Building an electric guitar from teak?

flatfourfan

Anyone seen one done before?

Got some really nice slabs this morning of fresh cut Rhodesian Teak and damn it's fine..........Wouldn't be too sure about the neck, but a chambered body seems deff do-able.

I'd be looking at doing an explorer, so some weight saving would be a good idea.

ANyone?

MikeM

Very heavy, very hard.. I'd rather make a guitar display case :roflmao:

flatfourfan

MikeM wrote: Very heavy, very hard.. I'd rather make a guitar display case :roflmao:

I have a Warlock from Solid maple so I know about weight. A chambered body should take care of the worst of the worst with regards to weight, my Hamer explorer is a tad on the light side of life for my liking.

Screw the guitar case........guitars are for playing, not showing off.

Bob-Dubery

Is "rhodesian teak" the same wood as "kiaat"? If so then note that Mervyn Davis makes extensive use of kiaat, including making necks out of lengths of that wood.

Neon-Gecko

Rhodesian Teak is probably one of the hardest timbers that I know off apart from Panga Panga maybe. There is a reason why the made railway sleepers outta the wood and they lasted so long out in the elements untreated.

My guess is that the tone would be even brighter and have way more treble than Maple. Very pretty wood though, particularly when it has the creamy white and red/brown in it, but I just can't see it been used in a guitar.

flatfourfan

Hmm, I own a clock made from Kiaat and the wood appears to be much softer, also with larger pores than Teak.

Just did a quick search..........appears almost 3 times as hard as Kiaat.

Kiaat - Hardness: 6,580 N on end surface
Rhodesian Teak - 1593O N on end surface

Yup neon, it's damn hard. I can see me going through a few blades when cutting this thing down to size.

I found out just now that my friend had the slabs cut from a bow saw by hand as no-one wanted to touch it with any sort of electrical equipment. Damn that must of taken ages. I have 6 sleepers at home in the garden and it's like moving stone.

Will line up the slabs in the garage this weekend and sit in front of it for an hour or so and contimplate.

Manfred-Klose

while were on topic, i'm just gonna hijack the thread a little bit.

i've got alot oak slabs here, that came from old furniture, so i am thinking of making a hollowbody tele out of the oak for an experiment. the whole idea behind a recycled guitar build. good idea / bad idea ?

Neon-Gecko

@ FFF. I've given it some thought, and if you are set on doing a Teak guitar, then I'd use the Teak as a cap say no more than 5 mm thick and bond that to Mahogany or some other warm timber. You may end up with a similar tone to a Maple cap say.

Your mate must have looked like the Incredible Hulk after bow sawing the Teak by hand! ?

@ Manfred. Oak makes for some fantastic 18th century Battle Ships with decks of Teak. (sorry FFF, couldn't resist ?) I know that some may argue that Brain May used reclaimed oak in one of his axes. There are far better options out there and I’ll certainly be looking at Kiaat in the near future on one of my builds.

flatfourfan

Yup, I have to agree with you there Neon. I think that I'll use the teak for another project as I have a vintage steering wheel that I'm about to restore, I guess that I may just go out and buy a new peice of mahogany and use that for the neck and body.

One thing is for sure, my next guitar will be a diy build.

guidothepimmp

I got some neck ideas.. Must chat around some steak flatties and lemonade

flatfourfan

lemonade? Damn that sounds so ghey...........lol.

Wizard

Rhodesian teak & kiaat are very different woods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikiaea_plurijuga
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiaat

I've worked with it quite a lot - it's very hard & durable stuff.
It's used quite extensively in parquet flooring; outdoor furniture; sleepers etc.
Pretty bullet proof stuff.
Unbelievably difficult to work. Has resin which causes tools to stick.
I made a braai table out of it and snapped off two drill bits in just drilling guide holes!
The resin heats up rapidly; turns to a super-glue type stuff and just bites the tool; either burning it and the wood or seizing the tool.

One of my favourite woods, but I'd only use it for specific purposes.
Really cool for frames & jigs & outdoor furniture / tables.

I wouldn't make a body out of it ... especially if it needs to be chambered.

flatfourfan

Yup, I took a tester piece this morning and used my router on it and it made short work of the bit in a little under 5 minutes. Made plans tomorrow to go and view a piece of mahogany during my lunch time that should do the trick.

Wizard

Kiaat is a beautiful & resonant wood.
Varies in colour & weight enormously from plank to plank.
Works quite well as marimba bars. (behind Padauk and real Rosewood).
Also smells lovely when freshly cut
(which, strangely, is one of my personal criteria for liking specific woods)

Neon-Gecko

Wizard wrote: Kiaat is a beautiful & resonant wood.
Varies in colour & weight enormously from plank to plank.
Works quite well as marimba bars. (behind Padauk and real Rosewood).
Also smells lovely when freshly cut
(which, strangely, is one of my personal criteria for liking specific woods)

+1 Teak has a smell all of its own when being worked. I like the colour of newly worked teak, but sadly it changes colour over time.

Kiaat has to be one of the most fragrant woods I’ve ever worked with, very spicy, almost got a cinnamon aroma to it.

G-Man

So sorry to hijack your thread, but... ?

I have been given an old chopping-board from my folks who immigrated to SA from ~~Rhodesia~~ Zimbabwe, this thing is solid! Anyway I can't remember what wood it is? It's Rhodesian-something-or-other, or oak, or ...? Here are some pics, I tried looking online but I dunno... It's all one solid piece. Length 62 cm, Width 45.5 cm & Thickness 4.5cm. Weighs close to around 5 - 6KG

So basically, it's developing some slight cracks on the edges, so I want to know if it's worth keeping it as a chopping-board, taking it down to my local timber place and getting in planed and treated to continue on it's dull life as a kitchen accessory, or if it needs to be shaped into a decent axe?!

Opinions?

Again sorry for the hijack!!

MikeM

Yes. If you can have it planed, that'd clean things up a bit. Remember to oil it regularly and lightlly with mineral oil. Olive oil has a chance of going rancid which can make you quite sick..... I know this from experience :\

G-Man

MikeM wrote: Yes. If you can have it planed, that'd clean things up a bit. Remember to oil it regularly and lightlly with mineral oil. Olive oil has a chance of going rancid which can make you quite sick..... I know this from experience :\

Thanks MikeM, I'll do that if it resumes normal duty, but are subtly you saying it's not guitar body material?

Thanks again!

MikeM

I'd rather spend the R150 or whatever on a nice piece of mahogany. If you're going to be putting a whole lot of time and effort in, do it properly.

Neon-Gecko

MikeM wrote: I'd rather spend the R150 or whatever on a nice piece of mahogany. If you're going to be putting a whole lot of time and effort in, do it properly.

Mike has summed it up nicely. Rather spend a little money on the body timber and you’ll know that your efforts will be rewarded.

Other timbers to consider, mahogany with a figured maple cap, alder, swamp and plain ash. I’m sure other forum members will mention other types of tonal timbers.