Rosewood bodies

[Tony Ounsworth]

I'm a little bit in love with George Harrison's Rosewood Tele, and so I was mucking about with the idea of a Rosewood Strat. Turns out these have been done in the past by the Fender Custom Shop:

Personally I think that's gorgeous, and that's including the large headstock.

So I was playing with the Body Builder on the Warmoth site, as you do. No option for a Rosewood body. Rosewood top, sure. Rosewood body? Nah.

I guess I could email them, but I guess I was just wondering why that might be, and if anyone else had tried a similar build. The Fender rosewood guitars seem to be a sandwich, with maple or something in between, so I suppose it's outside of Warmoth's usual build style?

 

[Hbom]

Rosewood bodies show up every now and then.
Last year there were about 8 at one time IIRC.
If that's your desire, I suggest that you save your pennies and wait.
When they show up they will be both heavy & spendy.
But beautiful!
:rock-on:

 

[Tony Ounsworth]

Ah, very interesting! I wonder how the ones that showed up were constructed?

I'm toying with all sorts of ideas at the moment, including a matt finish, and black binding. But then, what body wood could I go for which would look nice against that?

 

[Hbom]

Tony, I have a MS word doc. that shows front & backs of 6 tele bodies that Warmoth had for sale in March of 2012.
If you would like to see them send me an e-mail address and I will send it to you.
I don't remember seeing rosewood strat bodies for sale but I'm sure they have been done.
Having a solid rosewood body is a challenge.
I would suggest if you build one that you make it chambered.
My tele body weighs over 7 Lbs. unfinished without neck or hardware!
http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=20871.15 Hopefully it will be a guitar by the end of summer. It's going to be heavy.

:rock-on:

 

[Tony Ounsworth]

Yeah, that would be cool. Will PM you.

Chambered would be a must I reckon. 7lbs is well heavy, I've got a Partscaster with a body over 6lbs, and that includes the hardware. Feels like concrete!

I was also wondering about the neck, as Warmoth say that no finishing is available if you build a rosewood neck, but the Fender ones are clearly glossed.

 

[Hbom]

I plan to French Polish the body to satin finish and burnish the neck/no finish.
I've been planning that for 2 years now, so, who knows if I'll get to it this summer or not. :icon_scratch:

 

[Tony Ounsworth]

A satin finish would be quite nice actually. Matt black pickguard. Yum.

 

[primi]

That Fender is incredibly nice. But from memory it was priced at about $7k when new  :doh:

 

[Hbom]

That Fender is incredibly nice. But from memory it was priced at about $7k when new  :doh:

I don't see a Strat this year, but that's how much they like their tele.
http://www.fender.com/custom-shop/series/limited-edition/limited-rosewood-telecaster-rosewood-fingerboard-natural/

 

[line6man]

That did a Tele body a couple of years ago. It even had the maple laminate like Harrison's. I believe it was about $900 in the showcase.

 

[greywolf]

gorgeous look , and worth the effort

 

[tylereot]

My partner and I could probably cut you a rosewood body, but that would probably violate the rules of this forum.