SSS Swamp ash and maple

[Adieu]

Re: SSS Swamp ash and maple

I under stand were your coming from,
But the modulus of elasticity of Red Alder is 1.38 compared to Doug-fir at 1.95, Sitka Spruce at 1.57, and Big Leaf Maple at 1.45. The max shear strength parallel the grain for Red Alder is 1080 psi compared to Doug-fir at 1130 psi, Sitka Spruce at 1150 psi, and Big Leaf Maple at 1730. The impact bending height of drop to failure for Red Alder is 20" compared to Doug-fir at 31", Sitka Spruce at 25", and Big Leaf Maple at 28".
There are Soft Woods that are stronger than a lot of Hard Woods, and some that are a lot harder than a lot of Hard Woods.
You got to admit, those are some pretty good numbers for Doug-fir and Sitka Spruce compared to Red Alder and Big Leaf Maple!
I've been designing and building things since I was about 12. I worked in a cabinet shop doing mostly custom one off stuff, and making fixtures and tools for 4.5 years using Maple, Ash, Walnut, Cherry, Red Oak, Alder, and Poplar. I built my first guitar at 16, and worked doing repairs, custom building and making fixtures, tools and machines for a friend of mine on and off for many years. I've designed and built 2 gang saws for cutting fret slots (they cut all the slots at one time), that are still being used almost everyday after 20+ years. One of them is a hybrid sort of thing. I finagled the 34" scale and the 25.5" scale (up to 24 frets) around till I was able to cut them both with the same saw. Nether one is exact but they are close enough that you have to measure carefully to tell the difference and there is no problem with intonation. You can also get other scales out of it (27 5/8") depending on which blade you use for the nut. I worked for Moses Graphic for 9.5 years designing and building fixtures, tools, machines, molds, custom instruments, and various products. I know, what I know, from practical experience, experimentation, and research. There is a way to cope with and get around almost any problem.

maybe... maybe not

wouldn't know woodcraft or materials science or whatever that is called enough to tell which of these numbers has real-world relevance to guitar building... though, very possibly, people like Leo Fender, Grover Jackson, etc. never knew all that much of it either, and just experimented until they found something that worked - and stuck with it.

there's really a surprising amount of traditions based on copying a mere couple someones' "whatever works" solutions. humans are shockingly conservative like that... or maybe we just tend to assume someone before us did the research, or that famous builders must surely have done the math, hired engineers, researched, etc. - which is often not necessarily true.

[J E C]

Re: SSS Swamp ash and maple

wouldn't know woodcraft or materials science or whatever that is called enough to tell which of these numbers has real-world relevance to guitar building... though, very possibly, people like Leo Fender, Grover Jackson, etc. never knew all that much of it either, and just experimented until they found something that worked - and stuck with it.

there's really a surprising amount of traditions based on copying a mere couple someones' "whatever works" solutions. humans are shockingly conservative like that... or maybe we just tend to assume someone before us did the research, or that famous builders must surely have done the math, hired engineers, researched, etc. - which is often not necessarily true.

That's for sure. I've learned a lot from trial and error, and adapting things to do what they were never intended to do. Some time it works, some time it don't! LOL