Best place to get wood?

[kwerk]

Chilean laminated pine panel from Bunnings on the left, scandinavian pine from pellets on the right:

[rickenbackerkid]

Chilean laminated pine panel from Bunnings on the left, scandinavian pine from pellets on the right:

insane amount of creativity, skill, and passion: everywhere.

[jeremyb]

Pine does dent easily tho, is it strong enough for a neck?

[kwerk]

Pine does dent easily tho, is it strong enough for a neck?

No. It's around half the density needed for a neck. Pine can be anywhere from 330 - 515kg/m3, any neck wood should be at least 675-700 kg/m3, preferably higher.

As for body use, yes it dents easily but you can get around that with a good coat of epoxy. Doesn't make it dent proof, but it goes a long way.

Course the upside of low density is low weight.

[ash]

Where is the best place to get wood from? The only one I know is Fijian Mahogany.

Check out trademe for wood, check out slabs if you want to do one piece bodies. Wood is easy to find.

I must point out that too much fresh TM and timber-yard wood is a bit soggy and could use a year or two of controlled cutting/seasoning (/Ramsay) before use in a guitar. Harsh top-end and dead low-end is a noted consequence.

I went to placemakers and Mitre 10 but they only had pine unfortunately.

Nothing wrong with pine for a body. There's a rich history of pine bodied guitars.

I read that the original 'Broadcaster' Tele. were made from Pine bodies???

My lovely Cole Clark stratocaster is made of Buyna Pine. Sounds like the best Strat you’ve ever heard.

There's nothing wrong with "pine", it was indeed the first thing Leo Fender tried and is making a big comeback amongst tele-cork sniffers in TDPRI-land. But what kind of pine? There are hundreds of different pines and many of them are not pine at all. The pine we find at Placemakers is an actual pine, but not the kind Fender used. Bunya is not a pine, it's closer to kauri and although Australians call that kauri-pine, it's still not one. Kahikatea, rimu and matai are also not pines, despite old-timers calling them white, red and black pine. /pedantic wood geek

The moral of the story: Ignore the generic marketing names and find out what it really is.

[ash]

Pine does dent easily tho, is it strong enough for a neck?

No. It's around half the density needed for a neck. Pine can be anywhere from 330 - 515kg/m3, any neck wood should be at least 675-700 kg/m3, preferably higher.

As for body use, yes it dents easily but you can get around that with a good coat of epoxy. Doesn't make it dent proof, but it goes a long way.

Course the upside of low density is low weight.

Density isn't a good indicator of suitability. Korina as low as 450kg/m3 is neck-able and mahogany around 550kg/m3 is widely considered to be tonally excellent. Sure they're not as strong as 700kg/m3 maple, but they work very well when used in an appropriately designed neck. That's a bit of a pointless statement in some ways though, as balsa would work in an appropriately designed neck... one that is mostly carbon fibre

[Slowy]

When Ash talks like that, I get wood.

[kwerk]

Check out trademe for wood, check out slabs if you want to do one piece bodies. Wood is easy to find.

I must point out that too much fresh TM and timber-yard wood is a bit soggy and could use a year or two of controlled cutting/seasoning (/Ramsay) before use in a guitar. Harsh top-end and dead low-end is a noted consequence.

Agreed. However plenty of sellers describe wood having sat in the shed for 20 years etc. Diligence is still essential when hunting wood.

Nothing wrong with pine for a body. There's a rich history of pine bodied guitars.

There's nothing wrong with "pine", it was indeed the first thing Leo Fender tried and is making a big comeback amongst tele-cork sniffers in TDPRI-land. But what kind of pine? There are hundreds of different pines and many of them are not pine at all. The pine we find at Placemakers is an actual pine, but not the kind Fender used. Bunya is not a pine, it's closer to kauri and although Australians call that kauri-pine, it's still not one. Kahikatea, rimu and matai are also not pines, despite old-timers calling them white, red and black pine. /pedantic wood geek

The moral of the story: Ignore the generic marketing names and find out what it really is.

Also agreed. I can pretty much guarantee that Fender have never made a radiata pine guitar. But I'm certainly happy with the one I have, and I know several others have done it without any issues to speak of. I also agree that some of the big stores will not sell wood that is guaranteed dry, so again, a little diligence is required. Recycled timber is another way to guarantee some level of age and stability in timber, especially if you can identify provenance.

I disagree that most on the TDPRI are corksniffers. Maybe the diehard Corona/Mike Eldred fanboy buyers, but certainly not the builders. People there will make a tele out of anything that's the right size.

[kwerk]

Pine does dent easily tho, is it strong enough for a neck?

No. It's around half the density needed for a neck. Pine can be anywhere from 330 - 515kg/m3, any neck wood should be at least 675-700 kg/m3, preferably higher.

As for body use, yes it dents easily but you can get around that with a good coat of epoxy. Doesn't make it dent proof, but it goes a long way.

Course the upside of low density is low weight.

Density isn't a good indicator of suitability. Korina as low as 450kg/m3 is neck-able and mahogany around 550kg/m3 is widely considered to be tonally excellent. Sure they're not as strong as 700kg/m3 maple, but they work very well when used in an appropriately designed neck. That's a bit of a pointless statement in some ways though, as balsa would work in an appropriately designed neck... one that is mostly carbon fibre

Again, I agree to an extent. I believe density is a good general indicator, but not the absolute final word in whether a given wood is suitable. However, I don't think there would be many woods around 700 - 900kg that would be unsuitable for a neck.

PS, I still wouldn't use balsa for a neck though... All CF on the other hand...

[ash]

I disagree that most on the TDPRI are corksniffers. Maybe the diehard Corona/Mike Eldred fanboy buyers, but certainly not the builders. People there will make a tele out of anything that's the right size.

Yep, you know the ones More concerned with ticking off boxes on the fanboy checklist than actual real-life outcomes. The builder section is composed of a much more pragmatic and down-to-Earth breed.

[Spykerwolf]

Very late post but thanks to everyone who've replied. Definitely given me lots of options - cheers

[cwco]

http://www.citytimber.co.nz/ in wellington have some great options, I by American ash tops and hard rock maple for my necks through them.
If your interested I have a couple of maple neck blanks hanging around

[Edwards]

[Bg]

Wtf

[willow13]

if its the same fucking dog that barks down the road from us then I'd rather buy the wood and shoot the fucking mutt