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I already ordered and received a set of curly maple and WRC I am going to use for my second build.
I have been spending quite some time finishing up my shop and want to order my wood for my first build(steel string).

I am getting 5 sets of the 2A Lutz Spruce tops Shane had for sale a little while back and plan to use one of them for the top. $20
The rest of the list is yet to be ordered but I am looking at Allied
EIRosewood back sides $50.00
two mahogany neck blanks 24x3x1 $39.00
Ebony fingerboard, head plate and Bridge blank
Stitka spruce brace wood $12.00
Mahogany kerfling $22.00

I am still undecided on the binding/perfling combo any suggestions. I was thinking more ebony but I still do not know.

Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions.

Personally, for #1 -- I suggest buying a pre-made Bridge and fretboard. You can cut the fretboard to size, radius, whatever... just get one that is pre-slotted for your scale.

Also... Don't forget to price out:
Tuners
Trussrod
Bridge pins
Bridge pin reamer
Fret wire
Inlay bits and pieces
2 set of strings... 1 cheap one to ruin whilst taking them off and putting them back on 300 times doing setup work... and the 2nd to install after you break them after the 26th round of On/Off.

Tell us what you decide on.

Thanks

Thanks for the advice.
I was trying to order from as few places as possible to save on shipping.

It's good to plan purchases so you're not wasteful with shipping. Just make sure you consider how tooled up you'll need to be to get the fingerboard shaped and slotted. If you're definitely in it for the long haul and you've got the resources, then it makes sense to plan on tooling up and doing it all yourself right from the start. If you need to spread your $$$ investment in this hobby over time, then getting some serviced items up front makes more sense. Trust me that there will be plenty of tools and jigs to buy/make and other supplies to pick up as you progress in your build. In a way, I'm glad I got started in all this before I started getting responsible with my money.

One of the best places to save on shipping is in stocking up a bit on the cheaper parts that you may or may not mess up as you build... Bindings, purflings, linings, etc... It sucks to mess up your linings and then have to place an order just for that where the shipping costs as much as the thing you're ordering.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Good advice. You can always make extra linings with lumberyard wood if necessary, but bindings and purflings are easy to break and you should have spares.

BTW, I'd advise IRW binding rather than ebony- it's quite a bit easier to bend in my experience. You will have to watch color bleeding from the RW sides anyway, so RW binding shouldn't be much extra work.
(Off-topic: Times have changed! In '76 or '77 I bought a 'basic' aka 'the cheapest' guitar 'kit' - boxed wood - and the bridge, fingerboard and bindings were Brazilian RW.....)

I find it's usually better to err on the 'plain' side rather than getting too 'busy', and your list of materials looks good in that dept.

When making up your order, a good 'reference list' is the list of items you would get in a kit.


I just noticed you are ordering from Allied. It would be worth your while to drop them an email and ask about 'opportunity' or 2nd grade sides/backs. I've gotten some very presentable wood from them in this category- if nothing else they make for good bending practice (and also bindings)....... They often have stuff that is not listed on the website. They are really good folks to deal with. (Their truss rods are also excellent, BTW).

Keep us posted as you go ahead with this!
Cheers
John