Norway Spruce

[Otterhound]

I just began cutting the billets from a Norway Spruce that I had hoped would yield top wood .
Alas , it is loaded with pitch pockets enough to make it useless for that , but I will end up with about 10 or 11 bookmatched 1/4 sawn blanks for solid bodies .
This wood is finally ready and I have a proper jointer for this .
I have already built 1 T-Style with a 1/4 sawn Mulberry over Black Walnut neck and am very pleased with the results .
I am looking forward to this .
Always willing to try different things .

[redir]

I think conifers make great electric guitar woods. One of the best I ever built was walnut with a thick figured redwood top. IT was the best sounding 'acoustic' electric guitar. I can only imagine that somehow had an effect electrically too but it was also nice and light weight.

Post pics as you build I'd love to see your progress.

[printer2]

I had some 3/4" boards that I glued up before I knew about building acoustics. Put a orphan walnut back on it to keep it from getting chewed up. Want to bind it and use a poplar neck. Should be nice and light. Hope you show your progress.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Otterhound

...I have already built 1 T-Style with a 1/4 sawn Mulberry over Black Walnut neck and am very pleased with the results...

How's the balance - seems to me it might be somewhat neck-heavy...

[Otterhound]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

How's the balance - seems to me it might be somewhat neck-heavy...

Not with the one already built .
I do use a 2" thick body
I'll weigh a body once I get the chance .
Just weighed #1 .
6 lbs 14 oz complete guitar

[Steve DeRosa]

Sweet - if you can take the thickness down to 1-1/2" - 1-3/4" without destroying the balance (or the tone) that should put you around 6 lbs. total weight, deep into SG territory and unheard of for a Tele...

BTW we might be down your way sometime in the next couple weeks, depending on a variety of circumstances I can't get into here - I'll PM if it materializes...

[Otterhound]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Sweet - if you can take the thickness down to 1-1/2" - 1-3/4" without destroying the balance (or the tone) that should put you around 6 lbs. total weight, deep into SG territory and unheard of for a Tele...

BTW we might be down your way sometime in the next couple weeks, depending on a variety of circumstances I can't get into here - I'll PM if it materializes...

You and yours certainly are welcome .
If I could resaw large enough , I would do a chambered version from a single billet .
Since I now have a 16" jointer , putting the 2 parts back together nearly seamlessly would be a cinch .

[Truckjohn]

It's a shame you can't get some decent tops out of it. Any chance you could get a few 4 piece tops instead of the usual 2 piece tops.

Your general experience mirrors mine with resawing top wood billets.... It seems like the only way its "worthwhile" is if the wood is close to free because there's just so much risk with hidden defects and such a giant amount of time working around the obvious ones.

I gained a significant appreciation for the work that the topwood sawyers do and the amount of fall out they live with as a normal fact of the business....

Thanks.

[Otterhound]

I am not willing to make the compromise of anything more than 2 piece tops .
Yes , 4 piece tops would likely be doable , but .....
Maybe next time .
You are right about the hidden flaws that can be encountered as you open up a tree .
Nature has ways .....

[Truckjohn]

And if you are like me - you don't need 1,000 lifetimes more of bracewood....

Sorry to hear it didn't work out. Hopefully next time it will.

[LouieAtienza]

When Allan Holdsworth was playing Charvel guitars in the early 80s (he was the only one then to have a "signature" Charvel) Grover Jackson made him one body out of spruce. (This is the natural (clear) finished guitar you may see in some pics.) Word was he didn't care too much for it, and preferred the basswood guitars. Michael DeTemple builds some Teles and Strats out of ponderosa pine...

[Otterhound]

I have 2 Basswood/maple bodies in the works right now .
The Basswood is 1 piece and nearly 1/4 sawn and will be capped with 1/4 sawn flamed Ambrosia Red Maple . Pretty stuff with that big rolling flame that you find in Red Maple . This Basswood has some curl in it and what appears to be birdseye , although that may be due to a knot/branch . It sure is interesting though .
I do have some dead 1/4 sawn slabs up in the attic waiting .
Do you know what species of spruce was used ?

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by Otterhound

I have 2 Basswood/maple bodies in the works right now .
The Basswood is 1 piece and nearly 1/4 sawn and will be capped with 1/4 sawn flamed Ambrosia Red Maple . Pretty stuff with that big rolling flame that you find in Red Maple . This Basswood has some curl in it and what appears to be birdseye , although that may be due to a knot/branch . It sure is interesting though .
I do have some dead 1/4 sawn slabs up in the attic waiting .
Do you know what species of spruce was used ?

Richard, I do not recall Allan nor Grover specifically mentioning the species of Spruce. But the whole deal came about from Grover's understanding that heavier, denser woods would accentuate sustain. Which can be detrimental to someone like Allan, who could be accused of playing "tumeni" notes - they'd run-in to each other. Grover also built basswood bodies for Steve Vai. EVH's last Erne Ball, Peavey, and Fender guitars are maple-capped basswood (a combination I like as well.)

Interestingly, shredders like George Lynch actually preferred maple.

[Otterhound]

Opened up a few billets today . I just may get a few tops yet . 000 and/or smaller if I am fortunate .
Can't wait to check them for stiffness .

[Otterhound]

7 tops so far . A few have slight discoloration , but do they ever tap sweet . I would have never figured .
Oh yeah , they are quite stiff .