Interesting Guitar Article on the Guardian Website.

[bucketshred]

Saw this, enjoyed it, thought I'd share.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/aug/09/hey-sound-homemade-guitars

And what do people make of that last statement?

EDIT: The one about the quality of the wood.

Paddy

[HTH AMPS]

And what do people make of that last statement?

Paddy

guitar players not competative? - hmmm  :?

I'd say that most guitarists are competitive by nature, but thats only my own experience.

[Dr. Stein]

About wood choice? If I tried to build a guitar you'd never tell what it was made from because I can guarantee it wouldn't work whatever wood I chose. There's certainly a lot to be said for the untrained ear, too.

[WezV]

all good if it gets someone messin around!

• If you do start making your own guitar, don't get into too much of a tiz over what kind of wood to use. Although it is sometimes true that some types of wood produce distinctive tones (maple has a high pitch, mahogany has a warm and full tone), you probably won't be able to tell any difference sonically between cheap and expensive wood.

insult the readers why dont you...

anyway, its never been about the price of the wood - just the quality.  dont go expecting B&Q pine to make any nice instruments.  And thats nothing to do with being a tonal snob!

[Philly Q]

I think with good luck a bit of "cheap" wood can sound great, and with bad luck a bit of "expensive" wood can sound shitee, so in that sense I can see what they're getting at.  I'm sure there are a few flukey Squiers out there which, by sheer chance, sound better than 90% of US Fenders.

Plus, of course "good" guitar tone is totally subjective anyway...

But that's talking about the wood in existing guitars.  If you're literally just buying raw timber, of a particular wood type, I'd hope you get what you pay for, most of the time.  As Wez said, you're not going to get a decent sound from a bit of knotty, sappy B&Q softwood which hasn't even been dried properly (I assume, I haven't tried!).

And it's all a bit apples and oranges if you're comparing different woods as well as differently-priced woods.

[WezV]

yeah.  they are correct that  you may not hear the difference between cheap and expensive.

but suggesting you should not worry about what wood to use is daft.  The better suggestion would be to point out just what you can find for free or really cheap.  I have had at least 10 guitars from free mahogany, from a few different sources as well... i have also paid through the nose for it as well.    the quality varies just as much wherever it comes from, carefull selection is key

lets also not forget you can get tried and trusted wood from instrument wood dealers for as little as £30 a body blank and be in a much better starting position than a rough hewn piece of random wood you ahve found

[gwEm]

I agree with the general thrust of the article, encouraging people to build their own guitars though.

[froglord]

May's guitar was called The Fireplace? I thought it was The Red Special.

Right, I'm off to build a six-string bass out of balsa...

[FELINEGUITARS]

Balsa wood is more expensive than mahogany!

I had a gibson LP that was 30% balsa wood - Les Paul Studio Lite - I sold it to England and Surrey Cricketer Mark Butcher
Here it is in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbKwj4ihb-U

[bucketshred]

Balsa wood is more expensive than mahogany!

I had a gibson LP that was 30% balsa wood - Les Paul Studio Lite - I sold it to England and Surrey Cricketer Mark Butcher
Here it is in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbKwj4ihb-U

He was on the TV this morning promoting his new Album. Was playing a Strat in the video clip and was wielding a Tele on the Album cover.

Paddy