Anyone interested in a guitar built using a 2"x4" ?

[printer2]

Just wondering.

[Earl49]

I have seen -- but not played -- the Taylor pallet guitar from the late 1990's. The typical 2 x 4 is made from Douglas Fir, so I would have to wonder about its suitability versus Sitka spruce for a top. It would be an interesting curiosity, but not something I am after personally.

I am done buying wood guitars anyway. It's all carbon fiber from here on out for me..... I'm just tired of humidifying and worrying about quality wooden guitars, so I am slowly selling them off.

[rogthefrog]

At best it would have a 4-piece top, right? That seems suboptimal.

[Frank Ford]

Originally Posted by printer2

Just wondering.

That's a bit vague -

Solid body electric? Cigar box guitar? Acoustic made exclusively from Doug Fir?

. . . . .



I'd bet somebody might be interested in a guitar made from a Brazilian rosewood 2x4 I have in my woodpile. Won't be happening because that 2x4 is undoubtedly going to end up being fingerboards and bridges for vintage repair/restoration.

[Alan Carruth]

Two bys around here at 'S-P-F'; spruce, pine, or fir. As far as I can tell they're all pretty much usable so long as the density is about right. I haven't seen any that look or smell like Doug fir.

Why would a four piece top be 'sub-optimal'? Aside from the extra effort of joining it up it would work well if the wood was properly selected. Lots of old instruments used tops with four pieces, or even more. I'd be more concerned about the soft and light back.

[nacluth]

Down here in East Texas, it's the rare Doug Fir 2x4 at the lumber store. Much more pine in our SPF pile. And I have seen several Southern Yellow Pine guitars out of stock lumber. I think it would be a fun project - though it would probably be like 13" optimally at the lower bout on a four piece top. So, it would be a small guitar more than likely. Sturdy though.

[printer2]

Sorry, around here we just think of dimensional lumber as Alan mentioned, pretty much SPF, in this case I think it is pine.



I resawed some of it, I more or less cut it in half, one piece sliced up for back and sides, the other giving up two pieces for the sides and a 1" thick piece left over for the neck and assorted stuff. Think of doing a 00, thought of a OM but I am on the fence for that one. I have made small guitars using Pine and was wondering how it might work for a larger on. Oh, also another forum is having a contest where you are suppose to build an instrument with a 2x4.



Just wondering if you had enough of my oddball builds.

[Cross Roads]

Cool idea, and a fun project. Would love to see the process and final outcome!

[John Arnold]

I have cut a lot of tonewood from 2X lumber. Like some of the other contributors, I rarely see Doug fir 2 X 4's in TN. The S-P-F designation can be spruce (Engelmann), pine (lodgepole, usually) or white fir. Doug fir has a different classification that sometimes includes Western hemlock. Those are marked 'Hem-Fir'.

Other than cosmetic, there is no downside to a four-piece or even a six-piece or eight-piece top. If anything, you may even get more consistency and stability across the whole width of a multi-piece top. With the normal two-piece bookmatched top, the center joint is in the worst possible place........where the stress is the greatest. Extra joints that are outside of the bridge footprint have much less stress on them, and are unlikely to ever have problems.
I have made guitars with ten-piece tops.

in this case I think it is pine.

Correct. Lodgepole tends to have dimple figure, and a sweet smell. It is a bit denser than the other S-P-F species, but I would make a soundboard out of that piece anytime, since it is nice and quartered.
Lodgepole pine makes great 2 X 4's. It stays straight, and holds nails very well.

[FrankHudson]

Would that be a Les Paul signature?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/shanno...n/photostream/

[scripsit]

A very good luthier has already done something similar:
http://www.anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=3842#p45840
I suspect Radiata is much inferior to some of the woodyard species mentioned here.

Kym

[rogthefrog]

I'd love to see the build.

Alan, John, I stand corrected re. multi-piece tops. John, I'd like to see that 10-piece top

Originally Posted by printer2

Just wondering if you had enough of my oddball builds.

Nope. Post away!

[printer2]

I think I will stick to two piece tops after this one thank you very much. Actually thought of it as I was gluing a couple of pieces together. I should have just used the 2x4 for sides, I have a lot of tops that I could use for the top and back. But then again the point was to build most of it with one stud. Speaking of joining tops I had to use the old standby of a sheet of sandpaper and a squared surface to get the side pieces wide enough.



Otherwise I clamp the sheets butted up to the router bit and run the router along a framing square. A little fiddling to get it set up but it seems to give me a good joint.



I have the pieces glued up, tomorrow to surface them a little and maybe see about a form to bend on. The wood is a little stiff and dense, wondering if I should go for the OM rather than the 00.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by Alan Carruth

...I'd be more concerned about the soft and light back.

No belt buckles allowed sticker will be lacquered into the back.
I was thinking of the lightness. Might have to glue extra panels on the inside of the back to give it more mass. One of the interesting things I am expecting to find out about.

[perttime]

No maple or birch planks handy, for use as neck, back and sides?