The technique is used to beautify a variety of objects such as furniture, violins, guitars. Even if you plan to only build one guitar in your whole life, this book is a must. Last spring i had the pleasure of visiting hibdon hardwoods, one of the top guitar tone wood suppliers in the us right here in my hometown of st. I am kicking off the guitar tonewood supplier series with a hardwood specialist here in st louis. The blade will leave milling marks on the cut faces of your two book matched panels. By contrast, the heartwood color of black ash tends to be slightly darker, and. If the grain of the wood had been angled in some way i would have paid careful attention to the matching so there was a pleasing pattern at the glue joint this is similar to bookmatching, where a symmetric pattern is created across a glue joint. The bwsm2 ben woods signature flamenco acousticguitar aslo comes with a ben woods signature gig bag and electrostatic pickguard. Bookmatching not only makes a guitar look 10 times better than just having a solid piece of wood, but it also. I am currently in the process of creating a guitar and am attempting to book match wood. This is by no means a complete picture, only a global overview. The unique acoustic properties of body woods help flavor a guitar shapes fundamental sound.
When wood is bookmatched, two pieces for the body are cut from the same piece of wood, and then placed in a manner that creates mirror image grain on either side of the instrument. A runaway hit for acoustic guitar tops, its even grain, high strength, and light weight make it a favorite of acoustic guitar builders. On the other side of the balance sheet, the lack of a strong overtone component can result in a thin tone when played with a relatively light touchdepending, of course, upon the design of the guitar and the other woods used in its construction. The colors can be appealing in their natural states, and they are usually used as one ingredient of many in a multiwood body. Texas toast guitars is an independent guitar shop and this channel is a place for people with common interests to come together and discuss their mutual hobbies, toys, and opinions. Specific woods used to build guitars, acoustic and electric, are called tone woods. Matching an instrument to a player is best accomplished if you pay attention to accomodating specifications that a player has become accustomed to. The wood density will affect the tone of your guitar. This yields a symmetrical pattern along the body centerline.
If youre looking for a complete stepbystep, this is how to build a guitar book, this aint it. Exotic tone woods for guitars we have spectacular quality inventory of exotic woods. In the past 20 years i have sold beautiful tone woods to many guitar manufacturers when they wanted something extremely nice for a special customer. Prs acoustics woods selection and bookmatching youtube. Jan 28, 2019 the soundboard is the top of an acoustic guitar and plays the most critical role in determining the overall tone and projection qualities of the instrument. No amplification occurs in this process, because musicians add no external energy to increase the loudness of the sound as would be the case with an electronic amplifier. Shown wet i have lots of other woods for knives and instruments. Quilted, flame, fiddleback and curly maple guitar tops. Body woods also boast an inherent visual appeal that can be deeply inspiring, with characteristics that differentiate a guitar and showcase each as a truly unique instrument. How to bookmatch a guitar top using a shooting board. Oct 19, 2009 i also let the reader know up front that there can really be no true formulary for reasons pointed out here as to wood variances and color variances. Bookmatched guitar tonewood top sets, curly maple, quilted.
The most important ingredient in making a guitar is the wood used. The different tones themselves were not fully explored, though. Sitka spruce acoustic guitar wood guitar tonewood and. Smooth these out with a quick trip through the planer or with a sander, taking care not to remove too much stock from the cut faces or you can alter the bookmatched appearance. Harlan coben, author of six consecutive instant numberone new york times best sellers and a total of 24 awardwinning, bestselling, and internationally acclaimed novels, returns with another ripped. Bookmatching is the practice of matching two or more wood or stone surfaces, so that two. Find acoustic guitars made with this tonewood at breedlove guitars. It varies in color from almost white to a warm, toasty color. An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the guitar family, that projects the sounds of its vibrating strings acoustically through the air. Thats the case with bookmatching, named for the way you open up a piece of wood resawn down the middle to reveal a perfectly mirrored pattern on each piece.
Vintage and modern shapes, hollow body, and carved top designs are available to suit all players needs and preferences. Herman efland is the start of the production line in acoustics. Make bookmatched panels band saw resaw woodworking. Cover up your golf clubs with a golf club head cover.
