For those that are building their own bodies.. Where ya gettin' your wood??

War_in_D

War_in_D

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I've invested in some templates, and I'm going to give building my own bodies a go..  I ordered a nice one piece walnut body blank off Ebay to start with, but I was wondering where you peeps that build your own bodies source your woods from?  When I had my buddy in Alabama building bodies for me, my usual sources were Ebay and an online seller called Northridge Hardwoods.

What other sources are out there? 
 
Lately I've been using a local outfit called Barrington Hardwoods, located in No. Illinois but they have a website. They don't normally deal in tonewoods but they carry things like padauk, mahogany, sapele, zebrawood,etc. And will custom cut to your order.
Northridge can be a little expensive I've found, but their all getting that way. Guitar Wood Experts out of Portland Oregon has some decent looking stuff, I got a Sitka spruce top from them and was satisfied with it. Hardwood intended for instruments is getting higher in price all the time, especially clear quarter sawn. Fortunately alot of solid body work uses slab sawn which is a little cheaper.
Because of cost and availability, I've started using more reclaimed wood and hardwoods meant for furniture construction, you have to do more resawing and shaping sometimes but I can generally get it to work.  And don't forget, Warmoth sells body blanks also. They'll even do some of the routing for you if you want....... :icon_thumright:
 
Poplar for the tele bodies is sliced up and drying under the porch. We made sure to cut a few pieces 10/4 and 12/4 for bodies.
I like this because 1) it gives me an excuse to procrastinate another year or two, and 2) it provides a tie in to his childhood, even if he doesn't turn out to be all that "into" guitars.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/6vOO0_Xghx8[/youtube]
 
I got my poplar from a local woodyard that mostly caters to cabinet/furniture makers. I talked to them about what I needed and they ordered it in for me.
 
Mayfly said:
That's a big ass tree you got yourself there!
Click to expand...

Yeah. It had a slight lean towards the house, and lightning damage on the tension side.  I saved enough money having it saen up instead of chipped/carted off that it was worth it even we just burned it for firewood.
 
I have purchased from several of the online sources above. I also recommend checking Yelp for local sources. I found a local guy here in SoCal on Yelp that has a great selection of hardwood including exotics and he sells body blanks to Fender in bulk. Very cool guy. Local is better, wood is pricey to ship, climate acclimation is regional. Also, you are less likely to get lied to if you are looking them in the eye and they know you can bring it back and whoop them over the head with it if it disappoints. Much as I love Warmoth's craftsmanship, rolling your own is very satisfying. They still make my necks, for now.  :icon_thumright: 
 
Look for local sawyers. When I was looking for someone to cut that poplar up, several of the ones I found were running a two part business 1) sawing for people and 2) running around looking for premium wood and reselling. Strange as it might seem - just because you happen to have a ginormous walnut tree in your tree doesn't mean that you're prepared to deal with cutting it up and selling it. The disposal fee can be quite pricey for a homeowner - in the thousands of dollars. It's one thing to know that your tree could be worth a lot of money to the right people and quite another to be prepared to get it in the right format to those people. 
 
Local hardwood lumber yard, TH&H in San Diego, has a broad selection, and they always have wide 8/4 sugar pine stock suitable for one-piece body blanks. I think I'll go that route when I'm ready to take the plunge.  They also invariably have 8/4 mahogany, alder, cherry, poplar, sometimes ash, suitable for two-piece glue-ups.  I don't know whether they ship.
http://www.th-h.com/




Further north, up in Anaheim,e there's a guy who's a supplier to Fender, ESP, etc., who already has stuff cut down to guitar-building lengths, and some glued-up blanks.  I took a walk through his shop and it's a goldmine if you have the patience to look.  https://www.californiaexotichardwoods.com/

 
Gilmer Wood Company has a lot of options. That's where I got the 1/4" flamed maple that I sold to you.

Michael
 
Bagman67 said:
Further north, up in Anaheim,e there's a guy who's a supplier to Fender, ESP, etc., who already has stuff cut down to guitar-building lengths, and some glued-up blanks.  I took a walk through his shop and it's a goldmine if you have the patience to look.  https://www.californiaexotichardwoods.com/  :icon_thumright:
Click to expand...


California Exotic Hardwoods is the place I was referring to in my post above, I should have posted a link. The Owner Faiz is an awsum guy with fair pricing and some really nice large woodworking tools. I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area. I stated in my Yelp post about the place that I had died and gone to woodworkers heaven. He has some very classy lumber.
 
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