Pine 3 x 8

Hello everyone, I'm pretty new here, though I've been reading it nonstop lately. I have never built a guitar, but it is something I want to learn to do. Anyways, I was looking at CL today and came across and ad for some Southern Yellow Pine for sale at what seems like a reasonable cost. I don't know if this type of pine is useful in guitar building or if the cost is good. I'm on a budget and if this is good to learn on, it wouldn't be a huge risk money wise. Any advice or opinion is welcomed. Thanks in advance. Here is a link to the ad.
http://norfolk.craigslist.org/mat/3172124299.html

SYP is tough stuff, hard and heavy. I would stick to white pine, easier to work.

You should go for it, if you're willing to try it. You can always do a hollowbody if it's heavy.

I've done some more reading and found some posts on here where people have used it with pleasing results. Maybe I'll give it a shot, not much to lose.

The only time I have seen Southern Yellow Pine was in magazines or on the internet and the pieces I saw always had a pleasing grain structure. I think it would look great with a translucent finish.

SYP is tough stuff, hard and heavy. I would stick to white pine, easier to work.

What Ricky said...

If I could find a good deal on SYP of that size, the first thing I'd tell you to do is use some of it to make a workbench! SYP is an excellent materail for benches, especially thick bench tops (3-4 inches). The base can be from pretty much any wood as long as the joinery keeps it rigid and stable, but the stuff you found would make a fantastic top.

that said....

It'll make really good guitars too but you will have quite a bit of thicknessing to do to take it down to 1.75" thick. Best of luck, and let us know how it goes!

Rex

You could build one Heckuva building out of it though!

I've built 4 tele's out of a yellow pine 2x8 I got from Home Depot (and then let sit and dry for a long time). They all turned out pretty well. I'd say go for it. Seems like a reasonable price.

Make sure the wood is dry. Yellow pine tends to warp and twist as it dries and ages. White pine, sugar pine, or Ponderosa pine is more stable.

If I could find a good deal on SYP of that size, the first thing I'd tell you to do is use some of it to make a workbench! SYP is an excellent materail for benches, especially thick bench tops (3-4 inches). The base can be from pretty much any wood as long as the joinery keeps it rigid and stable, but the stuff you found would make a fantastic top.

that said....

It'll make really good guitars too but you will have quite a bit of thicknessing to do to take it down to 1.75" thick. Best of luck, and let us know how it goes!

Rex

+1 on that workbench. I used to make truck floors out of it.