Africasters

[newtherapist]

Hi all
I've begun a new line of tele style guitars. Altered the standard tele shape with a heavily chambered body, veneered arm bevel and am trying to use only African woods. I live on the subtropical eastern seaboard area of South Africa, where there are about 1,500 tree species, most of them relatively unknown ito woodworking and tonal qualities. I intend making a few with these surprise woods. Here are the first two in the Africaster line. First is padauk top, sapele body, ebony fingerboard. Second is tamboti top, ash and sapele body and padauk fingerboard.
Would appreciate comments.

[newtherapist]

Pics

[fretman_2]

Beautiful bodies!!!

[BenM]

Those look absolutely amazing! Without diverging too far from the traditional tele design you have been able to do something creative and unique. The wood is absolutely beautiful, and the workmanship looks impeccable, kudos to you. What pickups are you going to use? The route for your bridge pickup looks a bit smaller than a standard PAF. How did you keep the Padauk from tinting the lighter colored woods? I struggled with this the only time that I used padauk. Thanks for sharing the photos!

[mabley123]

really nice looking bodies.

i bought some african blackwood 31 x 2 x 4 imstrument grade i made finger boards out of and am going to put on a strat neck.

I bought the wood from prosono in south africa about 7 years ago. it was very expensive and i had to wait a good time to get a piece that size and of best grade instrument quality.

any plans on using any ABW?

[MikeMurray]

Hey man :)

Don't mean to advertise another board here, but there's a really nice local community that's worth checking out - www.guitarforum.co.za - pop in ;)

[Fernder]

STUNNING! Very tasteful and I love the joinery.

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by fretman_2

Beautiful bodies!!!

Thanks fretman

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by BenM

Those look absolutely amazing! Without diverging too far from the traditional tele design you have been able to do something creative and unique. The wood is absolutely beautiful, and the workmanship looks impeccable, kudos to you. What pickups are you going to use? The route for your bridge pickup looks a bit smaller than a standard PAF. How did you keep the Padauk from tinting the lighter colored woods? I struggled with this the only time that I used padauk.

Hey BenM
Thanks for generous words. Pickups will be SD hotrodded humbucker set for one and for other SD jazz humbucker in bridge and SD Alnico pro II in rhythm position.
Yes pup rout is slightly smaller to get more snug fit, which I prefer.
I'm a big fan of padauk, so to keep the relationship from breaking down I seal off other woods from staining by carefully sealing each wood with a separate swab with shelac pre finishing in nitro.

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by mabley123

really nice looking bodies.

I bought the wood from prosono in south africa about 7 years ago. it was very expensive and i had to wait a good time to get a piece that size and of best grade instrument quality.

any plans on using any ABW?

Hey mabley123,
I'd love to get my hands on some good blackwood, but as you say, its very pricey and hard to get in big pieces. It grows in about 10 african countries, but is usually small, twisted, multistemmed and rotten in the core. Also, its been hammered by big, usually chinese trading concerns in sub saharan africa, who employ the locals to decimate it, which means there's not much old growth left any longer. Prosono are absolute perfectionists, so there stuff is top quality, but so far I've only used it for bridges, inlays, etc. I'll be visiting Prosono in about a month and plan to get some back and sides acoustic wood from them if the grocery budget allows.

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by MikeMurray

Hey man :)

Don't mean to advertise another board here, but there's a really nice local community that's worth checking out - www.guitarforum.co.za - pop in ;)

Thanks MikeMurray. Have spotted it from time to time, but not recently visited. Will check in again. Cheers

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by Fernder

STUNNING! Very tasteful and I love the joinery.

Thanks Fernder. The beauty of the iphone's camera is that it hides the joinery imperfections.

[vdaly]

WOW I really think that they are very nice!

How do they sound?

Do you have any video, so we can hear them?

Best regards...

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by vdaly

WOW I really think that they are very nice!

How do they sound?

Do you have any video, so we can hear them?

Best regards...

Hi vdaly. No, no sounds yet, about to begin finishing them in the coming week, so haven't a clue how they'll sound yet. I'll be sure to post a few clips when they're cured, polished and assembled, probably a month from now.

[mabley123]

if i had the money i would love to have an acoustic guitar with abw back and sides. that is my dream acoustic...with either euro spruce top or adirondak red spruce top, abw bridge, swetenia mahogani ( cuban mahogany ) neck and abw fretboard..... you dont see may of them. ( abw back and sides ) i have never seen one in person.
abw is supposed to be the holy grail. better than brazilian rosewood.

i know they use it for the very best woodwinds. it is much more impervious to sweat and saliva than ebony.
also abw is the only true dibergia ( rosewood ) species native to africa.

also i like prosono because they use the local natives and give them a fair share and they teach the natives how to best preserve what they have left for responsible harvesting. if their advertising is to be believed. and i believe them to be honest.
they seem to be very aware and take precautions and are fair to the people. thats important.

i was going to buy a 2 piece abw guitar body from them.....20 x 7 x 2 for each piece......5200 USD dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and take at least 6 months to get it.

so i gave that idea up....also it would be very heavy unless you made it very thin like an sg..and it still will be pretty heavy.

if you can? when you go to prosono take some pictures if they will let you...im sure their wood is out of this world and not many get to see something like that. especially here in usa.

im sure many here would love some pics.

they have started to grow abw here in usa...in florida but it is not at a suatainable size yet. they say it grows bigger and faster here because the soil is better....but faster growing can also have its problems in some species. i do not know about abw.

i know they say one of the things that made stradavarius violins so good is the wood he used was very old and during that period the trees were in a very cold climate period ( think hundreds of years and a mini ice age ) and grew very slowly.... and the growth rings were much coser together because of the cold and slow growth.

