First build. Step 1: Picking Wood?

[Donald Johansso]

So… I’ve decided I want to build a guitar. I did some online research, and the consensus seems to be that I should build an electric guitar. Building acoustic guitars is terribly complicated and not something mere mortals should ever attempt, it said.
But since:
1 – I don’t play electric guitar and
2 – I like a challenge,
I am now planning my acoustic guitar build. At first I was planning on getting a guitar kit, but then thought it might be more fun to just do it all from scratch. I already own a few classical guitars, so I thought I’d try to make a streel-string one.

At the moment, my plan of action is:

1. Get some climate control in my garage/workshop so I can keep it at a proper humidity
2. Get the wood I need for the guitar
3. Let the wood sit and acclimate while I try to figure out how to actually build a guitar

I am still researching option for dehumidification. Yesterday I took a trip to the local ‘wood guy’ to see what I could find. He didn’t have any spruce, but he did have some western red cedar. And since I play mostly fingerpicking style, I understand that might work best for me anyway. My question is, what do you look for when picking out a good piece of wood for a guitar?

These are the pieces I got:



The left piece does not look as uniform in color, and the grains are a bit wider and maybe not quite as straight. However, this piece is perfectly quarter sawn. The right piece on the other hand has straighter, narrower grain, but it is not quarter sawn as it has grain that are at an 20 -30 degree angle. Is there any rule of thumb as to which characteristics are more important? If anyone could give me some pointer, or direct me to some good resources, I would be thankful.




I also got some pau ferro ‘rosewood’, which I understand can work well for the fretboard. The other boards I got are some ‘chechen’. I’m not sure how good they are for a guitar body. Their grain is pretty, but it looks like it interlooks a lot which I imagine makes it harder to shape, bend and finish. In general, what would be some good wood choices for a beginning? Something that’s perhaps a bit easier to work with. I have plenty of african mahogany, makore, black walnut, sapele and soft maple on hand already.

Anyway, I guess the first guitar is mostly to gauge if I enjoy the craft or not. I don’t expect to create a masterpiece, and will be happy with anything that is at least somewhat playable. Thus, with my goals set appropriately low I am now taking my first trepidatious steps into the world of guitar-building.

~Donald

[BradHall]

Donald, your idea about building a kit guitar first is a good one. There is a lot to learn and having some of the tool intensive work done for you is a lot cheaper than tooling up. You will also get wood that is appropriate for guitar building. Many factors to consider here. Even though some of the work is done for you, there is still a lot to do yourself. In the end you will end up with a very playable good sounding instrument. You will learn what it takes to build in the proper sequence and why. It will make your first scratch build that much better. Investing your time and money to build anything less is selling yourself short in my opinion. Enjoy the journey. Best luck on your entry into a very addictive pass time.
....be careful using makore. It is very toxic. Have good ventilation and wear more than just a shop dust mask. I got a devastating lung infection from breathing it. Long recovery.

[printer2]

I would go with the quartered board, also the pau ferro for the fret board. I don't know anything on the makore but the other species are usable. It would be better if you picked a more-quartered wood to use for the back and sides. You need some straight and quartered spruce for the braces. African mahogany can be used for the neck, here you do want a straight grain. Walnut and maple also works.

My suggestion would be to make a ukulele, or even a six sting version of one, a tenor or baritone size maybe? It is a faster build and you learn where your mistakes may be made, what you need as tooling. It will make your first guitar a visually better constructed instrument.

I made my first guitar as you are, actually use a cedar fence board for the top. Check out some of the build threads on here and Youtube, a handy person can build an acceptable guitar. Couple of questions, how wide is the left cedar? How are you going to resaw the wood? What tools do you have?

[redir]

IMHO you could use either of those cedar boards for a top. QS is always best though so I too would go with that. Sounds to me like you are off to a good start. My first guitar was an electric for the exact reason that you mention. In the end though the only thing you would get out of building an electric guitar first in comparison to an acoustic is experience building a neck and fretwork and fretting it. You also would gain a bit of wood working skills.

