Oak body?

[peter762033]

Just curious, has anyone ever come across an oak body? Ive never heard its been used, if not why?

thanks

[Scali]

It's too heavy, I suppose.
A friend of mine built a Jem-body from oak.. It's very heavy, but it sounds pretty cool actually (set of EMGs in there).

By the way, Brian May's Red Special (the original one) uses oak as the frame for the body (it has some hollow chambers and mahogany top/bottom glued on).

[losgatosrg350dx]

oak is hard to stabilize also likes to warp and crack, but a nice wood, gotta use a choice select, becasue it takes a good luthier to screen for a tonal wood when it comes to oak

but i heard they use them in bass alot, well for custom setups that is
also heard its got a reall dark sound

[peter762033]

Yea ive heard it likes to warp and crack, say if you wanted to make a body out of oak would it warp atall once its been painted and sealed?

[losgatosrg350dx]

Originally Posted by peter762033

Yea ive heard it likes to warp and crack, say if you wanted to make a body out of oak would it warp atall once its been painted and sealed?

if u use a wood filler, oil based and mix it in a plate with a thinner and like paste it over like bondo like and let it get into the pores and use like 200# sandpaper after its done drying tottaly, and then use somekind of sealer, even a wax based polish works great, and then u can paint it or stain it and then clearcoat, or whatever....yeah its a great wood, but it has very seseptible pore release if u dont seal that sucker...!!!!

[CityofBlindingLights]

Petrucci's signiature Ibanezes (built by Mr. Ibanez, pickups wound by Tony Blair, and painted by Michelangelo- not the guitar n00b, but you know the guy that paints Jesus) were made from Ancient Chinese Oak...

Lol, sorry, it was coming.

I'd actually be interested to hear what it'd sound like though.

[ryanb]

Oak has been used by lots of people. It does tend to be heavy. There is no problem at all with warping or splitting as long as the wood has been properly dried -- which is also true of every other wood. I have used a lot of oak, and it is very stable when properly dried. (using lumber straight from the local yard is probably not properly dried)

[peter762033]

ok thanks for the info. So how much heavier would it be than say basswood (which is what i think the ibanez rg's are made from) be? Would it be unpleasently heavy to play?

thanks

[shreddersymphony]

I've heard of oak being used without problems really, although I'd say from my experiences it is a good amount heavier than basswood. I've heard that the most perfectly balanced tone wood is korina, which sits somewhere between basswood and mahogany, I suppose. I'll find out in 5 days when my custom guitar is in my hands

[courtney2018]

I'm currently making a body and neck from red oak and poplar laminate. I'm not finished yet, but making progress. I'll let you know how it sounds when I'm finished.

[peter762033]

Originally Posted by courtney2018

I'm currently making a body and neck from red oak and poplar laminate. I'm not finished yet, but making progress. I'll let you know how it sounds when I'm finished.

That looks pretty good so far, hope it turns out great! What do you make of the weight?

[courtney2018]

Right now it's pretty light, but it is also just slightly smaller and thinner than the typical RG body. However, the Power II bodies were also slightly smaller. I'm trying to keep it as close to the original as I can. I don't have one to go by so I'm going off of pictures that have been rescaled to match that of a pic I have of an RG. It will probably end up being slightly lighter than an RG when everything is installed in it.