Korina-Kaster?

I just acquired a nice plank of 8/4 korina (sold as "black limba"). I know Gibson used to make Explorers and Flying Vs out of korina, and it certainly has a very nice grain, but it seems kind of heavy. Has anyone here done a tele using korina? It seems a natural for a stain and tru-oil finish.

I've seen guys on here weight-relieve blanks with a forstner bit before gluing the two halves together.

Black limba is one of my favorites. I have plans to do a couple of Tele's with it. Weight relief would be in order I'm sure. Tru Oil is an outstanding choice for this wood.

Any pics of the slab?

Korina is beautiful! My local shop can't get it tough

How heavy and how big is the plank?
Calculating its density would allow to extrapolate its weight in Tele shape

Black limba is one of my favorites. I have plans to do a couple of Tele's with it. Weight relief would be in order I'm sure. Tru Oil is an outstanding choice for this wood.

Any pics of the slab?

A bit over 13 board feet. Roughly 8" wide 8/4 thick.

http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m508/ThePumpJockey/100_0159.jpg

How heavy and how big is the plank?
Calculating its density would allow to extrapolate its weight in Tele shape

1.9" x 9" x 72" = 1231 cu inches. Weight is 35.4 lbs. = 566.4 oz. = .46 oz/cu in.

Can we assume that someone here knows the number of cu inches in a standard sized tele blank?

1.9" x 9" x 72" = 1231 cu inches. Weight is 35.4 lbs. = 566.4 oz. = .46 oz/cu in.

Can we assume that someone here knows the number of cu inches in a standard sized tele blank?

Previous discussions on this board have established the volume of a Tele (after routing the cavities) at 263.78 cu in, which gives us around 7.5lbs! That is indeed heavy...

A bit over 13 board feet. Roughly 8" wide 8/4 thick.

http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m508/ThePumpJockey/100_0159.jpg

What you have pictured is White Limba, and if it sold as Black Limba, it is not. Well in a way its, but it's not.

Black limba is the same species as that which you have pictured. However, some trees get invaded by insects and the resulting staining which resembles spalting, (but is not spalting) causes wild patterns in the yellowish wood. These stains tend to be brown/red to black. So, they are the same, they just look different. Also, some Korina/Limba is very light. I have two tele bodies I'm trying to find time to work on. They will both yield under 6 pound finished guitars. That is without any weight relief. Some boards are heavier. If you pick through the pile, you will see the radical difference in weight from board to board. You'll also see an accompanying difference in resonance when tapped.

Here's a link to some pictures of both black and white Limba.

www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/limba.htm

It's cool wood and Black Limba especially makes a beautiful guitar. I am skeptical, but many claim Limba is a "super Mahagony" (even though it is not in the Mahogany family) and sounds like Mahogany with a much better low end.

It was obvious from checking pix online this was white, not black. There are a few stains in the grain on the other side, but it is not "black". This piece is kiln-dried and is still very dense. I suspect I will either have to do some drilling before glueing, or do a top separate from the base and rout out some wood. I might end up with a thin-line style. Alternatively I might just go thin on the body dimension and see where I end up.

this is how I dealt with it

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/161667-fencepostcaster.html

It was obvious from checking pix online this was white, not black. There are a few stains in the grain on the other side, but it is not "black". This piece is kiln-dried and is still very dense. I suspect I will either have to do some drilling before glueing, or do a top separate from the base and rout out some wood. I might end up with a thin-line style. Alternatively I might just go thin on the body dimension and see where I end up.

Sorry,

I guess I misread your OP. Maybe think about doing a thinline. If you don't like the F-hole, don't put one in. There are many threads for thinlines and you could borrow their routing templates for hollowing out. I think it would make a great sounding guitar. It would be a little like a 335 with the right pick-ups. Maybe even lean toward a Gretsch vibe with filtertrons.::smile:

Good luck with it.

I know this is the Tele forum, but somehow if I had this wood I'd be tempted to make an SG out of it... Small and thin, wood choice is appropriate, and with its high density it would keep it from being too neck heavy like SGs often are.
I'd put a P90 in the bridge and a Tele neck pickup, just because.
And there are no laws against doing a bolt-on neck on an SG if that's what you're used to.

I know this is the Tele forum, but somehow if I had this wood I'd be tempted to make an SG out of it... Small and thin, wood choice is appropriate, and with its high density it would keep it from being too neck heavy like SGs often are.
I'd put a P90 in the bridge and a Tele neck pickup, just because.
And there are no laws against doing a bolt-on neck on an SG if that's what you're used to.

That's the problem, isn't it? There are so many cool guitars to make, so little time! The blank is big enough for two bodies, so I could do both, but I was thinking about the second one being a companion short scale bass.

Sorry,

I guess I misread your OP. Maybe think about doing a thinline. If you don't like the F-hole, don't put one in. There are many threads for thinlines and you could borrow their routing templates for hollowing out. I think it would make a great sounding guitar. It would be a little like a 335 with the right pick-ups. Maybe even lean toward a Gretsch vibe with filtertrons.::smile:


Good Lord, another tempting suggestion! You people are a bad influence...