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sdsollod
PostPosted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 12:04 pm 
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Koa
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First name: Steve
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I have some cutoffs of alder and maple from solid body electric guitar builds. Can these woods be used for neck and heel blocks for steel string acoustics?
Thanks,
Steve

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grumpy
PostPosted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 2:36 pm 
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Yes, but they'll add a lot of weight...
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Link Van Cleave
PostPosted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 9:54 pm 
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Alder is generally lighter than Mahogany but they are pretty close. Good dense Alder is about like average or slightly light Mahogany but it is no where near as heavy as densest Mahogany.
I am trying to say that they overlap slightly in the upper densities for Alder and the lower densities for Mahogany.
Hope that makes sense.
L.

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Darryl Young
PostPosted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 11:05 pm 
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I've wondered if Eastern Red Cedar could be used for neck/tail block (at least for a bolt-on).

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FishtownMike
PostPosted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 2:50 am 
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I have heard of some using spruce for the blocks.

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Robert Hosmer
PostPosted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 7:52 am 
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Been thinking about using laminated Spanish cedar.

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Chris Ensor
PostPosted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:18 am 
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I repaired an old Epiphone that had a balsa neck block once!!!

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sdsollod
PostPosted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:29 am 
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It sounds like maybe a lot of folks aren't using other types of wood for acoustic neck and tail blocks... Maybe most acoustic builders aren't building solid body electrics and don't have these scraps lying around. I haven't heard anybody say that it would be a big mistake to use alder of a bolt-on neck block (I assume the tail block doesn't matter). I hate to waste wood if I can help it. With the alternate woods being used for B&S and sometimes necks, seems like alternate woods could also be used for other aspects of the build. ...I'm not talking about balsa for neck blocks or alder for braces...

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stan thomison
PostPosted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 10:22 am 
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I worked in a well known shop and spruce was used, I like it as a neck block and use good plywood from Hobby Lobby for tail blocks. Never a problem
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grumpy
PostPosted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 7:36 am 
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I use spruce for blocks, and also use WRCedar at times, but that wasn't the question....
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