WTB One Piece White Limba Body For Explorer

[peach64]

Hey Guys,

I hope all are well. After the last few months of fine tuning my templates and buying some body blanks for various builds, I am looking to buy a figured and clean one piece White Limba body blank for an Explorer build. Unfortunately the wood that I have seen on Ebay and in person has not been up to snuff.

I did see some wood down in Exotic Woods, Sicklerville, NJ, but it was heavy and some were two piece. And I have reached out to A&M Woods in Canada, Gilmer Woods in Washington...nothing. Search goes on

Thanks,

Peach

 

[ARandall]

Good luck!!. Thats going to be quite hard to find........hopefully one of the guys here has something in the stash.

In the last 4-5 years I've found wood going from cheap, and readily available in various piece configurations.....to almost 3x the price and really only in multi-piece body blanks.
Same with necks........I'm pretty much building only 3-piece necks and bodies now if I want the traditional woods.

 

[pshupe]

I have no problem getting wide mahogany both honduran and african but the price difference is phenominal. The honduran is Can$25 b.f and the african is Can$9 b.f. White limba is actually quite inexpensive about the same price as african mahogany but I do not see it in wide pieces.

Maple is abundant and black walnut is laying all over my place. Where I can I use maple and walnut. Good luck finding the Korina wide enough.

Cheers Peter.

 

[ARandall]

^ I thought you (or Freddy) would have been the guys to have had something suitable 'in the stash'.....one down.

 

[pshupe]

^ I thought you (or Freddy) would have been the guys to have had something suitable 'in the stash'.....one down.

It's starting to become so difficult to find that even if I had a few I would feel obligated to keep them. I have some large honduran that I purchased 7 yrs ago for 1/3rd of the current price. I cannot afford to use it! LOL

A friend and I had looked into buying bulk a couple of years ago. Both Honduran and Korina and had difficulty finding enough wide stuff even when looking at buying 1000 - 1500 b.f. It's never going to get cheaper and easier to find so most would keep what they have.

Good luck.

Cheers Peter.

 

[ARandall]

I have some large honduran that I purchased 7 yrs ago for 1/3rd of the current price. I cannot afford to use it! LOL

Isn't that just the way.......
Body blanks that would have been going for $40-50 are now fetching $150 on the Aus ebay. Of course for someone like myself who cannot process lumber into usable guitar blanks we will always pay a lot more for timber than someone who can rip and face. But its getting ridiculous......I think Gilmer wood or similar is the last holdout for decent international blanks for someone like me.

 

[bierz]

If you’re an Instagram user I recommend checking out “Laroseguitars”. He’s in Texas and sells amazing lumber for decent prices. I’d send him a message telling him what you’re looking for. I’ve purchased some black limba, mahogany and figures maple but I’d wager he can help you out.

I am looking to buy a figured and clean one piece White Limba body blank for an Explorer build.

 

[Brewdude]

it may be a long shot but its worth a shot to reach out to Tom Bartlett and see if he still has any excess from his stash of Korina from his Explorer build, though he specifically mentioned the difficulty in obtaining wide enough boards in the thread so he may have used all he had purchased.

I saw a '58 on display at The Met a few weekends ago and immediately wanted to snatch up a body blank for the future but have come across how difficult it is to find a one piece, so best of luck finding one and if you do and they have extras, spread the good word!

1958/63 Explorer build

I just realized the last photo was a mid progress photo of the templates, here is what the finished set looks like. These are cut from MDF. And these are the templates i had cut from 3/16" steel. I had them water jetted.

www.mylespaul.com

 

[dcomiskey]

If you’re an Instagram user I recommend checking out “Laroseguitars”. He’s in Texas and sells amazing lumber for decent prices. I’d send him a message telling him what you’re looking for. I’ve purchased some black limba, mahogany and figures maple but I’d wager he can help you out.

Agreed. I’ve gotten amazing pieces from him.

