Tail Block Material

[John Reid]

Thought I’d throw this out there:

I was going to order a couple mahogany tail blocks for my next builds. Then I thought about making them instead. I have oak and cherry laying around. What about these woods? Would they work well for a tail block? I was guessing that them being mahogany is not too important.

I’m not trying to be cheap here. I just thought it’d be fun to make the tail blocks myself with the wood I have.

[tippie53]

I have seen all sorts of wood used.
Oak may split easy. I like to inlet a piece of plywood in the tail blocks to absorb the force of a drop so the guitar doesn't get split.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Interesting question. My understanding is that mahogany has an interlocking grain?? This making it less susceptible to splitting? I have used Luan Mahogany here but it is heavier than Honduran. I see alot of plywood being used but Ive never used it.

[MaineGeezer]

I've used cherry for both head and tail blocks -- seems to work fine, On occasion I've epoxied a couple strips of carbon fiber into the tail block (see "The 00 Project" in "Blog Your Project") when the tail block doesn't seem particularly robust, but cherry seems pretty solid. Like John, I think I'd avoid oak. If you've ever split any oak firewood, you know how easy oak can be to split. (Elm, on the other hand, is almost impossible to split.)

[jread]

Not sure if everyone does this or not.. I like to put a radius on the outside face of the tail and neck blocks matching the curve of the sides so I don't have a flat spot when gluing the sides to the blocks.

I simply use double sided tape and tape down some 60 grit sandpaper into the guitar mold where the block would be and sand away the outside face until it matches the curve.

This could be counter to what others do, I'm not sure but it makes for a uniform curve around those areas. This might make some extra work when setting the neck to ensure there is no gap under the heel.

I also ensure the grain is running horizontally ( same direction as the sides. ) I did a neck block vertically once and sanding the end grain of the blocks was really difficult.

[phavriluk]

I think a piece of birch plywood works just fine. A tail block has no acoustical properties, so anything goes. Using a block of wood that can split and needs reinforcing so it won't is to me time better spent elsewhere where it will do some good.

[Diane Kauffmds]

I've used mahogany, sapele, and cherry. All have worked well for me. I inlay a plywood strip in the tailblock as John Hall suggests. It works. I dropped guitar #2, cherry/spruce, on the shop floor and the sides didn't split. It hit hard.

This guitar also has a cherry tailblock, and cherry neck. I'm sure the plywood strip saved the sides.

[Skarsaune]

I like cherry as well.

[phavriluk]

I just re-read the original post. There wasn't a question of what to buy, but what to use. I missed the part about having cherry and oak on hand. I vote for the cherry.

Old-time hot-rodders used to not get picky about flogging their cars of varying ancestry and originality: 'Run what ya brung'. Got wood that can be trimmed to fit? It will all work and the price is right.

[krrtlr1]

Do you have a diagram of how you inlet that. having trouble picturing it.

Thank you