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by mabley123

if i had the money i would love to have an acoustic guitar with abw back and sides. that is my dream acoustic...with either euro spruce top or adirondak red spruce top, abw bridge, swetenia mahogani ( cuban mahogany ) neck and abw fretboard..... you dont see may of them. ( abw back and sides ) i have never seen one in person.
abw is supposed to be the holy grail. better than brazilian rosewood.

i know they use it for the very best woodwinds. it is much more impervious to sweat and saliva than ebony.
also abw is the only true dibergia ( rosewood ) species native to africa.

also i like prosono because they use the local natives and give them a fair share and they teach the natives how to best preserve what they have left for responsible harvesting. if their advertising is to be believed. and i believe them to be honest.
they seem to be very aware and take precautions and are fair to the people. thats important.

i was going to buy a 2 piece abw guitar body from them.....20 x 7 x 2 for each piece......5200 USD dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and take at least 6 months to get it.

so i gave that idea up....also it would be very heavy unless you made it very thin like an sg..and it still will be pretty heavy.

if you can? when you go to prosono take some pictures if they will let you...im sure their wood is out of this world and not many get to see something like that. especially here in usa.

im sure many here would love some pics.

they have started to grow abw here in usa...in florida but it is not at a suatainable size yet. they say it grows bigger and faster here because the soil is better....but faster growing can also have its problems in some species. i do not know about abw.

i know they say one of the things that made stradavarius violins so good is the wood he used was very old and during that period the trees were in a very cold climate period ( think hundreds of years and a mini ice age ) and grew very slowly.... and the growth rings were much coser together because of the cold and slow growth.

Sure mabley123, I'll bring back some pics of the coveted wood. I hope the floridians get it right because this really is a dwindling resource.

[gsr1]

Beautiful work. I believe Taylor is using Sapele in many of their guitars. The guy who gave the tour said it is a sustainable alternative and a good tone wood.

[newtherapist]

Thanks gsr1. Yes, Sapele comes in unusually wide planks, is stable in service, works easily, has a warm tone and is suitable for necks too. It's a staple wood for most of my electric bodies and about half of my necks and, thankfully, is not under imminent threat of overharvesting, given its relatively abundant distribution.

[Stuco]

Wow, those are really nice!

[newtherapist]

Thanks Stuco

[Berndizzle440]

Thats so awesome you used Tamboti! i have read tons of things about it! and never actually seen anyone build something with it! i have heard all sorts of hazards of that wood though like i you eat meat cooked over a fire of tamboti it will cause severe diarrhea and risk of death! :X and that the sap secreted by the fresh cut wood is an extreme irritant to skin and eyes! but its gorgeous stuff!!!

[Novatuc]

Very nice work, but I have to ask......what the hell is your avatar picture?

[newtherapist]

Just finished my second "Africaster". Heavily chambered sapele mahogany body, padauk top and neck, ebony fingerboard, maple binding, bevel and headstock veneer and Seymour's favorite SD humbucker combo with coil splitting push/pull. Very satisfying to be making relatively few mistakes and to get a consistently good action on these necks. Malcolm Gladwell said you need in the order of 10,000 hours on something like this to get to be a real expert. I'm probably only on a paltry 1,000 hours on guitar building to date, but I've never enjoyed earning my stripes as much in any other endeavor.

[Ike57]

Looking great! (Baie goed!) Congrats!

What kind of finish did you use for the padauk to prevent it from turning brown?

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by Ike57

Looking great! (Baie goed!) Congrats!

What kind of finish did you use for the padauk to prevent it from turning brown?

Baie dankie. I finished it in nitro. Time will tell whether it stays red.

[jipp]

i agree with others, i love the idea of exploring other woods.. never know what it will sound like till you try.. and i bet most of them will sound cool in there own way.
im a hippie so my opinion really means nothing. hell im looking for reclaimed wood for the body for my first guitar. heh. im thinking reclaimed old wood for the body.. a maple neck and something besides rosewood, or maple for the fretboard.. maybe osage orange or something. rock on.
chris.

[sketchanderase]

My goodness those are gorgeous! I love the alternate color where the forearm contour is. Also the two color headstock is marvelous, especially with that shape.

[kwerk]

Good on you for using native species. So long as it's sustainable, I think it's a great endeavour. I try to do the same myself. It's also very practical.

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by sketchanderase

My goodness those are gorgeous! I love the alternate color where the forearm contour is. Also the two color headstock is marvelous, especially with that shape.

Thanks Sketch. Yes, the bevel and headstock laminate connection has become a bit of a trademark for me. I feel like it makes a tele more of a boutique kind of instrument, rather than a drab workhorse.

[domakkah]

Man, those are very beautiful! And I dig your headstock logo!

[metecem]

hmmm.... lovely!

I am seriously jealous that you are able to find stable and dry wood.

I live in Ghana and that is the biggest problem. they have gorgeous wood as well but hardly anything which one can use without any problems.. took me about a year to find the one satisfying source.

If you happen to travel to Ghana, please let me know. The beer's on me mate!

[emzc]

Beautiful guitar !

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by metecem

hmmm.... lovely!

I am seriously jealous that you are able to find stable and dry wood.

I live in Ghana and that is the biggest problem. they have gorgeous wood as well but hardly anything which one can use without any problems.. took me about a year to find the one satisfying source.

If you happen to travel to Ghana, please let me know. The beer's on me mate!

Metecem
I'm surprised that you struggle to find wood in Ghana. I had supposed that many tropical woods of the king that I use would be endemic to Ghana.
If I get to come wood hunting in your proverbial neck of the woods, I'll take you up on the beer.

[newtherapist]

Originally Posted by emzc

Beautiful guitar !

Thanks emzc!