Also, Gilmer Wood has a few bodies available, but they’re more $$ than you’ll get from Todd. Although, they’re already glued and planed:

Gilmer Wood Company

www.gilmerwood.com

Gilmer Wood Company

www.gilmerwood.com

Gilmer Wood Company

www.gilmerwood.com

PS: Good luck finding one-piece bodies. Almost impossible.

 

[peach64]

thank you all very much. I have been lucky enough to obtain one piece White Limba body blanks for Flying V's. But this may be a lot more difficult now? I will certainly look into Laroseguitars this week. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks again guys

 

[dcomiskey]

thank you all very much. I have been lucky enough to obtain one piece White Limba body blanks for Flying V's. But this may be a lot more difficult now? I will certainly look into Laroseguitars this week. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks again guys

The good thing with white limba is that two-piece bodies are virtually indistinguishable from one-pc as long as the grain is aligned properly when gluing. I have a V at home that I've been dragging ass on for a couple of years. I'll take a pic tonight, if I remember.

 

[pshupe]

thank you all very much. I have been lucky enough to obtain one piece White Limba body blanks for Flying V's.

That’s funny because I was going to try and make one of these because you do not need a one piece body.

Cheers Peter.

 

[peach64]

Yeah yo

That’s funny because I was going to try and make one of these because you do not need a one piece body.

Cheers Peter.

yeah you're right Peter, but if I can buy a one piece body, like both of my Flying V's, I'd prefer a one piece body. Weren't the original Explorers one piece? At the very least I can access nice two piece White Limba and neck blanks an hour from my house.

 

[ARandall]

^ But if you're going to make the V's non vintage correct, why not just bit the bullet and get something that is both easier to get and a lot cheaper to boot.
Also, Korina is often quite heavy these days too. You'll have more choice for suitable weight as well with multi piece.

 

[pshupe]

That’s funny because I was going to try and make one of these because you do not need a one piece body.

Cheers Peter.

I believe the original Vs were two piece. It's funny that I do not have any problem finding korina that is thinner and it is actually cheaper than black limba. So far I have found it lighter than black limba. Quite light actually. the last stuff I got was as light as my honduran, which is around 2.5 lbs / bf.

Cheers Peter.

 

[Manton Customs]

If you’re open to buying from the UK, there is a guy on EBay called Feelgoodwood. He sells a lot of Limba/Korina and Im fairly sure I’ve seen him sell one piece Korina explorer blanks before. Might be worth messaging him to see if he can help.

 

[sondich]

Hey Guys,

I hope all are well. After the last few months of fine tuning my templates and buying some body blanks for various builds, I am looking to buy a figured and clean one piece White Limba body blank for an Explorer build. Unfortunately the wood that I have seen on Ebay and in person has not been up to snuff.

I did see some wood down in Exotic Woods, Sicklerville, NJ, but it was heavy and some were two piece. And I have reached out to A&M Woods in Canada, Gilmer Woods in Washington...nothing. Search goes on

Thanks,

Peach

Hi Peter - We have a few pieces on Ebay now (they may be some of the not up to snuff ones). We may have messaged back and forth a couple of weeks ago. We'll go for a while and get nothing and then get a bunch of wide boards in, but it's hit or miss for sure.

I know you're looking for clean & bright material but 20" wide, clear & figured is pretty rare.

Does it need to be curly? Let me know and I'll keep my eyes open.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[peach64]

Hi Peter - We have a few pieces on Ebay now (they may be some of the not up to snuff ones). We may have messaged back and forth a couple of weeks ago. We'll go for a while and get nothing and then get a bunch of wide boards in, but it's hit or miss for sure.

I know you're looking for clean & bright material but 20" wide, clear & figured is pretty rare.

Does it need to be curly? Let me know and I'll keep my eyes open.

Thanks,

Steve

yes Steve,

we have already exchanged messages on Ebay. I bought my last two extra wide, clean and figured body blanks there. But it's 2019, my only hope is a piece may pop up here or on Ebay.

keep in touch,

Jerry