Theres wood and then theres wood

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simso
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Theres wood and then theres wood

Post by simso » Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:53 pm

Had to make a conversion neck on a customers strat today - converts it from a 25.5 to a 24,

They asked for just a rosewood board, so I did two rosewood boards to show them the difference between wood examples

Rosewood and rosewood

For some of the most exotic collections of woods I send people to Ormsby Guitars website, Perry would have to have the largest collection of some of the nicest woods I have seen here in Australia

I do not think a lot of novice electric guitar builders really appreciate the beauty of wood, its more on how cheap can I make this guitar

Steve
Steve
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Do your own repairs - http://www.mirwa.com.au/How_to_Series.html

simso
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Re: Theres wood and then theres wood

Post by simso » Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:55 pm

Whoops, no photos got uploaded
Attachments
rosewood 2.jpg
rosewood 1.jpg
Steve
Master of nothing,

Do your own repairs - http://www.mirwa.com.au/How_to_Series.html

Ormsby Guitars

Re: Theres wood and then theres wood

Post by Ormsby Guitars » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:19 pm

... and that collection is about to get bigger. Just dropped $10k on all sorts of yummy stuff :) Solid birdseye/flame/quilt bodies, one piece ebony necks (three species), crazy burls and grafts, etc etc etc, plus inked a deal to ship in Macassar Ebony direct from the mill, AND worked out how to do a crazy new finish that will blow minds and i reckon might just because the next big thing.

As for your necks, I'd pick the second one.

Rosewood pic to keep on topic :)
Image

simso
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Re: Theres wood and then theres wood

Post by simso » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:56 pm

Yep,

It's not always about grain direction and tightness and density of grain,

A lot of times it's about a simple look, and I do think that's where china and in fact a lot of main stream manufacturers kind of loose it.

When I make necks / fretboards /tops / backs for people's guitars , I'll usually grab out 10-15 raw blanks and just lay it on the guitar, orientate it up down left right, I know it sounds stupid but you let the wood speak to you, when you see the right piece for the right job, it just jumps out at you.

When you look at some custom guitars made by different people, the wood grain and orientation saids a lot about there eye for detail IMO

That fretboard I thought was a classic example, the grain is orientated so it flows in a downwards direction, very distinctive and mimics and extends the body contour forward so that way the eye flows down the full length of the guitar, the board was cut to place the vee in the grain right in at the heel
Steve
Master of nothing,

Do your own repairs - http://www.mirwa.com.au/How_to_Series.html

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Nick
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Re: Theres wood and then theres wood

Post by Nick » Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:27 am

I always carry quite a few blanks of various species for this very reason, I'm just doing a Strat neck myself for a guy that wanted a 'rosewood' FB, wasn't until I showed him the stack I had that he realized it came in more than one generic shade or grain pattern that the mass produced axes seem to do so well.
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Kamusur
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Re: Theres wood and then theres wood

Post by Kamusur » Fri Sep 12, 2014 9:38 am

It doesn't sound stupid at all Steve, sounds like the right way to do things and those little things go into making a really nice custom guitar for discerning buyers.

And Perry now your talkin, the customers will be snapping the likes of those wood combinations up that's for sure.

Steve.

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