# Common Question: Wood Source



## GnLguy (Jan 30, 2013)

Being new to wood working, I'm needing some direction. I'm sure this is a common question on the forum

I'm planning to learn to build guitars, primarily electric, and I need to know how to find a good source for wood and to know if I am getting a decent price. 

:help:

The main wood that I will need is swamp ash, mahogany, hard maple and from time to time, black walnut. I live in west central Ohio near Dayton

I know I have a lot of learning ahead of me but Rome wasn't built in a day so.....


Thanks in advance
Keith


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## jsears (Apr 5, 2012)

Hi, Keith..

I buy just about all of my lumber from Muterspaw Lumber. Very good quality, plenty to choose from, and good prices. Chad is a great guy. Fairly close to you too.C.R. Muterspaw Lumber Exotic Woods and Domestic Hardwood Lumber


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## rwbaker (Feb 25, 2010)

*Mr*

Morning, my 2 favorites are Clark's Hardwood Lumber Co. & hearnehardwoods.com - in that order. For your first order you might try Grizzly.com as Grizzly supplies guitar blanks, wood, fret material and hardware (Humbucker, etc.). The CEO is a guitar luthier, woodworker and machinist so they have a good selection at mostly reasonable prices.

Good Luck - Baker


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## williamm (Oct 10, 2011)

Local stores can carry exotic wood also. I have seen 3/4" planed boards of maple at Home Depot. Also have seen walnut, hickory, oak, and a couple others at the new Minard's on route 725. There is also a lumber/molding company in Downtown Dayton right across from the ball park that I have seen good sizes of rough cut walnut and possible other species but I haven't been in there for quite a while.
Good luck.
There is also a Woodcraft store south of Dayton which you can look up in the phone book or online. www.Woodcraft.com


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## GnLguy (Jan 30, 2013)

Thanks to all for your advice. 

As it turns out, C.R. Muterspaw Lumber is about 15 minutes from me. I've driven by it several times as I was traveling to the Wilmington area to pheasant hunt. 
Mendelsohn's Electronics is in the general area mentioned and I've been there many times for parts. 

I will definitely check out all that was mentioned. Like I said, I have a lot to learn before I buy good lumber but I like to get my ducks in a row early. Its just cold enough that I can't work in my garage for any length of time so I'm getting tools together and arranged. 


Thanks again


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## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

Hey GnLguy, I know what a GnL is! I've been making guitars for a few years. Have a look at Fender Telecaster® Electric Guitar Central -- No. 1 in the World if you haven't found it already. In addition to the advice you've already been given, I'd suggest you find and get to know the millers in your area, particularly guys with mobile chainsaw and bandsaw mills who make planks from trees. The advantage of guitar-making is that you can use shorter planks than anybody else, so offcuts that you will literally get for nothing will come your way if you make enough useful contacts. I know a guy who works in a plant where they shred "waste" wood from construction and demolition sites to make firewood briquettes, and he keeps nice pieces for me. The dark wood in this guitar body is mahogany that was dumped by someone and retrieved by him.


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## rwl7532 (Sep 8, 2011)

*G&L Wiki page*

G&L Musical Instruments - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## GnLguy (Jan 30, 2013)

I will keep that in mind. I once found a website of man that watched for old barns being torn down and he was salvaging pine boards for guitar bodies. The theory is that it takes decades for pine to truly be dry of resin and once it is in that state, the pine is an exceptional tone wood. The drawback is the way that it splits and dents so easily. 

I have 2 G&L guitars, both made with swamp ash and the craftsmanship is amazing. Leo Fender is quoted as saying that with G&L, he had perfected his 2 first designs as much as he could. They definitely don't scrimp on the woodworkiing 
If you were to Google the name Paul Reed Smith, you would find an American guitar co. in Maryland that has some of the finest woodworkers. There is a multi-part series on You Tube of his factory that is interesting to watch the care and detail that is taken on their products


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## Willway (Aug 16, 2012)

GnLguy said:


> Being new to wood working, I'm needing some direction. I'm sure this is a common question on the forum
> 
> I'm planning to learn to build guitars, primarily electric, and I need to know how to find a good source for wood and to know if I am getting a decent price.
> 
> ...


I would suggest you look around your local saw mills. There is one on Jasper Road just outside of Xenia just a couple of miles, just past Blue Jacket, they mill lumber for pallets but also save some for projects. There are some other sawmills down around Hillsboro. There is also a lumber yard at Washington Courthouse that has hardwood at decent prices. Lots of times you can pick through cut-offs that will fit your purpose. I was brought up and lived in that area several years, my youngest son still lives in Jamestown.


