I Made A 100% Pine Guitar!

[@drzainnas]

I have been in this field for only 15 years , I must say your knowledge and skills are outstanding what a great job and sharing it online wish you the best my friend

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you so much for the kind words!

[@carpocraftguitarscarpentry8469]

Pine is a wonderful material for guitars! As long as it is bled out (older) so there is no sap. I made a one piece from an old table, just finishing it up now. I love how pine looks when it is finished and the resonance is amazing

[@IPGuitars]

Exactly! :)

[@Tsudkyk]

My local guitar shop had a pine telecaster style guitar built by a local guitar builder. This guitar was beautiful- it had hand wound pickups by the guitar maker and a 4 way switch for parallel/series. He only wanted $800, I asked why it hadn’t sold and the shop owner told me people were turned off when they found out it was pine. Because of this, I thought pine was a terrible choice for a guitar but after playing a friends guitar, I decided I wanted to try out this tonewood. I’m currently building a offset tele with a chambered pine body and big leaf maple neck. This guitar is inspired by the pine guitar that sat in the shop for all those years.

[@IPGuitars]

Wow, can't believe people didn't buy it just because of the wood choice! Hell, even Fender has current models with pine bodies :D That sounds awesome, cool to hear that guitar inspired you to make your own. Do let me know how it goes!

[@detroutspinners9933]

Brilliant build, it turned out really nice and sounds great too. I also picked up a few good tips! Currently building my own so they'll come in handy!

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you very much! Awesome, glad I could be of some help

[@Generalanwalt]

I have to build one for school. That's the perfect video for it. Tysm.

[@IPGuitars]

Thank YOU for checking out the video! And have fun making saw dust!! :)

[@IPGuitars]

(Short version now available: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJetoaSDe7lnhLM ) After such a long while, the wait is finally over. Here is the master edit of the ENTIRE Pine Guitar build from start to finish!

[@bhollyfanhardin9627]

Bill Kirchen's telecaster is made from all pine and the neck doesn't even have a truss rod.and it works just fine and has for many years.........if you don't know who he is he was the guitarist on the song ''hot rod lincoln'' by ''Commander Cody and his lost planet airmen''.......

[@IPGuitars]

Just checked him out, very interesting indeed :)

[@MikeSuttonXerox]

WOWWWWWIE!! That thing sounds awesome!! Huge resonance!!

[@IPGuitars]

Thanks! And it really does, completely caught me by surprise!

[@MrChrisParson]

Absolutely great build! Well done! I got so much inspiration and advice from your video. Thank you!

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you so much for checking out the video. If this inspired you to make some sawdust, then I know I did my job😊

[@charleskilo4383]

Structural engineer here, it seems worth noting that most pine species have comparable or better bending values than the typical hardwoods used in guitar builds per our (USA) building codes. You definitely run into problems when knots get involved to be sure but using softer woods like pine doesn't mean it's weak.

[@IPGuitars]

Oh yeah definitely! Never meant that it would necessarily be weak. Constructed properly and you'll maximize the integrity even more so. Just generally an experiment on the matter that proved successful :) The small bit of hesitation toward the neck was mostly due to feeding off the apprehension of others. Logically it should be (and was) just fine.

[@charleskilo4383]

@@IPGuitars No problem, it was a beautiful build that sounded great too in my opinion. I just like to do what I can in getting people to understand wood strength so they don't feel limited in their material options for things like this. Maybe it's not the optimal species for this but the workability is good for quick turnaround and experimentation at the very least :)

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you very much. And I completely agree! And in general it rubs me the wrong way whenever people go on about some wood not being suitable for guitar building when that is hardly the case. Only that the wood isn't as commonly used as the basic mahogany-maple setup, which in turn I find boring. And considering suistainability, it is good to experiment with your materials to keep your options open :)

[@HearGear]

It is actually very common to build guitars from pine, just going to a lumberstore like you did is not the best way because it needs to dry out for several months or even years before its good to use, how ever i think your build turned out cool and you did a pretty good job with it, even though i see some serious safety issues with the machines during the build, also you get very much better results on the bandsaw if you lower the bladeguide closer to the material you are cutting, and there is several ways to getter results when drilling and such, you are still young and have quite a few things to learn about guitarbuilding... this guitar is a way in the right direction because it turned out great.

