Local wood for guitar body

[stringman]

My wife and I attended Marraige On The Rocks before at Caliraya. We were sponsored by my moms friend. I met Mr. Jack (forgot his last name) he had a production house in Makati. He's into commercials.

[inkslingerx]

can anybody help me ID the wood this guitar is made of?

[free2rock]

Looks like alder. How heavy is it?

[dannygatton]

just went wood hunting with ah via musicom. had a blast!

bookmatched sets:




one thing that entered my mind, it looks (and smells) like malaysian blackwood.  there are many sub species of asian ebony and i really think this is a type of malaysian blackwood. its more olive in color than brown.  but i could be wrong, who cares they're all mine!!!!

Subscribe to see how the malaysian blackwood turnout to be the back of a classical guitar. 

[maxi_musikero]

wow JB!  nice find!  other than mahogany and kamagong, would there be other guitar-making wood planks available?  tsaka malamang flatsawn yan no hindi quartersawn?

[AhVia_Musicom]

wow JB!  nice find!  other than mahogany and kamagong, would there be other guitar-making wood planks available?  tsaka malamang flatsawn yan no hindi quartersawn?

they have the following woods:
mahogany, macassar ebony, a specie of ebony they call tiger, Malaysian blackwood like what JB got although they just call them kamagong, acacia, figured acacia, 3 kinds of narra, figured narra saw flamed, quilted and narra burl, molave, ipil, kalantas same as what de la cruz guitars use as "phil. mahogany", and many more


JB got a big Log so there are sides that will be Q sawn, rift sawn and a small portion will be FS
you can distinguished the q sawn part of the sets those that have straight grain would either be q sawn or rift sawn which is near q sawn  also

they dont sort woods there by cut if they have any its really on a small number as all of you probably know q sawn is very wastefull and not very good for business in our country where even scraps get to a part of something like a chair, a part of a table etc...

but if you really insist on a q sawn cut that can be arrange you just have to buy the whole log so you get to decide how its going to be cut, otherwise for small piece of lumber then you really dont have much choice, but come to think of it its still cheaper to buy the whole log than buying sets via lmii or other US sites

lets say you  want a q sawn ebony, then the scenario will be you buy the oversize log and the prices go up depending on the width, mas malapad ang width mas mataas ang presyo, if you get a billet with this size 10-15in thick x 14-20in wide x 10-12ft long then you can opt to have it q. sawn dami nga lang masasayang pero atleast still cheaper than buying a couple of sets online

@ JB you really hit the motherlode  my friend looking forward to the blackwood build and the trip back to the yard

[st_anger]

@ JB you really hit the motherlode  my friend looking forward to the blackwood build and the trip back to the yard[/quote]


im really looking forward to this. I hope i can join you.

[maxi_musikero]

they have the following woods:
mahogany, macassar ebony, a specie of ebony they call tiger, Malaysian blackwood like what JB got although they just call them kamagong, acacia, figured acacia, 3 kinds of narra, figured narra saw flamed, quilted and narra burl, molave, ipil, kalantas same as what de la cruz guitars use as "phil. mahogany", and many more


JB got a big Log so there are sides that will be Q sawn, rift sawn and a small portion will be FS
you can distinguished the q sawn part of the sets those that have straight grain would either be q sawn or rift sawn which is near q sawn  also

they dont sort woods there by cut if they have any its really on a small number as all of you probably know q sawn is very wastefull and not very good for business in our country where even scraps get to a part of something like a chair, a part of a table etc...

but if you really insist on a q sawn cut that can be arrange you just have to buy the whole log so you get to decide how its going to be cut, otherwise for small piece of lumber then you really dont have much choice, but come to think of it its still cheaper to buy the whole log than buying sets via lmii or other US sites

lets say you  want a q sawn ebony, then the scenario will be you buy the oversize log and the prices go up depending on the width, mas malapad ang width mas mataas ang presyo, if you get a billet with this size 10-15in thick x 14-20in wide x 10-12ft long then you can opt to have it q. sawn dami nga lang masasayang pero atleast still cheaper than buying a couple of sets online

thanks for replying Mikko!  good to see you are doing well and having fun! 

yeah good point..get a bigger log and qsaw it yourself.  astig.  wonder how the phil mahogany or kalantas will perform as body woods. 

[AhVia_Musicom]

thanks for replying Mikko!  good to see you are doing well and having fun! 

yeah good point..get a bigger log and qsaw it yourself.  astig.  wonder how the phil mahogany or kalantas will perform as body woods. 

