Materials for first build

D-Man

So I've been inspired to take the plunge and commit to a build. For the time being I've even started messing around on random planks of laminated wood to get the creative juices flowing and to practice those undeveloped carpentry skills, but I do actually want to build something for realsies!

I don't need top quality stuff and my aim is just to build a working custom instrument without digging into the pocket too much. So where should I look for wood? Are there local suppliers that could give me something usable for a good price? And also, what wood should i be looking at? I know some are harder to work with than others.

Thanks in advance...

Neon-Gecko

One of the bigger misconceptions are that good quality imported timbers need to cost a fortune. While there may be some truth in this with the more exotic, figured types of timbers, your ash, alder and mahoganies are pretty cheap in relation to local timbers.

I always believe that the same amount of work will go into a pine body as will any other tonal timber, so why not spend a little more?

One of the places you can try for most timbers, is Maple St Timbers in Pomona, situated between Kempton Park and Benoni. You should manage to get all of you timbers from them and manage to do that for under R 1K, easily. I'm not too sure if there are any timber merchants out your way, but I'm sure other forumites may be able to come up with a few.

D-Man

Neon Gecko wrote: One of the places you can try for most timbers, is Maple St Timbers in Pomona, situated between Kempton Park and Benoni. You should manage to get all of you timbers from them and manage to do that for under R 1K, easily. I'm not too sure if there are any timber merchants out your way, but I'm sure other forumites may be able to come up with a few.

Thanks @Neon Gecko! When you say I should be able to get all my timbers for under R1k, are you referring to all the timber for the whole build?? That would be pretty fantastic!! :applause:

Chocklit_Thunda

+1 on the Maple Street Timbers option ? got all my timber for my builds from there! It was 500 something for the mahogany 150mm x 38mm x 2metres long (enough for about 3 guitar bodies) ? the only problem is that they won't let you buy just small body blank sizes... You have to buy the whole 2 or 3m long plank... They can cut it into 500mm or 400mm long pieces for you though which you can join at home ?
Or you can go to the scrap heap and pull out a few pieces of te same wood and buy them for cheap ?

Ray

There's a good tember yard quite near you called Silverton timber. I think they're quite close anyway.

http://www.timbermerchant.co.za/about.html

Neon-Gecko

D-Man wrote:
Neon Gecko wrote: One of the places you can try for most timbers, is Maple St Timbers in Pomona, situated between Kempton Park and Benoni. You should manage to get all of you timbers from them and manage to do that for under R 1K, easily. I'm not too sure if there are any timber merchants out your way, but I'm sure other forumites may be able to come up with a few.
Thanks @Neon Gecko! When you say I should be able to get all my timbers for under R1k, are you referring to all the timber for the whole build?? That would be pretty fantastic!! :applause:

Well you will get most there. Indian Rosewood may have to be sourced from another merchant for a fretboard, as they only seem to stock African Rosewood which is pretty featureless grain-wise and is very red/pink in colour.

D-Man

okay, so the wood story is looking a lot more promising now! Thanks a lot for the info guys... I'm starting to get amped for this now even though it'll probably take ages to get to and finish, but it's worth it in my opinion. For the hardware I'm guessing stewmac would be a fantastic option??? When I get to the finishing process, however (hopefully sooner rather than later) can I use paints and other finishing products from local stores that might not necessarily be specifically for this sort of work??

Wizard

Well you will get most there. Indian Rosewood may have to be sourced from another merchant for a fretboard, as they only seem to stock African Rosewood which is pretty featureless grain-wise and is very red/pink in colour.

And African Rosewood isn't actually a rosewood at all. (It's formal name is Bubinga)
So doesn't have the same tonal qualities.

peterleroux

D-Man wrote: When I get to the finishing process, however (hopefully sooner rather than later) can I use paints and other finishing products from local stores that might not necessarily be specifically for this sort of work??