[@IPGuitars]

You are absolutely right with this! So many great instruments have been made out of pine and even as an example Fender uses pine in their recent stuff as well. Though not with pine necks and fretboards ;) As for the hardware store aspect: this was actually pine from a lumberyard, but even so the point of the challenge was to see if it was possible to make a guitar out of pine and as close to zero budget as possible. While I wholly agree that you should not make any guitar out of wood that has not been properly dried and I missed out on expressing this in the video, this pine was at an acceptable moisture level for the project. The safety issues I have taken into account in recent videos, more so because of realizing I should not be "teaching" poor machining etiquette (at worst, downright dangerous). While the lower bandsaw guard would give a better cut, I adjusted according to the types of cuts I was planning on making... Still, not well, looking back. Thank you very much for your comment and great points. This entire project was without a doubt mistake-laden throughout, but a whole lot of fun.

[@piotrkarel]

Thank you so much for showing the dogs. When they came into the frame I thought "damn, yeah yeah guitars and all... SHOW US THE DOGS!!!". Fantastic build btw 👍

[@IPGuitars]

Having shop dogs never gets boring😁 and thank you

[@steveroberts]

Fantastic and fun to watch build. Thank you Thomsen

[@IPGuitars]

Thanks for the kind words :) glad you enjoyed it!

[@leonardmettlach2614]

Love the finish came out pretty cool

[@IPGuitars]

I gotta agree, I'm really happy with how it turned out

[@matthewmargetts8516]

Thanks for taking the time to shoot this whole build, and for your honesty in including the things that perhaps didn't go how you would have liked. I also build guitars but have never dared, yet, build a neck from pine, mainly because of fears about strength. I think the idea of making the neck multi-laminate is a really good one, to optimize grain orientation. And the process of steeping the fretboard in epoxy resin is something that never occurred to me, but seemed to give you a great result. It's all good food for thought. Maybe we really don't need to deplete the rainforests of all the exotic hardwoods! Thanks again.

[@IPGuitars]

Thanks for the kind words :) I always aim to film as much as possible in my builds and I strive to be honest and include (and discuss) failures. It helps me learn to hone my craft and hopefully helps others avoid making similar mistakes. As for wood choice, I completely agree. While I of course wouldn't usually recommend pine as it is still rather soft for a neck/fretboard, it isn't impossible to get something stable enough if you're smart about construction. In general, I try to use materials that are readily available domestically and as sustainably sourced as I can find. Fortunately as luthiers, our usage of woods covers quite a small footprint, so it's easy enough :)

[@VanjaSpirin]

Thank you for this great journey

[@IPGuitars]

And thank you for watching!

[@CarlWinter-oy8uf]

I BUILT a pine Strat body 40 yrs ago. --bit soft --but it worked --owner still has it --says its playing superb !

[@IPGuitars]

Yeah, it's a great material when used properly. Explains why Fender still uses it in some cases, heh. Still wouldn't go into my normal spec though

[@hakancarlsson2881]

👍 For red stain on the burnt pine... Subtle but hell of an improvement! I love burnt wood and the red really seems to even out the sploshiness that often occurs... I'll have to give that a try..

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you :) I really like doing that combo, the burning immediately makes the color look so much deeper

[@CarlWinter-oy8uf]

Never mind --long as its a solid joint ---pine resonates ok with strings ---built mine 40 years ago --still sounds good !

[@mackk123]

even the strings are pine too that is very impressive!!

[@jan-ovepedersen5764]

Pretty cool build, I enjoyed it very much. I've been thinking of building a guitar from local arctic birch, I live in Finnmark, Norway. Maybe pine body with a birch top and laminated birch neck. Have to start picking the trees to cut down on my property. Keep up the good work.

[@IPGuitars]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the video. Oh that sounds great! I love to use birch in my guitars (being a Finn makes me kinda biased I guess haha). If you do end up doing that I would love to hear how it goes. Just make sure the birch is properly dry before starting as it can warp. If you want to see some fully birch guitars, check out Ruokangas Guitars. They regularly make some.

[@pskemster]

I would build a jig for the neck to keep it from wiggling around while sawing the fret slots, And have you ever tried wipe on polyurethane? It’s absolutely Brilliant and no need for the mask. And since it is Pine would offer a beautiful finish minus the buffing and polishing. Cheers!

[@IPGuitars]

I have since done that, for both sawing and neck carving. I also put in some work on my worksurface to stabilize it further as it was rather wobbly

[@pskemster]

@@IPGuitars awesome! Keep em rocking!👍

[@halukkiran]

Great job Mate!

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you!

[@buckwheatINtheCity]

This dude is a craftsman.

[@alexander_noren]

amazing job! :) so there is no real issue with a pine wood for the neck???

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you! And oddly enough not really. Or more not really if you build it smart ;)

[@joaorodrigues8489]

i believe that if you had glued the neck boards with epoxy you would get a stronger neck because it s less elastic than wood glue. Great project, great result!

[@IPGuitars]

Might be, but even a year and a half onwards it is going strong💪🏻 so I'm not too fussed about it :)

[@joaorodrigues8489]

@@IPGuitars glad to know! Do you think that epoxy helped to keep the neck straight?