Lets say you want to match a new oak table to an existing baseboard. Lutherie woods and steel string guitars is the second of the resource books and began to roll off the press in february 1998. Guitar wood sitka spruce is a great tonewood species for guitar building because of its tonal characteristics. Thorns work, which features exotic, figured woods and outrageous inlays, is gaining attention in guitar manufacturing circles. Previously, the reason behind the different tones that different woods create has been explained. Here are some of the most popular woods used in guitar making, and the different sounds and tones that they produce. Once you highlight the figuring while finishing, this guitar will never be put down. Bookmatching is the practice of matching two or more wood or stone surfaces, so that two adjoining surfaces mirror each other, giving the impression of an opened book as applied to wood, bookmatching is usually done with veneer produced in one of several ways, but can also be done with solid wood. This sometimes works better when there is an even number of pieces. Just about any wood with a distinctive grain is attractive when bookmatched, but workpieces with unusual markings burl, quilting, tigerstriping, birdseye can be astonishing when given this mirroring treatment. The book im looking for is a book with mostly pictures and some writing, probably published between 19901995. Book matched panels add visual interest and a mark of fine craftsmanship to a project. A technique for matching wood veneer veneer book matching is the most frequently used method for matching wood veneer. How to make tools, templates, and jigs forbes, mr brian gary on.
Solid wood that is, wood cut into boards from the trunk of the tree makes up most of the wood in a piece of furniture. If its not a perfect neck, itll never be the perfect guitar. The soundboard is the top of an acoustic guitar and plays the most critical role in determining the overall tone and projection qualities of the instrument. The result of this book matching is a mirrored grain structure that really comes alive after receiving a spray coat. Click here to see him discuss woods and how we bookmatch our tops and backs. In this video i show how i make the bookmatched maple top from a 2 thick slab of maple with.
These are mostly hard, dense woods with distinctive grain patterns. Woods wg92 deluxe dreadnought guitar the woods deluxe dreadnought guitar is a high quality, well made instrument. These larger rings and sections add to its strength, and the complexity of the tones. Andreas vollenweiders book of roses marries concept to contemporary instrumentalism, and blends the music of numerous cultures into the composers already worldly sound. In this article i will give a global overview of the different tone woods, the sound they produce and in some cases their purpose. As applied to wood, bookmatching is usually done with veneer produced in one of several ways, but can also be done with solid wood. Eberly woods, a green tag certified forest, is managed by the eberly family.
Supplier of high quality tonewoods specializing in figured maple and exotic hardwoods. Warmoth custom guitar parts guitar body laminate top option. Usually this involves cutting the log from side to side, producing the live edges. The blade will leave milling marks on the cut faces of your two bookmatched panels. Without any use of power tools, watch me book matching this premium piece of walnut using just a kerfing plane and a frame. Woods such as purple heart, wenge, koa, bubinga, and muira piranga are used by custom guitarmakers, but dont feature highly in massproduction guitars. White ash tends to have a lighter heartwood color, and wider spaced growth rings. The result of this book matching is a mirrored grain structure that really comes alive. And the fact that its also an endangered species, and the flashpoint for illegal logging in madagascar is only icing on the cake. Each of the main tonewoods has its own place, and is chosen for its particular characteristics.
Our terms of business include a minimum pick up of 100 bdft minimum pickup for kiln dried lumber, and some freight shipments or deliveries are occasionally possible. Tonewood is the term generally used to designate wood with desirable and consistent resonant acoustic qualities, used in the making of musical instruments. The right choice of guitar wood will effect the tonal qualities, amplitude, weight, stability, playability and appearance of your next guitar. Learn all about guitar wood and how to select the best pieces to make a great guitar. Guitar bodies usa custom guitars guitar bodies are made from the finest hand selected tonewoods with attention paid to every detail. Spruce, for example, is often used for tops in acoustic guitars, but is not an ideal material for electric instruments. The instrument will then become property of the guitar er and sold. This is part 2 of a complete series on making an electric guitar at my home. Jun 06, 2017 welcome back to crimson guitars and another minitorial with ben crowe. Click here to see him discuss woods and how we book match our tops and backs. The whorl was on the outside edge, so the opposing edge was the one that would need glued.
