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Hi everyone, I'm getting into building 2 LesPaul type guitars, and will use Douglas Fir instead of mahogany for the body blank. I would also like to use it for the neck to get an even and consistent color/grain between the body and neck, but i've never seen or heard of it being done. I've never really work with Douglas Fir, so I wonder, would it be strong and stable enough for a neck? I want to laminate a piece of maple in the middle.

Any thoughts, suggestions? Thank you very much!

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Olivier Gauthier
Montreal, QC

I wouldn't want to use a softwood neck, but if you're going to anyhow then make sure to reinforce it well (carbon fiber, good truss rod, etc). You can make an electric out of anything if you're willing to put the extra effort into reinforcing it, but it's a lot of extra work unless there's a really good reason.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

If I'm not mistaken, Dan Erlewine's "Rockin' Chair" electric guitar is made with Doug fir for both the body and neck. What I would do is look up the properties of the wood - density, dimensional changes, modulus of elasticity, hardness, etc - and compare them to mahogany. Here's a link with some good info:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8372590/Wood-Handbook

According to the charts in chapter 4, Doug fir has a higher modulus of elasticity - higher bending strength - than mahogany.

Doug fir is also pretty hard for a "softwood" - harder, for example, than butternut, which Randy Muth was just saying he likes to use for necks. As for stability, I don't have that info handy - it might be just fine. The ratio of radial to tangential shrinkage is the most pertinent info for that. Let us know what you find. Also let us know how you like it for carving.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Doug Fir is pretty darn stable at least as a construction lumber. All the homes here in Colorado are constructed with it. I've got some old growth tight grain perfectly quartered Doug Fir I'm hanging onto for just that right project.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

It is a wonderful wood and I would not hesitate to use it. It is a wood with a lot of "visual character" and if you are OK with the look you will be just fine! I have built a lot of the furniture in my house from D-Fir. I have also used a lot of Honduras Mahogany and the weight is nearly the same and in many cases I think the D-fir is stronger. It is also a very stable wood. It can be a bit of pain in that it does have a tendancy to splinter on sharp edges, but care and proper easing of those edges will take care of that.

Shane

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Canada

Thanks guys! I think I'll go ahead and use it, but I'll do a dummy neck before, just to see how it can turn out...

Todd, thanks for the link, I'm not used to the meaning of all these numbers and terms, but I know I should take some time to get more familiar with all of this.

I'll post the results when I have them

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Olivier Gauthier
Montreal, QC

What Shane said. DF is strong, stable, and pretty dense for a "soft wood". Saying I wouldn't use a softwood for a neck categorically is not considering the woods properties. Balsa wood is a hardwood, Bass wood is a hardwood, etc. I wouldn't use those for a guitar back and sides but I don't reject all hardwoods because those are soft and weak.
Link

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Like a spruce top, fir will ripple over time along the grain lines. The wider the grain, the more texture you'll get. Don't know if that's a deal-breaker for you or not but a lot of people would not like it.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com