[@IPGuitars]

Not really. The stuff I used did not penetrate as much as I originally planned. Essentially it is more akin to just a really thick coat of lacquer. I would've needed a vacuum chamber to get the epoxy to seep into the grain consistently. But it is the truss rod and multilamination that plays a much bigger part in keeping straight

[@smokepeddler]

Pine body with maple necks and single coils is my favorite.

[@Binhguitar2007]

Is that so great :)))?

[@coeycruz]

Hey, Awesome build! what did you do to the buzzing frets? (:

[@IPGuitars]

I got that ironed out with adjusting the truss rod and action a little bit. With one fret buzzing a bit more, I just had to spot crown one bit of it. Turned out to be an easy fix :)

[@pvdguitars2951]

Wow, I’m blown away by this beauty. And it sounds awesome, mean metal machine! Just subscribed, think I’m gonna have a lot of joy discovering the rest of your channel. Happy new year young man & master luthier! 👍👌

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you very much for such kind words :) and welcome! Happy new year

[@Jayteaseepiirturi]

Here I started to watch your video, not watching it wholeheartedly at that moment. Only when I noticed the Finnish text on the planer I rewinded and picked up on your accent. Jätkä oliki suomalainen! :) Eniveis. Jatkan katsomista.

[@IPGuitars]

Haha, kiitos paljon! :D

[@RicardoAldana1988]

Excellent video and content.. pretty rough.. crafty and handy for this one! I loved that.. I’m doing my own guitar project.. CADing.. sketching and drawing meanwhile I get with the woods and tools.. but I have one question.. how do you managed to don’t get all rocky frets hammering those into the fretboard? I know the post leveling with the level sanding will let them nice and even! But I would appreciate some enlightenment about how it would done with some device or tool to match with the radius!

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you :) Essentially the way I hammered the frets (radiused to slightly more than my fretboard radius) into this neck was the same as with any other. Tap in both ends of the fret, then hammer from the middle out. This way the fret tangs go down and to the side, which will keep them from popping straight out. The glue here is a pre-emptive measure to give some more structural integrity to the whole thing. But I am looking to improve this further: so after the frets have been hammered in, I would still use a fret press with the proper radiused caul. This way I could ensure even pressure throughout the fret. Then when levelling you would already follow the radius of the fretboard. And you really shouldn't need to level any more than with a few passes really if you've done a good job. But always keep your fret-rocker handy to check for high spots.

[@RicardoAldana1988]

@@IPGuitars I see.. I appreciate your time! Your comments and videos are super helpfuls and I hope that you keep rocking those guitar builds!

[@IPGuitars]

@@RicardoAldana1988 Thank you for the kind words :)

[@RicardoAldana1988]

@@IPGuitars Thank you for this videos

Nice "painting". Looks great 😂

[@Thoracius]

How has the neck held up? Has it developed any twist or other issues?

[@IPGuitars]

None :) still very playable, just put new strings on and gave it some new setting up

[@Ari_Calamari]

Man, when you pulled out that spade bit, my heart stopped for a second. They tend to be so messy, tear out central. Forstner bits are the way to go. Really enjoyed watching your work tho.

[@IPGuitars]

I fully endorse this. I loathe spade bits and have done what I can to remove them from my arsenal😅 Though, when you need one, they do the trick well

[@Mauitaoist]

Great build nice video I don't think I would waste my time with the Pine Neck though just too soft I'd be afraid of it warping in the future

[@IPGuitars]

This was exactly my thought on the matter. And that was the challenge. It's been 3 years and it still holds true and hasn't warped🤯 which, quite frankly, is a bit insane.

[@carpo719]

nice guitar man, I am just getting into building, and decided to make one out of pine myself

[@IPGuitars]

Awesome! Lemme know how it goes. If you run into any questions along the way, feel free to ask away in the comments to my videos and I'll help out however I can :) Have fun!!

[@carpo719]

@@IPGuitars thanks. Its a one piece, so i am getting in deep as a rookie. Glued the fretboard last night. Purple heart on pine. Looks great

[@IPGuitars]

Ooooh that sounds cool!

[@JackLeeTheFirst]

Is the fretboard and neck also pine! This is such a cool guitar

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you! :)

[@JackLeeTheFirst]

@@IPGuitars is the fretboard and neck pine too?

[@TheBoabby50]

@@JackLeeTheFirst Watch the video - it's all there

[@grantkoeller8911]

the guitar turned out beautiful!!!! I love that red burnt finish!!!!

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you very much :) I'm happy with how it turned out.

[@gitarboi6760]

Sounds good, looks awesome !

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you!