This week, ben demonstrates how to bookmatch a guitar top using. All together this guitar is a workhorse that can be used for both classical and modern flamenco styles. Bookmatching is the practice of matching two or more wood or stone surfaces, so that two adjoining surfaces mirror each other, giving the impression of an opened book. As it ages, it takes on a very mellow tone and a deep butterscotch look that is beautiful to behold and wonderful to hear. Made made and custom bookmatched guitar parts for todays luthiers,jewelry box,music box,thin lumber. Guitar necks and fret boards different construction. Custom guitar and bass necks and bodies, pickups, bridges, tuners. Warmoth has been crafting boutiquequality guitar and bass parts for over 30 years. Originally just called a guitar, the retronym acoustic guitar came in use to distinguish it from an electric guitar, that relies on an electronic amplification system. Split it through the thinnest part so you now have 2 thinner blocks of wood. This guitar is an excellent choice for aspiring musicians anywhere.
Hobby wood, exotic woods, curly woods, display cases, gun cases,luthier parts. Quilted bubinga bass or guitar top luthier craft exotic figured wood lumber 1 bookmatch pomelle quilt bubinga 14x21x. Shop all northwest timber figured lumber, wood, and domestic exotic hardwoods for furniture and musical instruments. Click here to see him discuss woods and how we bookmatch our tops. In order to help, weve put together a guide that gives a rundown on what parts of a guitar are made of what, and how you can expect the choice of wood to affect your sound. Its about a boy who falls asleep in his bed, and his dream is of him going into the woods or a forest, but he gets there by flying on his bed, which then turns into a leaf. I practiced with it a bit im kind of a beginner and thought it was really nice. To qualify as a good guitar wood, a wood must be strong enough to. Woodstax flamed maple om guitar kit, bolton neck 014. For example, oak is a beautiful and strong wood, but it has no resonant properties, which would not be best for guitar building. Instruments will be considered abandoned after 60 days if current balance isnt paid in full and isnt picked up by the owner.
Flamed maple is generally book matched, which means that the body is made of two half pieces of a. Bookmatching refers to the cutting of the wood used to make a guitar top or back. The resulting halves are opened like a book and glued in the center. This kit cannot be shipped outside the usa, nor shipped by air within the usa. Book matching in guitar making book matching is done when preparing to glue two or more pieces of wood. Could ron thorn produce a gorgeous electric guitar completely by hand. When wood is bookmatched, two pieces for the body are cut. Occasionally laminate tops are created with a single piece of wood, but it is rare. If youre finishing porous woods such as mahogany, ash, rosewood or koa, we recommend inexpensive colortone waterbase grain fillers, available in a variety of matching colors. How to bookmatch a guitar top using a shooting board youtube. Solid body with a bolt on neck this is where it started.
We number our boards as they come off the mill for easy in book matching. Some of the finest tonewood comes from the us pacific nw and our guitar wood is handselected to be highly resonant, beautifully colored and figured to look and sound its best. Our liveedge slabs are sawn as flitches meaning slabs boards from a single log are cut and stored together. This enables the customer to buy slabs with matching grain and color flitchmatched bookmatched. A unique guitar built of woods from the dawn of civilization featured in the june 2016 issue of ag.
Tone woods have resonant properties that other woods do not. The course will be 16 full days in the workshop, where from the humble beginnings of the raw wood, you will build an acoustic guitar each step guided and explained to allow you to complete a quality instrument. In guitar making, when selecting wood for a top, back and sides for a guitar, they will normally come in two pieces per set. The finish on a guitar obviously has a great deal to do with the final. Very nice to look at and the book matching is impressive. The neck has a shallow profile and angle for lower action, more like a traditional flamenco guitar. The breakin period for a new sitka guitar can also be longer than that of other spruces. Body woods alder similar to basswood, alder is lightweight with soft tight pores. That being said, theres a lifetime of shop experiences to learn from, in the time it takes you to read 503 pages 431 not including the glossary. Unlike basswood, which tends to soften any highs, alder retains many more, but also gives room. A guitar s wood is one of the last steps to creating that ideal tone youve been looking for. The mirrored effect is best with the least amount of wood taken off these.
