Mahogany Body blanks on Ebay: Advice please? :)

[Nadz1lla]

I'm tempted to take one of these for my first guitar attempt. I'd appreciate someone with more experience letting me know if this seems like a good deal, or if anyone has bought from these guys before.

I'm always a bit sceptical about Ebaying and don't want to spend money on duff wood, heh.

Cheers!  :)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electric-Guitar-Kiln-Dried-Body-Blank-SOLID-Mahogany_W0QQitemZ380060457498QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item380060457498&_trkparms=72%3A1090%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[FernandoDuarte]

Don't know that seller, but from eBay you can get everything from useless rubbish to very nice stuff...

David Dykes goes from £31 to £80 on Mahogany body... the one piece body seems to be the eighty and three pieces thirty-one...
Larry from Gallery Hardwoods goes about US$70...

It's more expensive, but it's way more saffer IMO...
I would go for one of those, don't mind in buying it cheaper, mind in get it good

[WezV]

feedbacks good, price is great.

hard to know if it will make a good guitar or not without having it in the hands

at that price it might be worth a gamble.  i would want to know what type of mahogany is it and where has it come from? but at that price its still might be worth buying and selling on if it doesnt have the qualities i look for

or like fernando says  - you have more garantee of good stuff if you buy from a reputable supplier.  at the end of the day the difference between £30 from ebay or £60ish from david dyke is nothing when you think what you can spend on the rest of the guitar.

[Nadz1lla]

Yeah I'm on a budget really. I think the main bulk of my spending is going to be on the neck as I wouldn't want to hazard making my own. I've seen one on Warmoth that I like the look of. looking for an angled archtop but I didn't see any with 24 frets, I guess I'd have to call them and tell them that's what I'm after.

Are there any other decent neck suppliers out there? I basically have all the rest of the hardware I need.

[FernandoDuarte]

As far as I know, Warmoth is the best replacement parts supplier (not counting Mr Wez, Mr Feline, Mr Legra here)

[Nadz1lla]

Ooo, didn't know you guys did individual parts too! Good to know! Well for now as I'm skint, I'm going to nick the neck off my old Mockingbird just so I have something functional when the body is complete. But my Mrs has just bought the Ebay mahogany for me, so now there is no excuse, I have to make an Axe or she'll kick my arse for wasting money, hehe.

Only thing left to decide is what colour to paint it. I'm taking all the gold hardware off the above mentioned Mockingbird and transferring to the new Axe, but I'll steer clear of Purple this time. It's a nice colour to go with Gold but having 2 Purple axes is a bit much, heh. Maybe dark red or dark green...hmmm...

Anyways, thanks for the advice guys! If this one goes well I will be looking at some better quality woods for the next one. i'm sure the bug will bite!  :lol:

[FernandoDuarte]

I don't really know, put usually luthiers do it... :lol:
Don't know their policy about

[Nadz1lla]

OK, got the Mahogany today, good bit of wood for the price I think. It does consist of 2 pieces glued together, but it's a solid join and you have to look hard to see the join in the wood. Gonna pencil in the design this week and borrow my Dad's router when I'm next over there.   :D

Might even do a blog diary of the build on myspace.

[Nadz1lla]

OK I got my Guitar Building book back from my friend but have put it down somewhere in my house and lost it, d'oh!

Would I be right in thinking Neck pockets come in 2 shapes for bolt-on guitars? I keep seeing everywhere that there is a Strat style pocket with a curved edge at the bottom or a tele one which is straight on all 3 edges.

Without taking the necks off my BC Rich guitars it looks like they are a tele shape as there is no noticeable curve. Would this be true of most modern guitar designs or is the strat style the "standard"?

[FernandoDuarte]

Yes, the classic Fender design is that... but there is much more than it, even from Fender modern guitars...
Not all companies follow the design, so....

[Nadz1lla]

Yeah thought that might be the case somehow, hehe. Gonna have to stop being lazy and just start taking things apart to measure them, hehe.

[FernandoDuarte]

yeah, look at it:
http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/necks.cfm?fuseaction=faq2
The traditional Fender measures...

[Nadz1lla]

Thanks man, yeah I think it was Warmoth where I saw the difference and it got me thinking about it. Finish work at 4 today so when I get home the measuring equipment is coming out, heh.

[mikey5]

Dude do yourself a favor and buy from monsterguitarshop.com they have a link to their ebay. I don't know what they have availiable now. I am on my second Les Paul from them, and this is quality stuff I tell you.

[Nadz1lla]

Thanks for the advice!  :D