Every time I get a LMII catalog I flip over to the Exotic tone-wood section, gosh does one have to take out 2nd mortgage to build a really nice looking guitar? Personally I think not -- I am with Tim McKnight in his opinion that blind folded, a listener could not tell the difference between guitars made with Exotic or Domestic tone-woods. Even manufacturers don’t do the blindfold test because they know the results would not lean in a definitive direction. But it’s all subjective anyway.
Here are a couple of photos of an Elvis J200 --- yes his J200’s (and others) were made with three-piece backs (good guitar trivia!) I think my customer made some pretty good choices and I wanted to point out how striking domestic materials can be – this one is made of Black Walnut and Bird’s Eye Maple --- its going to be a beauty!
There are many nice domestic woods that are worthy of being a guitar. Besides the spruces , lets look at Maple , Cherry , Walnut , Sycamore and in my area this is a wood with spectacular figure . Osage Orange , persimmon , and I know I missed many .
I have a few local saw mills and if you have them in your area , it may be worth the ride to check them out . You will be surprised at how many sawyers will be interested in this hobby and may keep you posted to good wood finds . Eastern White Catalpa is a great wood also.
I made a few from local woods . Walnut and Cherry do make good instruments . Don't be a wood snob .
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
There are some great local combinations of wood. But if you are interested in a specific kind of wood because of its looks or you can mimic a gutiar you want to replicate, keep in mind that you can get some great tonewoods from local hardwood suppliers. They love to talk woods, and you would be surprised what they carry.
Wood snob...lol. Only reason I hold my nose in the air is to pick it.
I hope to use more domestic woods in the future. I will be building at least 2 walnut guitars, and I like some of the cherry I've seen. I have some pecan, but I'm afraid it may have too many worm holes in it. I'd love to get some myrtle to build with too.
Since I have a direct connection to India, I'm trying to get some domestic indian wood to use also........ :>)
You can see it very well in the 2nd pick, Rick. Man, I get shivers when I see rippling (my description) like that. Beautiful.
I was at Steve Kinnaird's yesterday and he has 2 pieces of a Myrtle back not yet joined. My gosh, but that shimmered, and even without any type of finish on it. Under finish, it'll be 3D. The coloring has to grow on me, but it ain't far off now. He works a lot with walnut too, and the guitars are as nice to look at as they sound.
My definition of "exotic" is anything outside of a standard straightgrained rosewood or mahogany. No matter where it's from. Guess I'm easily pleased.
And my goal in building even with a kit is to make something that's unique. Something that won't be confused with a Martin, Taylor, or other factory guitar.
Bob
If the guitar didn't turn out good, you could well..................................
I smoke a turkey almost every Christmas, and the mesquite makes it so succulent!
But I'd like to see a guitar made from it.
Looks like they could grow to 2-3 ft in diameter..........just read that.
Bet it's a bear to work with though. It's sometimes called "Texas Ironwood".
Save the waste pieces, you could still cook with it!