This is an expensive guitar wood with bright highs and midrange, good bass, and great sustain american tulipwood poplar, wenge, phoenix, paulownia, and agathis are other woods often used in guitar bodies. Its slightly different because the saw blade destro. Smooth these out with a quick trip through the planer or with a sander, taking care not to remove too much stock from the cut faces or you can alter the book matched appearance. Use these stainmatching tips to replace broken or missing parts, or to make new furniture match existing furniture or trimwork. Guitar tone woods a tone guide for guitar tone woods. The way its cut, for instance, will affect both its workability for a guitar maker and its sonic performance. A very attractive guitar, with 600 series pearl fingerboard inlays, gold hardware, soft venetian cutaway, and no pickguard. Guitar making build your own acoustic guitar in the. Different woods give off different sounds, which add to. Ortega bwsm2 ben woods signature flamenco acoustic. For the most pleasing effect, the veneers should be laid side by side with one veneer face up and the other face down with the same edges touching each other. Jan 12, 2011 herman efland is the start of the production line in acoustics. The acoustic guitars soundboard, or top, also has a strong effect on the loudness of the guitar.
Book matching in guitar making april 26, 2015 crotch wood april 22, 2015. Sitka and adirondack spruce come from canada, sitka alaska, and the adirondack mountains. Numberone new york times bestselling author harlan coben set huge sales records with last years six years and hes poised to do it again in his next breathtaking standalone thriller. Bookmatching the plates guitar making tip westfarthing woodworks. Different woods produce different sounds when used to construct the various parts of the guitar. Music stands, wood music stands, book stands, dictionary.
The finish and woods have aged to a warm golden hue, and the guitar is in perfect condition, without any finish blemishes or structural flaws. This matching volume to our popular lutherie tools book contains information collected from the guilds 19731984 publication. Woods that are good at transmitting sound, like spruce, are commonly used for the soundboard. Japanese ash isnt really related to any other form of ash, but it looks similar. You must first determine which colors went into the baseboard. What are the tonal differences between ceramicmagnet and alnicomagnet pickups. Did you ever wonder how they get that amazing mirror match look on the front and back.
Separated into four chapters where each song is an episode, the album chronicles the journey of a young girl from dances in grand ballrooms, through mysterious woods full of magical jugglers, to an eventual meeting with. For straight grained veneers, this minimizes the visual effect of using multiple veneers to lay up a single panel. Welcome back to crimson guitars and another minitorial with ben crowe. The type of wood you choose determines the beauty and strength of the finished piece. Guitar necks and fret boards different construction techniques, why it matters. The short story on bookmatched panels wood magazine. Apr 14, 2015 not all woods are suitable for use in all parts of a guitar. Bookmatching involves selecting a figured piece of wood, sawing the slab in half, and then opening the sliced slab like a book, providing a beautiful symmetry that. It has to be beautiful legal and in the market today. We offer an unrivaled range of options on our necks and bodies, including standard and exotic woods, pickup and bridge routs, neck profiles, frets, inlays, binding, and more.
Furthermore, these components can be of single or multiwood construction. Our standard bodies are made of 2 pieces of premium tone tapped wood, meticulously joined with special attention paid to grain matching. Many varieties of wood are available, and each has its own properties. You may be wondering why im devoting a whole section to necks. There are a dizzying array of woods used in all of the different parts of a guitar and it can be hard to keep them all straight. More than just the species of wood will have a big influence on how a guitar sounds. I also let the reader know up front that there can really be no true formulary for reasons pointed out here as to wood variances and color variances. It is accomplished by turning every other veneer leaf over, and arranging it such that the grain opens at the spine, similar to the pages in a book. Glossfinished maple neck with koabound ebony fingerboard and matching headstock. The combination of the dark ebony, flamed maple and spruce give this guitar a look and sound that is attention grabbing.
Among the most common species of ash that are seen commercially, some basic divisions can be made. Bookmatching the plates guitar making tip acoustic guitar, guitar. Using a band saw im going to resaw a solid walnut board and 12 tall and 1. Warmoth custom guitar parts custom bass and guitar. Book matching my quilted maple prs top guitar repair bench.
Choose the best wood for your guitar making music magazine. The grain structure will affect the tone of your guitar. Shop head covers from some of the biggest names in the industry, all for the best price guaranteed. This week, ben demonstrates how to bookmatch a guitar top using a shooting board. Though there are many available materials suited to satisfy the structural requirements of a soundboard, none have been found to match the acoustic properties of wood. On a wellmade guitar, basswood can yield good dynamics and definition with enough grind to give the sound some oomph.
260 1189 405 695 1324 683 654 1255 708 900 474 31 1114 300 1117 717 1300 1044 813 993 205 1335 1301 341 365 714 488 431 894 710 557 1201 191 184 1042 498 947 112