tons of old doors, tables, cabinets....things with large surfaces of good useable wood. Look for a product called "peel away" for removing paint. Its one of the few systems thats easy to use and lead paint removal safe as it dosnt make it friable.
 
#25
Most of the lumber found in the large chain stores is synthetically engineered to grow more quickly that it would naturally. I was recently remodeling my house and found that the grain on the original 2 x 4 studs from 1970 were stronger and much tighter grain that the new ones I purchased at Home Depot and Lowes. Your would be better off going to a real lumber yard or as buldog5151bass suggested, look for re-claimed wood.
 
#28
telecopy said:
I think everything is overpriced.
But here's another from that Google search. Cheaper.http://www.keimlumber.com/solidbodyblanks
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Those prices are much better than stewmac, but my last alder board made 4 two piece bodies for $50. I do have means to machine my own lumber, but if you dont, the prices from that website are much more reasonable than stewmac.
 
#29
Hopkins said:
Those prices are much better than stewmac, but my last alder board made 4 two piece bodies for $50. I do have means to machine my own lumber, but if you dont, the prices from that website are much more reasonable than stewmac.
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I agree. I won't be doing any guitar building, though. That's actually a laughable concept. Me? LOL
 
#30
SBassman said:
Will you do a build thread, or post here? Would love to watch.
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Probably post my progress here, if i'm allowed to change the title.

But, my first attempt to find wood was googling body blanks, and everything seemed in the $80+ range... which I'd rather not pay.
However,
telecopy said:
I think everything is overpriced.
But here's another from that Google search. Cheaper.http://www.keimlumber.com/solidbodyblanks
Click to expand...
these seem pretty good and I will probably order one if I feel I did a decent job at my first attempt.
I can see these woods are not very high quality, but for the price (>20), I think it is a great starting point.
 
#31
newyorkiddo said:
these seem pretty good and I will probably order one if I feel I did a decent job at my first attempt.
I can see these woods are not very high quality, but for the price (>20), I think it is a great starting point.
Click to expand...
Good luck on this project! Be sure not to be penny-wish and pound-foolish, as the saying goes. That is to say (for example): if it requires $60 to purchase a much better blank than one that is $30, spend that extra $30. You'll be happier in the end, I think.
 
#32
newyorkiddo said:
Probably post my progress here, if i'm allowed to change the title.

But, my first attempt to find wood was googling body blanks, and everything seemed in the $80+ range... which I'd rather not pay.
However,

these seem pretty good and I will probably order one if I feel I did a decent job at my first attempt.
I can see these woods are not very high quality, but for the price (>20), I think it is a great starting point.
Click to expand...
Hey, if the wood is ugly, slap on a couple of cans of Rustoleum Metal Flake Red! And tort!
 
#36
pilotjones said:
I built using HD maple and poplar. It has not moved, but I did let it acclimate for several months before I used it. As far as I am able to distinguish, some of the maple was hard, and some soft.
Click to expand...

I have used home depot poplar before, and it worked out ok, but it was a 4 piece body. The OP lives in the same city as I do, none of the big box stores stock any maple here.
 
#37
newyorkiddo said:
Hello! I recently finished designing a bass I thought would be really cool to make, and so I'm ready to start building! However, since I am flooded with projects and bills, I do not have much cash, and therefore, this has to stay relatively low cost. I already have a neck, so I am not worried about that.
I recently got a job at Home Depot, and I thought maybe I should give their lumber a try. I've never tried making a body from scratch (I usually mutilate already make bodies) so I think this might be an adequate starting point. I'm not familiar with lumber and what sorts of tones they create, but I am also not looking for "the best tone ever", I just need something that will get me a nice, rigid body to mount my leftover electronics and hardware. This is basically my intro to body making, so if i think it comes out well, I will try it with better suited lumber. I digress...
Have any of you made a body from lumber purchased from Home Depot? If so, which species did you select, and how does it sound. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Yup - I've built them from all sorts of construction grade lumber and they sound like a bass.

Here's one:
100_2402.jpg


Here's another:
100_8144.jpg


The wood isn't much of a player in the tone/sound/sustain arena - it's just a nice place to mount the neck and other hardware.

Now if looks are important, and you want the grain to show, you're gonna have to make those adjustments and pick a good looking wood.

Otherwise - pretty much any wood that will hold a screw and can be decently worked with and not weigh too much will work.

Lignum vitae is out. So is ironwood and possibly teak. Manzaneta may not be a good choice either.
 
#40
streetfighterpa said:
I own a piano moving company, I guess I'm going to have to start salvaging wood from all the old uprights I've been junking.
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Pianos, at least uprights, consoles and spinets, are normally made from unremarkable wood - glued-up pieced panels with veneer over the faces. Exceptions are the soundboard (spruce, I think), and the pin blocks (laminated maple). It's well-aged wood, but those mahogany pianos are not mahogany.
 

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