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## jsears (Apr 5, 2012)

Willway said:


> I would suggest you look around your local saw mills. There is one on Jasper Road just outside of Xenia just a couple of miles, just past Blue Jacket, they mill lumber for pallets but also save some for projects. There are some other sawmills down around Hillsboro. There is also a lumber yard at Washington Courthouse that has hardwood at decent prices. Lots of times you can pick through cut-offs that will fit your purpose. I was brought up and lived in that area several years, my youngest son still lives in Jamestown.


Dick..

I can't speak for all of the locations, but if you are speaking of Willis Lumber in Washington Court House, it's gone.


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## GnLguy (Jan 30, 2013)

I appreciate all of the help that I've recd from this simple posting, which I posted early today. I've learned that there are 5 sources that I didn't know about and there is one in Enon also that I plan to visit. 

I thought that the last post was sounding like someone that knew the area really well. It always helps to talk to local people for sure.

Now, if the Ohio weather would just cooperate a bit so I can get into my garage without freezing!


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I can't speak about lumber requirements for electric guitars but I am somewhat familiar with the requirement for acoustic guitars. I worked at a log sort yard in British Columbia for 8 years and we were asked to sort out any wood that would possibly make sound boards for acoustic instruments. The interested parties were looking for white spruce that had at least 19 grains per inch. They had to be quarter sawn grain and I think at least 10 inches wide which required a minimum 30-36 diameter log. They were also considering trying hemlock but we never found any that would make the grade. 

The point of that is that it would be difficult to walk into a lumber store and find wood that work for you. For acoustic instruments you would probably be better to buy them from a reputable source as already suggested.


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## JCJCJC (May 15, 2012)

GnLguy said:


> I will keep that in mind. I once found a website of man that watched for old barns being torn down and he was salvaging pine boards for guitar bodies. The theory is that it takes decades for pine to truly be dry of resin and once it is in that state, the pine is an exceptional tone wood. The drawback is the way that it splits and dents so easily.
> 
> I have 2 G&L guitars, both made with swamp ash and the craftsmanship is amazing. Leo Fender is quoted as saying that with G&L, he had perfected his 2 first designs as much as he could. They definitely don't scrimp on the woodworkiing
> If you were to Google the name Paul Reed Smith, you would find an American guitar co. in Maryland that has some of the finest woodworkers. There is a multi-part series on You Tube of his factory that is interesting to watch the care and detail that is taken on their products


The barn-buster sounds like Ron Kirn, who is a regular and hugely respected contributor to tdpri.com. I've played a PRS, beautiful guitar but not my kind of thing visually or aurally - clean twang is my preference. G&Ls sound great, I agree. I have a tutorial DVD made by their factory demo player and it's superb.

There are raging debates on guitar boards about whether the wood makes any difference in an electric guitar. My two euro-worth is that the pickups govern 95% of the tone, the fit of the neck and bridge govern the next 4%, the nut material and string quality influences a bit, and what's left is divided between the wood, the lacquer and the glue. 

To prove the point, this was made on tdpri from MDF 'tonewood':


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## GnLguy (Jan 30, 2013)

JCJCJC said:


> The barn-buster sounds like Ron Kirn, who is a regular and hugely respected contributor to tdpri.com. I've played a PRS, beautiful guitar but not my kind of thing visually or aurally - clean twang is my preference. G&Ls sound great, I agree. I have a tutorial DVD made by their factory demo player and it's superb.
> 
> There are raging debates on guitar boards about whether the wood makes any difference in an electric guitar. My two euro-worth is that the pickups govern 95% of the tone, the fit of the neck and bridge govern the next 4%, the nut material and string quality influences a bit, and what's left is divided between the wood, the lacquer and the glue.
> 
> To prove the point, this was made on tdpri from MDF 'tonewood':


I would hate to have that hanging over my shoulder considering the weight of MDF. 

I agree that the pickups are the largest contributor to the sound of a solid body electric guitar. The density of the wood species does effect the sustain but I think that is minimal at best.
The real tone difference can be heard in a semi-hollow or hollow body guitar but is that due to the design instead of the wood? 
Les Paul was injured in a car wreck in the 50s and to spend his time wisely during his time of healing, he cut a Gibson hollow body apart and mounted a neck to a piece of a 4x4, glued the sides on and thus the first semi hollow was created.
I've attached a pic of his woodwork


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## Willway (Aug 16, 2012)

jsears said:


> Dick..
> 
> I can't speak for all of the locations, but if you are speaking of Willis Lumber in Washington Court House, it's gone.


Hi Jim, sorry to hear that they have closed. It's hard to believe I forgot the name of the company, seeing as how we share the same name. It's hard to get old, but it beats the heck out of the alternative!!!


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