Is this a Plank I see before me or........

costafonix

So rummaging through my garage the other day I came across this plank....which in the old days would have been chopped up for my next braai.... I have no idea what type of wood it is (I suspect meranti or mahogany),, perhaps one of the wood experts on this forum can advise?? It is thick & heavy.....
Beyond the plank I see - 2 humbuckers? 3 way switch? one volume, one tone control? A Strat or Tele type neck? Clear or painted finish? Maybe some design using abalone?
Any ideas???

---mario---

not an expert, and its hard to tell from a pic, but that blueish tint and straight grain is quite remeniscent of Miranti (learned from fitting in doors and frames and whatnot ? )

Wizard

You need to cut a thin slice off to expose some non-oxidised wood ... will give a much clearer indication of what it is.
I bought a bunch of old offcuts from a wood company once ... and the expert owners who had worked in wood all their lives guessed what each pieve was ... and guessed wrongly in all cases.
As soon as we exposed some wood with a saw it was obvious which was Kiaat, African Rosewood etc

I'll leave Manfred to teach you about his tried and tested "smell" test ?

Bob-Dubery

Spike Milligan used to tell a story about Uncle Paddy. Young Spike and his friends would find a piece of wood and not know what it was.

So they'd take it to Uncle Paddy and ask him what it was.

Uncle Paddy would sniff it and hold it so the light travelled along the grain. He'd tap it. He'd spit on it and scratch with his thumb nail.

Then he'd look at them and say "this wood is SOLID WOOD."

Hammeron

There once was a poet named Frank
of low metaphorical rank
who neither could see
a guitar nor tree
in a length of timberyard plank ?

Gearhead

Meranti if you ask me - I wouldn't spend a second thinking about making it into a guitar body.

Tonedef

Hammeron wrote There once was a poet named Frank
of low metaphorical rank
who neither could see
a guitar nor tree
in a length of timberyard plank ?

Lol, excellent! ?

costafonix

Gearhead wrote Meranti if you ask me - I wouldn't spend a second thinking about making it into a guitar body.

So if I understand you correctly you're saying GO FOR IT???

jeremy-Budgen

Defiantly maranti there, how long have it been lying around, seems to be straight grained, what are the ends like split, personally i would not use maranti for a guitar body, but there are guys out there who use pine for bodies, so if you want to experiment go for it, and just post pics as you go, what is the thickness you will need at least 45mm for a good body thickness, you say it is heavy, may be that will be the deciding factor, if too heavy you might have to sit down whilst playing it....lol

I always say you only see what the outcome is after going through the process before hand, so create.....

---mario---

You can call it the Braaiwoodcaster and on the headstock put a slogan "retained from the ashes" ?

VellaJ

...mario... wrote You can call it the Braaiwoodcaster and on the headstock put a slogan "retained from the ashes" ?

I'm not gonna lie, that's a pretty awesome inscription ? I'd totally buy a guitar just for that :roflmao:

Gearhead

Sorry if my post was ambiguous. I meant to say that I wouldn't make a body out of that if someone paid me good money for it. It is going to crack and it is going to make all your tools blunt.

costafonix

jeremy Budgen wrote Defiantly maranti there, how long have it been lying around,

at least since I moved into the house around 24 years ago,,

VellaJ wrote
...mario... wrote You can call it the Braaiwoodcaster and on the headstock put a slogan "retained from the ashes" ?
I'm not gonna lie, that's a pretty awesome inscription ? I'd totally buy a guitar just for that :roflmao:

LOL,,, yeh that would make it Proudly South African,,,,,

Gearhead wrote Sorry if my post was ambiguous. I meant to say that I wouldn't make a body out of that if someone paid me good money for it. It is going to crack and it is going to make all your tools blunt.

Yeh, sorry I just got to read all these replies now,, so still in two minds about using it,,although as mentioned above it has been standing there for 24 years ("Livin' next door to Alice"...sorry,, for some reason I had to throw Smokie into the mix...dunno why).. :?
on the plus side, it would be the first body I've built from scratch, so it could be a good piece to practise with,,,

Gearhead

...and I'm saying it would not be a good piece to practice with. It will chip off and tear out easily, be a pain to work on and you will need to get new blades for the jigsaw and need to sharpen your planer. If you want good tonewood that is easy to work on as a first time thing, go for pine or something.

MikeM

+1 to what Gearhead is saying.. I have some super hard ash that is just lying half done because it's such a hassle to work.

---mario---

CostaFonix wrote
VellaJ wrote
...mario... wrote You can call it the Braaiwoodcaster and on the headstock put a slogan "retained from the ashes" ?
I'm not gonna lie, that's a pretty awesome inscription ? I'd totally buy a guitar just for that :roflmao:
LOL,,, yeh that would make it Proudly South African,,,,,

("Livin' next door to Alice"...sorry,, for some reason I had to throw Smokie into the mix...dunno why).. :?

Even better! Make it a tribute guitar to Smokie with those inscriptions.

And to make it authentic you can burn in little Boesmannetjies standing around a braai onto the body for some artwork ?

costafonix

Gearhead wrote ...and I'm saying it would not be a good piece to practice with. It will chip off and tear out easily, be a pain to work on and you will need to get new blades for the jigsaw and need to sharpen your planer. If you want good tonewood that is easy to work on as a first time thing, go for pine or something.

MikeM wrote +1 to what Gearhead is saying.. I have some super hard ash that is just lying half done because it's such a hassle to work.

Point noted guys, thanks for the advice, I'll look for something more suitable

...mario... wrote

Even better! Make it a tribute guitar to Smokie with those inscriptions.

And to make it authentic you can burn in little Boesmannetjies standing around a braai onto the body for some artwork ?

LOL,,, :roflmao: oh man,,, this things taking on a life all of its own,,,,