Official Luthiers Forum!

I was wondering what kind of wood would be easy to bend and cool looking this will be my first guitar.

Thanks

With patients, you can bend anything. I bet most guys and gals will tell you to stick to something simple like mahagony or e.i. Rosewood. Honestly, I've never been one to stick to the simple things. I built my first with cocobolo and bent it on a pipe which was an awesome experience! Personally, I say pick what you like, but BE PATIENT! If I was more patient with my first few builds, they would have been awesome. As long as you have an idea of that you're doing, some guidance from lots of wisdom on this forum and patience, you'll be a rock star no matter what you try to achieve.

I have zero experience bending wood, but since I am in the planning/prepping stages of a first acoustic build I've done a lot of searching here and on other forums.
The conclusion I came to was East Indian Rosewood. And I have read many posts by more than one builder that went something like, "There's a reason many beginners start out with/ many teachers recommend EIR. Cheap, easy to work, bends well, etc., etc."
The Cumpiano book recommends Mahogany, but goes on to state that it has a tendancy to develop ripples that are hard to sand out. Whether or not it does this easily enough to matter I don't know. What I do know is that when I finally get around to bending, I'll be using EIR.

edited to add: Maks and I posted at the same time, but I'm inclined to agree on one point; No matter what you choose he is dead right about patience, and about the generosity and encouragement you'll find here on the OLF.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

If it will be a Dred, I would go with Sapele. It is inexpensive and very nice. If it is an OM or smaller, I would go with Black Walnut or Cherry. The tight waist of an OM can be tricky. Pals, Vic.

Indian rosewood, cherry and walnut all bend nicely.

Be very careful of Cocobolo , as it can cause sever allergic reactions . 90% of bending wood is selection. If you get a bad piece it won't bend well. Sapele , African Mahogany , Walnut , as mentioned above bend well. Keep the wood damp not wet as you are bending. Take you time. I would recommend you buy from RC tonewoods, and let them know you are starting out. They may also have some practice sides for you , so you can start with something that will give you some practice.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I have always thought Maple was easy to work with and Bend . And ypou can get some really nice looking Maple.

Walnut and Cherry Both work easy as well .

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Good advice above. Excellent advice about practice sides. They are inexpensive and your results will absolutely improve with repetition.

Consider this when selecting materials: Your first guitar will likely be your least accomplished effort. Maks is correct in stating that with patience you can bend just about anything. But don't skim over his next comment about his first guitar(s) not turning out as well as he would have liked. There is only one way around the learning curve.

Personally, I think you would be wise to keep your costs as low as possible and work with woods known to be user-friendly. As others have noted, walnut is relatively easy to work and it can be quite striking visually.

Have fun!

_________________
George :-)

Contrary to some of the above suggestions, chose what you like as long as it is quarter sawn. Deal with any from our sponsor list, ask them what they have in stock that will be easiest to work with of the type of wood you like. I did not cheap out on my early guitars as I felt that I could build something I would be proud of. I am still happy to show my 1st to anyone as it looks and sounds good, it was a kit as I had limited tools at the time. From then on the real adventure in scratch building started as I has hooked on Luthiery. I am now completing the finish on # 18 and 19 and have way too much wood collected for the future.

As a word of caution this is an addictive activity so enter at your own risk.

Fred

_________________
Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

+1 to Fred's suggestion that you go with quartersawn side wood. Flat sawn sides can cup, twist and do all kinds of weird things. Pals, Vic.

Is black hearted sassafras fairly easy to work

Thanks

Easy as working wet cardboard. Looks nice too....

I hope that you meant that in a good way

Yup. In a good way. Very soft, and has been known to un-bend if left out of molds on a hot, humid day.....

Does it smell like root beer when you bend it??

I like mahogany it bends well and sounds great. Someone else mention Sapele that's also a good wood to get started with. It's cheap and similar to a mahogany but not really one and it looks pretty good and works well. I actually just picked up some nice figured Sapele from the zootman off of ebay. Stick with the lower price woods until you get some practice in you then you can experiment with the more expensive. Mike

_________________
Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

Quarter Sawn White Oak bends great, Looks great and its tough, which for a new builder might be a good thing........Cheap and easily sourced.

That white oak is lovely.
Anyone build with white ash? It works well (I use it in electrics), is cheap and easy to find, and I'd bet it bends pretty easily(just a guess from working with it for quite a while).

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.