NP maxi,

rebuilding my shop becuase of typhoon falcon, im building at snails pace right now but it will improve over the next few weeks,

kalantas has a lovely tap tone and the tap tone sustains like crazy, ill get a set and ask JB to build a guitar from it we'll see hehehehe he has a crazy build sched so it might take awhile, or maybe de la cruz used kalantas on his acoustic already

[maxi_musikero]

kalantas has a lovely tap tone and the tap tone sustains like crazy, ill get a set and ask JB to build a guitar from it we'll see hehehehe he has a crazy build sched so it might take awhile, or maybe de la cruz used kalantas on his acoustic already

i was able to hear an elegee custom electric guitar that is made of kalantas and it does have good sustain. 

[inkslingerx]

Looks like alder. How heavy is it?

its light, a lil' bit heavier vs my pine strat body.

[jbarot]

ill get a set and ask JB to build a guitar from it we'll see hehehehe he has a crazy build sched so it might take awhile

hahaha!  more like nonexistent at the moment!
but after a nice change of events hopefully i can get back to building at a much regular schedule. 

i've just started to sort the plates, so far i have 2 sets of harp guitar back and sides.  the rest i have to plan it.  can't just get a saw and start cutting away.  i have to plan it to get the most yield.  it will take a while...

[masterchoxter]

@mikko

will visit you soon, bro

[jbarot]

wonder how the phil mahogany or kalantas will perform as body woods. 

i think they will do just fine.   

in a blind test,  no one can tell the difference between phil mahogany from kalantas or from any other domestic and exotic wood.  nobody.  the tone we "hear" is affected by our bias from our previous experiences with the tone wood in question, plus the input of players/makers we admire.  and although many won't admit it, we also "hear" tone with our eyes.  plus the guitar itself just has too many variables and to isolate them regarding tone is impossible.

so go make that guitar out of phil mahogany!

[free2rock]

i think they will do just fine.   

in a blind test,  no one can tell the difference between phil mahogany from kalantas or from any other domestic and exotic wood.  nobody.  the tone we "hear" is affected by our bias from our previous experiences with the tone wood in question, plus the input of players/makers we admire.  and although many won't admit it, we also "hear" tone with our eyes.  plus the guitar itself just has too many variables and to isolate them regarding tone is impossible.

so go make that guitar out of phil mahogany!

+1

Let's build them guitars!

[redballs17]

Wow it seems that I really missed a lot. 

Sorry guys my phone got busted and I can not make a call and even reply on your text messages. Thanks JB, i still owe you some toog and WRC. 

[jbarot]

You're welcome Eric!  Next time come along

What I really need now is a drum sander.  Looking at the wood I had there's no way I'll thickness them by hand! Mikko, let's build one! I saw some plans and I think they're doable.  Let's put a 1.5 HP motor for power! Before I start building a guitar again I have to have a drum sander.  How much is a decent motor anyway?

[redballs17]

Thanks JB.

what kind of motor? They sell brand new ones in evangelista quiapo cheap. My friend got a brand new generator there for arround 3.5k. There are stores who sell second hand motors for a much cheaper price.

[jbarot]

Thanks JB.

what kind of motor? They sell brand new ones in evangelista quiapo cheap. My friend got a brand new generator there for arround 3.5k. There are stores who sell second hand motors for a much cheaper price.

Yes! Cheap is good!  Just a motor that can drive a belt to a shaft that will run the drum.  I can make the the frame and such, but getting parts like the sandpaper will be a challenge for me.  But I know it's out there.  I plan to make a wider belt for wider guitar wood.

My only concern is that once I have the sander building will never stop

[redballs17]

hahaha.

I think Quiapo is the way to go my friend. There's a variety of tools and equipment there at a very low price.

[AhVia_Musicom]

JB all the parts are available sa binondo i have a list of what we need, lets collaborate with the drum sander build hehehehe it wont cost us much a friend made his all in for 5000 pesos including the motor

[AhVia_Musicom]

Wow it seems that I really missed a lot. 

Sorry guys my phone got busted and I can not make a call and even reply on your text messages. Thanks JB, i still owe you some toog and WRC. 

eric,

your Indian RW from JB is with me, sent you sms regarding the RW

[maxi_musikero]

Mikko and JB - i think it's about time you guys made dedicated build threads for documentation and sharing. 

[redballs17]

eric,

your Indian RW from JB is with me, sent you sms regarding the RW

Thanks mikko, sorry my phone's keypad is not functioning properly so as of now it only serves as a pager. 

[jbarot]

here's part of the sort:

for a classical/OM guitar


for my lacote:


the harp guitar 1:


fingerboards: