Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm planning a D%$#@! guitar as a gift for a friend of mine who is a naturalist and would like to use sustainable / reclaimed California woods wherever possible. I'm planning on a reclaimed redwood top from Dave Maize and am wondering about the rest of the guitar.

I have a couple of really nice madrone boards I was thinking of for back and sides. Straight, dry, and beautiful, but I've heard tales that madrone can be unstable. Anyone build with it?

I have BRW, IRW and coco for a bridge, haven't decided. I can't think of a California alternate. Same for the fingerboard.

I might try for redwood back braces, but will probably stick with sitka for the top.

I have some Claro Walnut for the neck, but seem to remember Mark Swanson advising against it. Any corroborators or otherwise?

Any other ideas for a California neck?

_________________
Gabriel Regalbuto
Carlsbad, California
Freedom 35!

"I'm planning a D%$#@! guitar"

I don't get it?

_________________
Tom Krebs

Jacaranda for back and sides. It is close to rosewood in it's qualities.
Desert ironwood for fret board.
Northern cal cherry for neck.

Your best bet is to go to Palomar college where they have a mill to process urban trees from the county. Lots of great unique stuff available.

_________________
Dean

How about Claro Walnut for the body? I have seen a few gorgeous sets. You might be able to do the bridge from walnut too I imagine, besides back, sides, binding and headplate.
I would pick cherry for the neck.

_________________
Build log

Wouldn't that fretboard weigh a ridiculous amount and be nearly impossible to slot & radius? Just curious. The ironwood I've felt is amazingly hard.

Sticking to Northern Cal. and using native woods
You could : For the b&S you could use Big Leaf Maple, California Bay Laure, Claro Walnut, Oregon Oak (also know as Garry Oak ) Monteray or Mendocino Cypress.
For the neck you could use Alder, or the Maple. For the top you could use Redwood, Douglas Fir, Port Orford Cedar.
For bracing the Doug Fir would be good.
For the fret board I think Dogwood would be great.
Madrone while very beautiful and sometimes a dead ringer for lightly steamed Pearwood is quite unstable and with the other great tonewoods to use I wouldn't use it myself. It also has to be dried right not to look muddy.
Another interesting wood that has possibilities is California Nutmeg or Torreya. It is a Yew and has a very high strength to weight ratio. Smells wonderful.
Link

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

love claro walnut. pair that with a redwood top and you have a very sweet guitar. its a great marriage if you ask me.

is persimmon grown in northern california? might make a good fingerboard or bridge. i know al c has used it for fingerboards and bridge plates. not sure about a bridge though.


sounds like a fun project. let us know how it goes.

_________________
sweat the small stuff.

There was a running joke about Dreads being so boxy even the name upset the sensibilities of the refined artists around here. I was just being sensitive....

Does Palomar sell wood to non-students? I'd love to take their guitar building class, but the woodworking 101 pre-requisite is always impacted.

I'll check out the ironwood - thanks for the tip.

Anyone on madrone? I might have to be the first...

_________________
Gabriel Regalbuto
Carlsbad, California
Freedom 35!

Thanks Link, lots of ideas there. This madrone I have is creamy, beautiful, and straight, but I suppose I'll find something else to do with it. I have a couple of nice Claro billets, but not quite long enough for dread sides.

_________________
Gabriel Regalbuto
Carlsbad, California
Freedom 35!

Gabe,
I don't want to dissuade you from the Madrone. One thing to remember is that a perfect piece of wood from a "unstable" species is better than a gnarly piece from a more stable species. Use your instincts and senses. If the Madrone is quarter sawn and you like the tap. And if it seems stable and you really like it I would say go for it. You could saw off a 1/8" slice and see how it behaves. One time I made a table out of Back Acacia and it had a reputation for being a bit unruly so I cut my veneers almost a 1/8" thick thinking I would have to run them through the sander. Over 8" tall and they came off perfectly. I didn't have to do a thing to them but they were now too thick ! It was a perfect piece of wood though. So you never know until you try it for yourself. If you have a great piece of Madrone I would think it would be fine. It sure is smooth and the quartered stuff has really nice small ray flecks. No pore filling needed.
Link

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

Madrone has a reputation for being difficult to dry - but I have not heard that reputation extend to the dried wood in service. When I lived in California, I became intrigued with it, and built a bedroom set (bed, dresser, chest of drawers) using some Madrone burl veneer in each piece.) Beautiful stuff, and the burl veneer has been stable for 10 years and a couple of radical climate changes. Many wood turners in California love Madrone.

I have a few guitar back and side sets that were cut from very well quartersawn boards, and they have remained stable and flat for the 2 years I have had them. I'd say it's about as hard as Hard Maple with a similar tap tone. If dead-on 90° quartersawn, you'll see some small medullary rays. Would look great with a Redwood top, (especially if your Madrone has a blaze of the salmon color in it) and trimmed out in curly Claro Walnut.

Dark, hard, stable fingerboards from just about anywhere in the US are a problem to find, as we just don't seem to have the species. Maybe if you are really lucky you'll find some Desert Ironwood that size. For lighter woods, Osage Orange, Black Locust, Persimmon (the only US native Ebony, I think), Birch, Hard Maple... Not sure if any of those are actually native to California or not. If the player is a fingerstyle player with a light touch and does not bend much, you might get away with using some Walnut (look for dense, hard Walnut.)

HTH,

Dennis

_________________
Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Gabe, you said you have a nice redwood top from Dave Maize. I'm sure he could find you a nice B&S set to go with it.

Ironwood is heavy, but the fretboard wouldn't be too much weight. It's also not that hard to cut, but it is resinous and as such might be tough to adhere to the neck. perhaps using epoxy would work. I've got it on my front porch and it doesn't hold a finish very well. That's because of the density and resin remaining after drying.

the wood mill at Palomar is run by a separate entity from the college. I've bought thousands of bd ft there. Last time I was there, quite a bit of black acacia removed from San Diego public streets was available plus torrey pine, some oaks, canary island pine, redwood. Usually about $2 - $3 bd ft

_________________
Dean

I know I'm getting in on this conversation a little late, but...

I'm building a "local" guitar in northern CA. I am using a sinker redwood top (from a nearby river) and black acacia back/sides (from my back yard).

I saw nutmeg mentioned above...I was just talking to someone today who has some...I was thinking about using it for neck wood... Has anyone had any experience with it? I've not yet seen it myself... I've heard of someone using Oregon myrtle, which I guess is what we call bay laurel in Nor Cal.

I was just going to use ebony for the bridge and fretboard, but I'd be interested to know if anything developed from the above ideas...

-Morgan.

_________________
Morgan Daniel
http://www.morgandaniel.com

Douglas Fir has many uses and can be had in old growth recycled. I wonder if you could make bridges from manzanita. Manzanita is beautiful and hard as nails but I have rarely seen it more than 5 to 6 inches across.

_________________
http://goatrockukulele.com

Syacmore is readily available in California. Has been used for tops/backs/sides and necks.
Bay Laurel or Myrtle
I'll 2nd the Persimmon for ebony replacement, if you can find it. Lots of it around but still in the ground and alive.
Another that may be worth looking into that can have spectacular color is Pistachio. They have been tearing out quite a few trees in the interior valleys due to the water politics.

Tim

Walnut is a great wood.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Agree with the comments on walnut. Also built a guitar a couple of years ago using curly eucalyptus for the bindings, which were naturally deeper colored than maple. I don't know how eucalyptus would be as a tonewood for back and sides or if you could get pieces big enough to join. I worked for Chevron years ago in San Francisco and some years prior to moving to the east bay, it refurbished the old Market Street buildings. The Company wanted to use native woods and did as much as possible with eucalyptus. I thought the woods were beautiful, but the veneer widths were rather narrow.

Ken

_________________
http://www.casperguitar.com

I've wondered this also. There are a TON of eucalyptus around that are tall, straight and available. Anyone have any experience?

I made this guitar with eucalyptus back and sides from a salvage wood sawyer in Ft, Bragg, CA named Dave Smith. He was helping a friend with a tree that had fallen. When he saw the figure in the trunk he decided to bring over his portable band saw and cut some of it up into 1 1/2 -2 inch slabs which were about 12 inches wide. It air dried in a little covered shed for a couple of years. I bought some slabs and had it resawn. I think it is blue gum. There was only some minor checking at one end but I was concerned that it would warp a lot. It didn't warp too much, but the curls were rather large and you can feel the ripples after a few years. It hasn't checked at all since it was built in 2005. There was a little chip out when I did the binding so I had to have sharp tools and take multiple passes. The tap tone of the wood was a little like cardboard but it made a lovely sounding guitar. Here's a sound clip: http://www.franklinguitars.com/Site/Home.html

I've used the eucalyptus for a fingerboard and even a bridge too.

_________________
Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Hey Ken, thanks for adding the pix and description! What a great looking guitar! You ended up with some nice wood! I hated eucalyptus trees. They were incredibly messy trees and grow like weeds, and I never would have imagined the wood would be so nice until I saw it the first time.

Ken

_________________
http://www.casperguitar.com

I met this gentleman today, perhaps your customer will like his product, though mostly from Southern Oregon. He mills local woods or urban salvage. I did not visit his shop, but the small display he had contained some nice wood. He does have some good looking madrone and locust.
http://www.urbanlumbercompany.com/products.html

_________________
http://shastaguitar.com/
http://www.kalimbakit.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/comfyfootgr ... ature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/robert.renick.7

I don't believe I saw black acacia on the above list, but it's also a california wood, a relative of Koa.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Link has some good wood ideas......thanks.

For soundboards, I'm using redwood and have some doug fir ready to go....having a hard time finding good local port orford cedar....

Back and sides=currently using big leaf maple and walnut...and may try black acacia soon....

Necks=currently trying alder and walnut on a coupla classicals......with carbon fibre rods. Like the idea of cherry......

Fretboard/bridge....??? still using 'exotics'......