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Where to buy wood?


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A luthiers suppliers is probably the easiest option, but you'll pay more.

Last solidbody I made I used Luan(which is sold as "maghogany" in lots of general timber yards) sourced from a timber merchant - it did require a bit of faffing about finding a plank that looked like it would be stable long term without obvious flaws and provide a two piece blank, but it ended up being inexpensive and I'm happy with the result.

If you want to go ultralight with something like paulowinia, you might need to engage some lateral thinking to source it and buy it from a company that uses it day to day (surfboard manufacture was the best UK option last I checked several years ago), and if their supplier isn't sending them planks that are big enough to make a blank from, you'll have to accept making a blank from more than two pieces.

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I've used some Sapele for the bodies on the last couple of basses that I've made. Bought it from a local DIY store and it's absolutely fine. You have to be a bit careful to know it's suitably dry - I'm just lucky with the place near me. They also thickness the stuff for me which is a bonus. Was less than £30 for a body. Whereabouts are you located? Is this for you planned headless build?

The usual suppliers are David Dyke, Tonetech and Exotic Hardwoods. You will get more character woods from these if you want but they will also have stuff that can be painted.

And there's always eBay. Or the local tip for old furniture....

 

Edited by Jabba_the_gut
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2 hours ago, Jabba_the_gut said:

I've used some Sapele for the bodies on the last couple of basses that I've made. Bought it from a local DIY store and it's absolutely fine. You have to be a bit careful to know it's suitably dry - I'm just lucky with the place near me. They also thickness the stuff for me which is a bonus. Was less than £30 for a body. Whereabouts are you located? Is this for you planned headless build?

The usual suppliers are David Dyke, Tonetech and Exotic Hardwoods. You will get more character woods from these if you want but they will also have stuff that can be painted.

And there's always eBay. Or the local tip for old furniture....

 

I am in Tamworth and yes it’s for the headless build, so we are talking thunderbird body size.

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2 hours ago, TheGreek said:

They closed the local hospital near where I live recently. In the strip down they removed a ton (not far off) of dark wood, probably Mahogany. Look for similar demolitions.

A lot of that is Eroku (not sure on the spelling) which is not good for you when the dust is created, had loads of warnings about it at work after people did just what you mention. Would be fine with a decent mask I suppose. But it’s a heavy and dense timber.

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5 minutes ago, Jabba_the_gut said:

There is a proper timber supplier near Tamworth that has loads of hardwoods and sells it in small quantities that would be suitable. Think it was Sykes timbers.

Perfect! I have been told a few times about a proper old school timber merchant ‘along the A5’ but never managed to track its exact location before. Atherstone is only a few miles away so dead easy to take a trip and find what I need!

 

Thanks everyone!

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