Today I went to a local hardwood supply store and got overwhelmed by the number of choices. I realize I need to find some good reference material on wood for use in instruments. What books would you folks recommend. There's one I saw on amazon -- Acoustics of Wood by Voichita Bucur. It's a little spendy at $265. Anyone looked at this one?

When creating a new design, I usually build a prototype with whatever CHEAP piece of material is sitting around in my shop. Often, that means a slab of clear (no knots) 2x10 or 2x12 fir or yellow pine. --standard lumber yard construction stuff. Later, after building one with 'select' material, there frequently seems to be little difference in the tonal character between the two.

Now, the more usefull factors in choosing the wood have come down to:
1. availability in desired sizes (especially thicknes)
2. workability (I tend to do a lot of 'shaping' to get something aesthetically pleasing to MY eyes.)
3. the color and type of 'finish' to be used.

All that being said, I DO believe the general wisdom that a 'hard' wood tends to a 'brighter' tone than a softer variety. Not having done scientific tests, I can only go by what I seem to hear. Density/mass of the guitar's body AND good workmanship in attaching ALL the hardware (including the tuning pegs/keys) is critical. Also, it seems that straight-grained woods are better in acoustics than others.

Basically, I guess I'm saying use ANY wood that you find pleases you. There ARE differences but, to me, the body material contributes less to the final tone than does the pickup type and position, or the nut and bridge material and shape, or the scale length and string gauges.

To ME, Tipka's booklet and design was quite basic and 'standard', thus, uninspiring. Do what pleases YOUR eyes. There's nothing wrong with 'exotic' woods, and some ARE actually better, but don't let that be too strong a design factor. Putting thought and money into the other parts is a better payoff.

If you wish to get into this stuff more, feel free to drop me an email. And, of course remember, this is just MY take on the matter. Good luck. --Everett

[This message was edited by Everett Cox on 10 July 2001 at 12:12 AM.]

Currently, I'm working on a couple projects (one 8str lap, the other an 8 + 10 str console) using Cherry. Normally, I like to start with a slab of wood at least 1 3/4" thick. The cherry that happens to be 'gathering dust' right now is only around 1" after planing to a smooth surface. That means the lap steel (and likely the console) requires two pieces glued up to my desired thickness.

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