Official Luthiers Forum!

Just looking to here your thoughts or experience with oak as back and side wood.

thanks
Brent

Oak has been used for years and is not a bad tone wood. Both red and white work. It is a pain to fill but is worth the effort.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

John Arnold built at least one oak guitar that I recall. From what In understand, it is a thumper. However, he could probably build a thumper out of flat sawn pine from Home Depot. But it is a viable back and side wood nevertheless.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Google "Martin arts and crafts guitar". They did a really nice version of it. I've got a beautiful quarter-sawn back and side set that I'm looking forward to trying.

Steve

Haans Bentrup makes some great Oak guitars. I've played them and they are very unique instruments.

http://www.brentrup.com/

http://www.thepodium.com/p-17233-brentr ... -case.aspx

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

As far as the filling process goes in terms of any discussion using oak, why not just accept the fact that oak is porous and maybe even looks best that way? I built a guitar with Lace-wood which from what I understand is an oak by any other name and the stuff was almost impossible to fill. But it looks great and sounds great. In hind sight I wouldn't try to fill it. Personal observation but sometimes a guitar looks a lot better when it looks like it's made of raw wood

Ken Franklin just finished a white oak back and side guitar. One of the prettiest best sounding guitars I have ever experienced.
Maybe he will chime in here.
L.

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

I just made a guitar with white oak back and sides that were from a weathered old dresser top that I resawed. I really like the way it turned out, probably the best sounding guitar I've built so far. I filled with CA and it took more coats. The oak might have had more pores than wood.

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

I have built a few white oak guitars, you won' be sorry.

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I have made 2 white oak guitars. I have one still and everyone that plays it loves it. The other one is in Georgia and the owner says he loves it.
If you are in So Cal you can come and play mine.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

My last classical was white oak. Love the looks and sound! Clinton



http://clintonrichguitars.com/shows.html

Any thoughts on exploiting the white oak for a classical? I have 6 sets laid in for future use and would appreciate any light that you can cast upon the subject. Thanks.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

I have 2 sets of flame White Oak that I'm anxious to use, and pairing it with a Black Walnut neck and either Red or Sitka (from Alaska) top in my "American Boy" series that I've begun, with a current build in Cherry / Walnut / Sitka.
Wish I could get Texas Ebony in a piece big enough for a fret board, it may have to be Osage, but I hold out hope.

On a similar note, I've seen a fiddle made of Oak, except for the Oak top, it could have been successful.

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Douglas, I just played a factory guitar which happened to sound very nice for the money, it was cedar and walnut. But when I checked more closely, the back was plywood... I would say that ANY solid wood (and even crappy plywood) will make a good guitar if the soundboard is well made...

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Build log

This guy has some.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290549693479&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

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John

Beautiful guitar John. Did you stain or fume the oak?

Thanks

Steve

Thanks for the photos I have been collecting 1/4 sawn w, oak for a while ,and thought that I was the only kook doing so, after seing those great pics, I am a believer. Mo has some of the nicest w,oak. I believe a good chunk of it is exported for the making of wine barrels. Is that a w. oak headstock veneer , and w. oak neck ????????????

A friend of mine built me a red oak guitar. It has killer looks and sound to match. Will post some pics as soon as I find out how to. Help appreciated.

You want pictures?

Rosette - alternating manzanita and red oak -


Rosette - manzanita surrounded by red oak -

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Thanks John A.
This guy may not be too far from me.

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Regarding oak for sides and back, absolutely. Why not? Now, this next bit is STRICTLY a personal preference, so accept it as only that. I much prefer the looks of quarter sawn red oak to quarter sawn white oak. Truly, white oak can be absolutely spectacular when quarter sawn, and it's one of the traditional woods of the arts and crafts design movement. But all that figure gets a little overpowering for my personal taste. I see no particular reason why red and white oak couldn't be used equally in guitar construction.
Further, oak is a very good bending wood, so I say go for it.

A proviso is that oak of any variety is going to require pore filling. It'll be like filling the ends of a bunch of soda straws. You must do some experimenting on scrap before you apply finish to your instrument.

The neck is mahogany with a white oak headstock veneer.

It is stained with water soluble walnut aniline stain. In addition to the walnut stain, the neck required some black stain to match the oak. Otherwise it would have been too red.

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John

http://s1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd4 ... =slideshow
One of two oak guitars that Larry made.

Gene, I dropped by Larry's shop several times when your guitar was being built.
Love the eagle. Larry's a great inlay artist and he makes a great sounding Guitar.

I'm have a get together at my shop on July 9th, you should come by!

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

Thanks for the kind remarks Dave. Larry Ayres