Materials

The materials chosen for the 12-string were as follows:

           Mahogany

The body and top were to be made from mahogany, which has long been used for electric guitars due to its tonal properties (resonant with a strong mid-range). It is also an excellent timber to work, being fairly soft, allowing trouble-free machining and easy sanding. I had intended from the start to stain the body black, and mahogany accepts stain well.

           Maple

I chose maple for the neck of the 12-string mainly due to the flexibility of the mahogany neck on the previously completed Explorer. With the pull of all those string the new neck needed to be strong, yet have a playable profile. Maple is a harder timber than mahogany, is close grained and generally works well, though can be difficult to eradicate all sanding lines from. Being quite dense maple also produces a bright tone, which I thought would be good for a guitar which needed to sound bright and “jingle-jangle” (thanks, Bob!). Maple with spectacular figure can produce beautifully aesthetic necks, but can prove very difficult to spokeshave for the novice due to the different densities of wood and the crossed grain.

Ebony

Ebony was chosen for the fingerboard primarily to fit in with the black/gold theme planned for the guitar. Its denseness also helps to provide a bright tone, which again I wanted. It is not the easiest timber to work being very dense. Sanding can be particularly unpleasant producing a very fine dust.

Other timbers:

Rosewood

Rosewood in the choice of fingerboard material for the majority of guitar makers. It is less dense than ebony, so is easier and less dusty to work, and although not cheap is certainly cheaper than ebony. Rosewood is attractive to the eye, varying from brown and stripy through to almost purple. It is less bright sounding that maple or ebony.

Sheoak

An Australian eucalypt, quarter sawn sheoak has spectacular figure, but even flat sawn pieces look attractive with their unique and unusual grain. Aesthetically sheoak is one of my favourites, though it is not the easiest of timbers to work. It is a fairly hard timber, and its dust is both poisonous and fine, making it a real irritant which dries the mouth and can even make ones throat bleed if not wearing a mask. The rays which give it its figure are noticeably softer than the rest of the wood and sometimes tear when scraped or planed, leading to extra sanding. For the way it looks and sounds, I figure it's worth the effort.

Myrtle

Myrtle is one of Tasmania's varied and fascinating timbers. Unless it is the prized figured timber, myrtle is not exceptional to look at, though does have a lovely honey colour. Myrtle is, however, a musical timber, valued by Antipodean violin makers for its resonant properties and its light weight. It is straight grained, cuts like butter and machines and sands with ease.

Blackwood

Blackwood, another Tasmanian timber (though to add confusion there is more than one Aussie timber of the same name) is not, as its name suggests, black in colour. It is actually not dissimilar to myrtle, but with a more pronounced striping to the grain. It varies in colour from a honey brown to a deep brown, and can contain attractive fiddleback figure. The end grain is particularly striking, with pronounced black growth rings. Blackwood is a fairly dense timber which cuts well, but machines less successfully than myrtle, often causing even sharp router cutters to smoke.