Pinecaster? No thank you!

[blimpo]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

There are many types of specific wood hardener that are designed to penetrate wood and create a deep area of hardened surface.

I've used an epoxy based type.

No wood hardener on pine. Changes the composition and you'll lose the flavor of pine.

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by blimpo

No wood hardener on pine. Changes the composition and you'll lose the flavor of pine.

I suggest playing your guitar rather than licking it.

[Tdot]

Originally Posted by blimpo

No wood hardener on pine. Changes the composition and you'll lose the flavor of pine.

Originally Posted by Nick JD

I suggest playing your guitar rather than licking it.

"...many parts are edible."
-- E. Gibbons

[keithcc]

In common wood supply practice there are two kinds of pine, white pine and yellow pine. While many other species are related to these pines they are called something different.

The yellow pine is fairly hard and tough and typically has knots in it. White pine is very soft. I wouldn't have a white pine guitar but a yellow pine one might be nice. Since nutball Zachary Guitars started the trend there have been several Tele bodies made from IKEA cutting boards which are, I think, yellow pine.

Architectural salvage is a great place to get wood for guitars. The single best thing to look for is an old house door which had a coolingboard set in the center. Most of them were permanently set in and disguised with molding when the practice of having the dead taken to a funeral parlor became de rigeur. Doctors would also do tonsilectomies (common) and sometimes emergency appendectomies and C sections on the coolingboards too.

It's not unheard of to find solid hardwoods of big sized boards and desireable species in restaurant tables either. Restaurants often bought (still do) the legs and stands as a commodity piece and had the tops custom made. Over the years they sometimes get covered with Formica or veneers or whatnot and even in a new build out you may have 50-80 year old table tops that under that spiffy covering are heavy solid old wood.

[FatTeleTom]

I've got a pine bodied Glendale, and it sounds really, really good.

Soft? Maybe, I don't know--never really tried to bang it up. I'm not noticing any more dings than guitars with much thicker/tougher finishes. And I had no problems drilling in the screws--certainly no problems with stripping or moving screws.

Sorry, don't know what variety of pine it is. But whatever it is, it sure works well.

[garymaddox]

I've built one pine guitar. I never really thought of it until I started coming here. I like the light weight and it sounds good. It is really soft wood though. I haven't had any problem with screws coming out though. I've had the control plate off several times changes caps and switch wiring. It sounds like the OP received a bad piece of wood.

[Southern Ill Electrics]

You get heavy handed with any type wood......use a power hand drill and over tighten or ya don't drill the proper pilot hole......Gonna run into problems.

[boris bubbanov]

We ran into a lot of these problems with the punky basswood in the Squier 51s.

The stock fasteners (pickguard and bridge mount screws) stripped out if you looked at them. The usual solution was to dowel and glue the pickguard holes, and go to # 6 x 1 inch long bridge mount screws, sometimes with refilled holes also. We recysled the bridge screws and used them to attach the control pate and the football style jack cover. Regular pickguard screws were laughably inadequate for that.

In effect, the urethane coating was a sort of structural exoskeleton. Without it, the wood was as substantial as paper mache. - and strong as the inside of a cockroach.

[silkcityblues]

If i'm not mistaken believe those first Pine tele's were painted black enamel without an undercoat or primer. also my fender swap ash body custom shop guitars varied in tone, but the heavier ones had more balls.

[originalmatthew]

+1 on the hardener. You can get minwax hardener at any home depot or lowes.
Pine is a funny beast, it can be a delight or a disaster depending on age, humidity, species, etc. Doug fir is sweet to work with, northern white pine is like carving a guitar out of soap.
There's a thing called the Janka Hardness Scale for wood, but I am not sure how far it goes in separating species of woods, but it's a pretty good starting point for judging whether you want to use a particular wood for a body or a neck or fingerboard etc.

[eyerish]

I have only messed with a pine build once so far. my kid abandoned a project he started because a person on here said to get a body and he said he was sending him a pickup to use(said he sent actually) and it never showed. He got discouraged and left it to me. I put the neck and hardware from another project and used minwax to finish it. Its a multi-piece yellow pine and I think it came out quite good. I had to do some neck hole re-drills and shims and the wood is not particularly toneful,but with the bill Lawrence pup it sounds pretty good. I may try some other pups but I do not know if I will do another pine build. I really like ash and mahogany,but you never know. This pineysquire is actually kinda nice.

[mr newhaven]

i have both extremes a 9lb+ all rosewood tele...and a Ron Kirn Loblolly Pine Barn Buster...

they are on the extremes in terms of weight and heft...and the rosewood is built like a tank whereas the Pinecaster is a little bit more...precise...for lack of a better term...

both sound different and both are equally my favorite guitars...granted i play my barn buster a lot more than my rosewood...probably cause its newer! (i have only had both for about 5-6 months)

but all bets are off when gibson ships me my new acoustic!

god im glad my bout with G.A.S. is over after it arrives...for now that is!

[Zmatko]

^
^
Eyerish, i reckon that tele would look eyeblastingly good with white body and mint pickguard, whattaya think?

[eyerish]

Originally Posted by Zmatko

^
^
Eyerish, i reckon that tele would look eyeblastingly good with white body and mint pickguard, whattaya think?

I was actually considering a see through white blond but the mint guard is a new and interesting wrinkle for sure. I have an Irish green esquire type that I am still working on paying for(laidoff) that Bob Logan made for me. It has a mint green guard I asked him to put on for me. heres a pic


that idea for the pineysquire is for sure something to think about.