Looking For Spruce

[Skip Ellis]

Does anyone know where I can purchase a 1/4" Sitka spruce drop top or a quarter sawn billet big enough to resaw. I want to do a hollow spruce over mahogany 'jazz' Tele. My last one was curly maple over mahogany and I'd like to try spruce but most places only have top sets for acoustic guitars. I'm thinking some of the aircraft or boat suppliers but thought I'd ask here first.

[JonWint]

Hampton Brothers

https://www.ebay.com/str/hamptonbrot....m47492.l74602

[John Arnold]

The Hampton brothers harvest and process red spruce, so they are a good source for custom sizes.

[redir]

I would look at marine suppliers for something like that too. It may be cheaper and as this is not an acoustic guitar you might not necessarily need wood procured as such.

One of my favorite electric guitars I made was redwood on top of walnut. The guitar just sings. There really is something about the softwood hardwood combination on electric guitars I think.

[Rudy4]

If you're going to use binding then simply glue two thicknesses together. Spruce AA top sets are inexpensive.
If you switch to fir then there is usually ready sources, even at the local lumber yard.

Here's a carved top hollow body thinline made with a fir top.

[Fathand]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

If you're going to use binding then simply glue two thicknesses together. Spruce AA top sets are inexpensive.
If you switch to fir then there is usually ready sources, even at the local lumber yard.

Here's a carved top hollow body thinline made with a fir top.

And the bottom set wouldn't be seen so it could be a lesser grade. I've bought standard grade "Parlour" sets for $8.

[Fathand]

You could buy a set for an arch top guitar, they come about 1 " thick. Or this, https://www.woodtoworks.com/Softwood-Archtops_c_29.html

OTOH, a Tele is about 13" wide x 15" long, sometimes you can find a piece to your liking in the middle of a 2x8 at your lumber yard. Dimensional lumber is usually Sitka. 2x8s are 1.5" x7.5" so after planing you might get 2 sets out of a piece 16" long.

I was able to get a mandolin top blank out of one.

[printer2]

I have suitable spruce off of Home Depot racks. 3/4" thick boards. It did take some looking but over time I picked up some straight grain free from defects, some quartered, some go off quarter towards one end. When I first found this site I sandwiched a board together and cut out a 1 1/2" thick body. I never knew how good that piece was, since learning how to make acoustics I would have made tops out of it.

[John Arnold]

Originally Posted by Fathand

You could buy a set for an arch top guitar, they come about 1 " thick. Or this, https://www.woodtoworks.com/Softwood-Archtops_c_29.html



OTOH, a Tele is about 13" wide x 15" long, sometimes you can find a piece to your liking in the middle of a 2x8 at your lumber yard. Dimensional lumber is usually Sitka. 2x8s are 1.5" x7.5" so after planing you might get 2 sets out of a piece 16" long.



I was able to get a mandolin top blank out of one.

There is no Sitka in dimensional lumber where I live (East TN). The two varieties commonly available here are S-P-F (either Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine, or white fir) and Hem-Fir (Western hemlock or Doug fir).
The grading stamp will tell the tale.

[Fathand]

Originally Posted by John Arnold

There is no Sitka in dimensional lumber where I live (East TN). The two varieties commonly available here are S-P-F (either Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine, or white fir) and Hem-Fir (Western hemlock or Doug fir).
The grading stamp will tell the tale.

It is a bit of a treasure hunt, I took home a pallet full of spruce 2x8 x32" SPF shelving from a warehouse that was closing in 1983. They are spruce, too hard to be Englemann though. I used to use them for work bench legs or anything that needed scrap wood. Now I find I can select certain portions to cut bracing or I did a uke top, mandolin top and couple electric guitar bodies. Sadly, I am down to about 6 boards left.

[printer2]

I stopped looking for wood.

[Carey]

Nice! I like seeing others' wood stocks, especially spruce. Mine is smaller, and mostly heavy. It will work, though.

[redir]

Wow! That's awesome Fred. If you don't mind me asking where do you live? I never see stuff like that in Virginia lumber yards.

Again I would say stuff like that is perfect for the OP as he is not building an acoustic guitar. I also know that stuff like that is perfect for acoustic guitars too except that since it is not specifically procured for acoustic guitar wood it is not cut to minimize runout but that's just a boutique 'problem' that happened at the dawn of the Internet.

[printer2]

Smack dab in the centre of Canada, as far away from where trees of any size grow. I did harvest some oak from a neighbour but the most I could squeeze out of it is 13" wide instruments. Some of the softwoods in the picture was meant to be for beginner instruments, some for amplifier cabinets. Way back when had a thought of building some giveaway guitars for kids that have the desire to play but who's families are strapped for cash. I wanted to play as a kid but when things like new cloths only came at Christmas a guitar was just a dream. Actually learned how to make things because of it.

It is embarrassing how much wood I have now, I lost a number of years building because of my health. The local lumberyard that sells more variety that the regular big box outlets brought in a couple of pallets of reject tops which I combed through and have more than enough that I do not need to resaw any of these. So a couple might be used for carving practice for an archtop and lightweight guitar cabinets. The smaller ones were bought for bracing, may still use them but I have some choice boards indoors for that. I do have a board inside that puts the 3A top I bought to shame, only 5 1/2" wide though, so for a three piece top. I really need to rebuild my bandsaw.