There was a constant debate on a luthier's message board about what woods were appropriate to use for guitar building. There was/is a fair amount of snobbery that said lesser grade woods were unacceptable. This was then rammed down the throats of rookie builders who came there looking for help and instruction.
Fortunately, I can think for myself.
Now, there are still certain parameters and needs that must be met. For a neck, you need straight grain with little-to-no runout, and a good amount of strength to withstand the tension. For a body, you usually want something reasonably light, but not soft. For both, you need the wood to be stable, dry, not prone to movement, and able to hold the hardware firmly.
So balsa wood won't ever be seen. Beyond that and some others like that, basically anything is fair game.
Don't believe me? Do a Google search for Taylor's pallet guitar of for Robert Benedetto's construction-grade pine archtop. They know more about lutherie than I ever will. Their statements are that it's the craftsmanship, NOT the components, that determine the instrument's quality.
So here we are, and I'm making a guitar from Lowe's pine, just to make my point. All of the wood is from the same 8' long 2x8. The neck is one I have leftover from before I started making my own. Pickups are Atrec mini-HBs. Wilkinson tuners and a generic bridge & electronics round out the hardware.
The shape is a combined from elements of a Telecaster, Les Paul, and SG. I'd say it looks pretty damn good.
The body is a shade over 5/16". The bookmatched top is +/- 1/2" This will give me a finished thickness of between 1 3/4" and 1 7/8". The body will be chambered, the top carved with at least one f-hole. I'm seriously thinking about giving the top oak binding. I'm not sure if I'll leave the back natural or paint it. The top will be finished clear. Maybe I'll look into giving it a brown-burst.
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