I'm all for the jump right in and start making mistakes approach. That's why I am not an advocate of gutiar kits but if you are the type of person who gets easily frustrated and might walk away from a project then a kit might be a good idea.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by redir

That's why I am not an advocate of gutiar kits but if you are the type of person who gets easily frustrated and might walk away from a project then a kit might be a good idea.

That is one of the good things about building a uke first, there is some satisfaction in smashing it.

[redir]

Originally Posted by printer2

That is one of the good things about building a uke first, there is some satisfaction in smashing it.

Ha! Actually not a bad idea in getting started though, building a uke first.

[Donald Johansso]

Originally Posted by BradHall

Donald, your idea about building a kit guitar first is a good one. There is a lot to learn and having some of the tool intensive work done for you is a lot cheaper than tooling up. You will also get wood that is appropriate for guitar building. Many factors to consider here. Even though some of the work is done for you, there is still a lot to do yourself. [...] Investing your time and money to build anything less is selling yourself short in my opinion.

Yeah, I definitely get where you are coming from. To me, I think starting with just a piece of raw wood is part of the fun. But there will probably be some part along the way where I wish I had some premade pieces. I never done any wood bending, so not sure how well that will work out. But I think it will be fun to experiment with and try to learn.

Originally Posted by BradHall

....be careful using makore. It is very toxic. Have good ventilation and wear more than just a shop dust mask. I got a devastating lung infection from breathing it. Long recovery.

Thank you for the heads up! I made a few display plinths out of it when I first got it, and though I always wear a respirator when I cut and sand, I did notice right after that the air had an irritating quality to it.

Originally Posted by printer2

I would go with the quartered board, also the pau ferro for the fret board. I don't know anything on the makore but the other species are usable. It would be better if you picked a more-quartered wood to use for the back and sides. You need some straight and quartered spruce for the braces. African mahogany can be used for the neck, here you do want a straight grain. Walnut and maple also works.

Thank you! I have seen several mentions of the importance of the wood being quartered, so I will heed that advice. I will need to check the cut on other woods I have. Yes, I figured I need some stiffer wood for the bracing. I will need to get some spruce for this.

Originally Posted by printer2

My suggestion would be to make a ukulele, or even a six sting version of one, a tenor or baritone size maybe? It is a faster build and you learn where your mistakes may be made, what you need as tooling. It will make your first guitar a visually better constructed instrument.

Interesting idea. I might look into some ukulele plans. Maybe a guitarlele - but that's probably just as complicated as a guitar

Originally Posted by printer2

Couple of questions, how wide is the left cedar? How are you going to resaw the wood? What tools do you have?

It's about 12" so not wide enough for a complete top. So I was planning on cutting out a piece that's about 8-9" wide, and then split that on my table saw and bookmatch it. I might need to do a bit of hand sawing down the middle. I will probably build a 000 sized guitar, so it shouldn't need to be much wider than 16" I think. In terms of tools, I also have a power planer, a router and table, drill press, band saw (a small table-top model) and a lathe (which I wouldn't expect to use a lot for this). I will need to get some more hand tools, and of course specific tools like clamps and some sort of bending iron.

Originally Posted by redir

IMHO you could use either of those cedar boards for a top. QS is always best though so I too would go with that.

I'm all for the jump right in and start making mistakes approach. That's why I am not an advocate of gutiar kits but if you are the type of person who gets easily frustrated and might walk away from a project then a kit might be a good idea.