Fender used (and use) automotive paints - if I was to build a flat-colour instrument, I'd be inclined to get it sprayed at an auto-body place after sealing it- they have spray booths where they will get a good, dustr-free finish. For natural or stained finishes, just about anything you would want to use is easily available, from porous oil finishes to this polyester varnishes

Neon-Gecko

peterleroux wrote:
D-Man wrote: When I get to the finishing process, however (hopefully sooner rather than later) can I use paints and other finishing products from local stores that might not necessarily be specifically for this sort of work??
Fender used (and use) automotive paints - if I was to build a flat-colour instrument, I'd be inclined to get it sprayed at an auto-body place after sealing it- they have spray booths where they will get a good, dustr-free finish. For natural or stained finishes, just about anything you would want to use is easily available, from porous oil finishes to this polyester varnishes

I'm inclined to disagree with panel shops painting guitars as they tend to put far too much paint on and that just destroys the tone. A generalisation of course, but certainly true in most circumstances.

D-Man

It's cool to know that you can get a professional looking finish at an automotive shop. I'm guessing they probably won't even charge very much seeing as they usually work on much bigger jobs, but if I'm going to be doing this for the experience and the joy of the process, I'd probably tend towards a way of doing it myself

guidothepimmp

Stewmac is fine for hardware. Just be aware of the shipping costs which gets hectic quickly. If you can get someone to piggyback on the order and split the shipping costs that's 1st prize.

Silverton timber merchants is great but inclined to agree with maple str .. they have great timber too

Wizard

A friend and I got a auto shop to paint a guitar (with BMW Maroon).
Cost us 500 ront on a supposed friend-of-a-friend "special deal".
No idea if we were ripped off or got a good deal.

Interesting to hear the guru's say that the inevitable thickness of paint is a tone thief.
Useful to know.

D-Man

Wizard wrote: Interesting to hear the guru's say that the inevitable thickness of paint is a tone thief.
Useful to know.

Always some very interesting info around here... I honestly would never have thought about that...

I'm throwing so many design ideas around in my head... Being my first build, I don't want to make it too complex but on the other hand the time and money spent might as well be spent on doing it properly... Seeing as this is going to cost a lot more money than I ever have at any given time, I'm going to budget in the following sections:

Body Timber + Neck timber
Finger Board blank + fret wire + nut + Inlay material (cutting the fret slots myself and doing the inlays is going to be ambitious, but I'm up for it)
Finishing materials
Bridge + Tuners + Jacks + knobs + Wiring + pots etc.
Pickups

I'm hoping that the amount of time that's naturally going to fall between these phases and some clever spending should keep the project running at a consistent pace...

Norman86

good luck!
the only tnhing i would be weary of is the fret cutting!
if you're off even slighlty, you'll never be in tune down the neck!
other than that, it shouldnt be too difficult!

hardware... try get everything at once.. saves on shipping charges!
also, try looking for your parts at warmoth, as they can be cheaper on the same parts as stewmac!

Chocklit_Thunda

I agree with warmoth for quality parts but if you want to cut your budget your should try GFS like I did... I've heard good and bad reviews but with me they've only been helpful ?

Also if you need plans for body sizes just PM me... I've got an entire folder of guitar plans for any shape of body and necks too ? some are cad formats and others are PDF but they print out full size on A0 paper at your local CAD and Copy

D-Man

Norman86 wrote: the only tnhing i would be weary of is the fret cutting!

Thanks to a much needed wake-up call, I've changed my mind in this regard... Going with a preslotted board now!

Norman86 wrote: hardware... try get everything at once.. saves on shipping charges!

I notice there are 2 shipping options at Stewmac... OBVIOUSLY I'm going to want to go with the super cheap one. If I can be sure the products will arrive, I really don't mind the fact that it's going to take 2-4 weeks. Are there any risks with this one? any bad/good experiences with this shipping option??

Norman86

more like 6 weeks with slow shipping!

Gearhead

D-Man wrote: I notice there are 2 shipping options at Stewmac... OBVIOUSLY I'm going to want to go with the super cheap one. If I can be sure the products will arrive, I really don't mind the fact that it's going to take 2-4 weeks. Are there any risks with this one? any bad/good experiences with this shipping option??

Works fine as far as I'm concerned. Does take long, don't be in a hurry.

Wizard

Gearhead wrote:
D-Man wrote: I notice there are 2 shipping options at Stewmac... OBVIOUSLY I'm going to want to go with the super cheap one. If I can be sure the products will arrive, I really don't mind the fact that it's going to take 2-4 weeks. Are there any risks with this one? any bad/good experiences with this shipping option??
Works fine as far as I'm concerned. Does take long, don't be in a hurry.

All my stuff has arrived from Stewmac ... eventually.