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Chestnut Solid Body


VedranPU
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Well remembered Chris, yes it was the Sirius :). My experience and opinion would be similar to Ian's; I haven't worked with it before but I have seen and played a Chestnut topped (thick) guitar before, which looked quite nice. Which species are we talking though? I'd imagine it's Sweet Chestnut, which is like Oak, whereas horse is soft and less porous.

I wouldn't be put off it just because it's generally not used, the opposite in fact...I'd like that it'd be more unique. I'd ask the luthier what the blanks weight is like though.

Edited by Manton Customs
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Tnx... I'll just try to explain... I really don't know which species are we talking about... My friend, the luthier, told me that he found a beautiful chestnut plank and now is the chance to get 1 piece body for free.... My plan was to make a 2 pieces alder or ash and pay for it... It is very nice of him that he's offering this (we're friends, remember...) only I'm not sure if it is OK.. And I'll pay him anyway.... and will probably do it... I'll let you know how it is... in a year or so :-) TNXagain

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I've not used it but I've read around on it in the past. Make sure its properly dried out/seasoned heartwood. Chestnut is great for furniture but takes a long time to dry out. Fodera have used it on tops. If its sweet chestnut heartwood you might not even need to finish it due to the tannins already in the wood but it takes a finish well. Avoid the sap wood apparently.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I used it a few times... but there are at least a couple of types. The "French" Chestnut is pretty light and soft, while Italian Chestnut is pretty strong, a bit softer than Ash. No idea how dense is the piece your luthier wants to use but it's definitely a nice timber. I also used it for necks a couple of times.

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  • 5 months later...

Hiho lovely piece of wood there.
kinda off thread but onnit-why aren,t we using indigenous woods from UK like sycamore,it,s a maple,oak,birch,rowan,blackthorn I know some of these would need to be glued together as the boards would be narrow .
I take inspiration from all the trees that are in our country,what,s wrong with Norfolk ash,it,s quiet swampy in places like the broads,willow makes cricket bats and they get a pounding,beech used for mallets cause it resists splitting.
Just a thought

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A very valid thought too...my cherry headless was built from a tree that had been cut down and laid at the bottom of somebody's garden for about 10 years - she's a beaut..

[URL=http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/FairfaxAikman/media/Mark%20Wood%20headless%20Custom/b08989be-e9be-460e-868d-9ce0dcecce44_zpsm4xra5nb.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q639/FairfaxAikman/Mark%20Wood%20headless%20Custom/b08989be-e9be-460e-868d-9ce0dcecce44_zpsm4xra5nb.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/FairfaxAikman/media/Mark%20Wood%20headless%20Custom/2008b40d-8a72-4f9c-9d52-e0a5b6e9dfe0_zps56id3lju.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q639/FairfaxAikman/Mark%20Wood%20headless%20Custom/2008b40d-8a72-4f9c-9d52-e0a5b6e9dfe0_zps56id3lju.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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[quote name='bassmachine2112' timestamp='1431859183' post='2775581']
Hiho lovely piece of wood there.
kinda off thread but onnit-why aren,t we using indigenous woods from UK like sycamore,it,s a maple,oak,birch,rowan,blackthorn I know some of these would need to be glued together as the boards would be narrow .
I take inspiration from all the trees that are in our country,what,s wrong with Norfolk ash,it,s quiet swampy in places like the broads,willow makes cricket bats and they get a pounding,beech used for mallets cause it resists splitting.
Just a thought
[/quote]

We do just that :). Agree completely it's a shame that more English woods aren't used. Sycamore is a true Maple (but a fake plane, hence the latin name :) ) and a lovely wood to work. We use English Ash for all our Ash bodies and necks also. There are plenty of home grown alternatives which are suitable for every part of a guitar though people generally seem to stick with traditional guitar woods as it's what they are used to seeing.

Here are a few:

Oak
Ash
Elm
Maple (AKA Sycamore)
Walnut
Cherry
Lime
Pear
Plum
Hornbeam
Alder
London Plane

Edited by Manton Customs
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Just for the record... I'm from Croatia & the chestnut is from our local woods and the planks were laying, forgotten in the corner of the carpenters workshop for years... then the friend, luthier found them & took them... Lucky me... TNX to everyone...I'll post the work in progress but it will go slow... :-)

Edited by VedranPU
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