Thanks! Yeah, I am the least easily frustrated person I know, so there is little risk of that. It might just take me some time to finish, but I will finish

[BradHall]

To me one of the most enjoyable aspects of building a guitar is bending the sides on a hot pipe. Easy to make one with black pipe, a cap and a propane torch. LMI sells practice side sets cheap. There is a learning curve and breaking a cheaper side set doesn’t sting so much. I eventually got the aluminum pipe they sell and like it a lot. Do a search on home made thickness sanders also. I made mine in a day with Scrap materials and about $125 for a shaft and blocks. Clamps! Never enough. I’m partial to cam clamps. Watch CL for deals on band saws and drill presses. A laminate trimmer type router is essential. Cabinet scrapers are your friend. A couple good chisels are a must. Learn to sharpen correctly. Lots of good videos available on YouTube for just about everything you will need to do. Enjoy the ride.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by Donald Johansso

Interesting idea. I might look into some ukulele plans. Maybe a guitarlele - but that's probably just as complicated as a guitar


It's about 12" so not wide enough for a complete top. So I was planning on cutting out a piece that's about 8-9" wide, and then split that on my table saw and bookmatch it. I might need to do a bit of hand sawing down the middle. I will probably build a 000 sized guitar, so it shouldn't need to be much wider than 16" I think. In terms of tools, I also have a power planer, a router and table, drill press, band saw (a small table-top model) and a lathe (which I wouldn't expect to use a lot for this). I will need to get some more hand tools, and of course specific tools like clamps and some sort of bending iron.

Making a smaller guitar does have the same amount of steps as a larger one, but you need fewer clamps and you have less to manhandle, mistakes are less expensive, just a lot easier to build a smaller instrument. We normally bookmatch a guitar so you have plenty width there. Other than resawing full size tops and backs you have most of the tools you need. I did a "If I had no tools but I wanted to build a guitar how little would I need to build one?" build that would be worth a view.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=496685

On a more acquired tool note,

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=469117

My first acoustic here.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=285170

and the continuation.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=353170


So some ideas that might be useful, wrong turns in full glory to learn from, examples of luthiers giving advice and encouragement even when "I don't know if he should be doing that." moments arise. Others have good build threads worth learning from, mine are more of a "As long as no one gets hurt." kind of variety.

[Bruce Sexauer]

I built electrics before acoustics. Boring, relatively.

My first ten years of building, all my wood came from the lumberyard, the forest, or salvage. That is a good to learn the important lessons, painful though it can be.

I have made 2 Chechen acoustics, and they are wonderful. Not an easy wood to work. Your boards are flat sawn, and I would not use them due to potential dimentional stability issues. Quartersawn is smarter.

[printer2]

Bruce has a point. I have over the years collected pieces of wood from lumber yards to build with. But it took a lot of looking and learning. I do have a few pieces that rises to the level of wood cut for luthier purposes, but in general you might be able to find A grade wood at best. OK to learn basic jointery with but wood selected for building a guitar is a better investment in time and effort. There is some satisfaction out of building an instrument out of humble wood but at some point an upgrade in materials is well worth it. In case you do not know of Bruce, he is one of our premier luthiers. We are lucky to have him spending time giving advice to people getting their feet wet, so to speak.

[Rodger Knox]

Originally Posted by BradHall

....be careful using makore. It is very toxic. Have good ventilation and wear more than just a shop dust mask. I got a devastating lung infection from breathing it. Long recovery.

The pao ferro can also be very toxic, also the chechen. I would get the top wood from a supplier, like Alaska Specialty Woods. Brent is a nice guy. The top is the most important part of the guitar, it's better to source from a supplier until you learn what you need to look for, at least for the top.

My advice is acquire a copy of Cumpiano & Natelson's book, and read it cover to cover.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by Rodger Knox

The pao ferro can also be very toxic, also the chechen. I would get the top wood from a supplier, like Alaska Specialty Woods. Brent is a nice guy. The top is the most important part of the guitar, it's better to source from a supplier until you learn what you need to look for, at least for the top.

My advice is acquire a copy of Cumpiano & Natelson's book, and read it cover to cover.

The cedar he has does not look bad.

[BradHall]

Here is a source I wish I had found early on about different woods and their allergy/toxicity content.


https://www.wood-database.com/wood-a...-and-toxicity/

[Rodger Knox]

Originally Posted by BradHall

Here is a source I wish I had found early on about different woods and their allergy/toxicity content.


https://www.wood-database.com/wood-a...-and-toxicity/

Thanks, Brad