[@meadish]

Thanks for the very interesting build video. The guitar sounds very resonant, and totally works with metal type gain. For my taste the clean tone is perhaps a bit too dark. Did you use a 250k potentiometer? The burning/staining/finish work came out really great as well!

[@IPGuitars]

Glad to hear you liked the video! And completely agree with you on the sound of the gain and clean. The potentiometer in this one is a 250k, which is probably why it sounds so dark. The plan is to upgrade this guitar and see how good I can make it. New electronics, hardware, and so on. A 500k pot is definitely on the list too.

[@aaronboyles5237]

I’ve started making my first electric, so naturally I’m researching on KZbin. This is a great video! Thank you for taking the time to do this!! Unfortunately I will be ordering a neck, lack of hand tools plays a role in my build. How about a poor mans build WITH poor mans tools? (Mainly for my enjoyment lol). I’m working with a table saw, chop saw, chisel set, a jig saw and router. And endless amounts of sandpaper. I’ve put all this to work on the best pieces of pallets I could find...I think I will be investing in some luthier tools after this. Again, great video and THANK YOU!

[@IPGuitars]

Getting a ready neck is a great way to start! The body gets you comfortable with the basics. Poor man's build you say? Like what I do now? Haha. But I get what you mean, the tools you have at hand are still more than what I have to get started. I still need to do big sawing and routing elsewhere, so I'd say you're pretty set to get work cracking! And thank you for watching my video :) if you run into any questions along the way, feel free to ask in a comment. I'll always answer🤘

[@aaronboyles5237]

IP Guitars Thank you for the reply! I think having a plainer would certainly raise my confidence in going after a neck. We will see how the first one goes first, haha. I brought an early 90’s RG 770 body that was gifted to me back from the dead(with the help of loads of internet shopping), and I think that’s when I caught the bug. It seems like I have many more videos of yours to study, and learn a thing or two. Thanks again!

[@IPGuitars]

When you catch the bug, it's hard to get rid of ;) Welcome to the club! I've tried to extensively cover most of the basics and some finer detailed skills in luthiery in my videos, but if you can't find something, ask and I can actually make a video on it so that I get that base covered too hahah

[@aaronboyles5237]

IP Guitars challenge accepted! I’m currently sorting out neck/bridge placement. It seems fairly straight forward so far. I’m sure I will be sending up a flair at some point though. Thank you.

[@countzero1972]

cool.. how is the neck 2 years later? Is the neck angle adequate to prevent string buzz without using string trees? It looks pretty awesome. Good job

[@IPGuitars]

Neck is still great! However I did just add string trees to it as the headstock angle was a little too shallow. But this small addition made one helluva difference!

[@louisaccardi2268]

I was not surprised about the body, but the neck with a pine fretboard really threw me. Although, I also was greatly surprised that it actually worked. There must be some physics involved why this neck worked as well as it did.

[@IPGuitars]

Likewise, pine bodies are not that uncommon, but the neck surprised me and still does to this day. Construction accounts for a lot of why it worked. Another of course is that was dry to the point that it wouldn't start moving because of moisture content. I suspect the yakisugi method helped with this aswell.

[@johnluna7897]

thats cool in pine its more work to get that smooth look in a finish nice guitar rock on

[@IPGuitars]

Yeah, it is a bit more effort, but I just take that as a challenge and good practice :) and thank you for the nice words

[@LeChrizzle]

After more than a year’s time is there any noticeable neck movement? I made an all pine guitar 2years ago and it’s still perfectly straight. I reinforced the neck wit carbon rods and an epoxy resin “shell” though. Next one up will be an all accoya pine 7 string. Nice work!

[@IPGuitars]

Nope, no movement :D That sounds cool! Have fun!

[@wombatau]

Those are pretty good tools, where did you go to do the woodworking? Is it like a community place?

[@IPGuitars]

Yeah this was a makers' space in Espoo, Finland where I did the larger processes. Unfortunately it was closed in 2019 :( nowadays I use another similar space

[@wombatau]

@@IPGuitars That is amazing, I wish we had these places in Australia. We have something called Men’s Shed and Men’s and Women’s Shed, which is a community type of thing but for antisocial people or people who just want to do some things and go it’s not so much fun.

[@IPGuitars]

As an introvert-leaning person, the fact that there are these places for antisocial people sounds great😅 but get where you're coming from. Makers' spaces are amazing when you aren't able to have a shop for yourself, I struggled quite a bit in the time between workshops.

[@wombatau]

@@IPGuitars In the current house I’ve been doing the work on my guitar by dragging power tools out onto the lawn on dry days. The other day I was bitten four times in a row on one leg by the same spider 😂 Still beats socialising 😂😂😂

[@IPGuitars]

Ah, that brings me back to how I started off!😂

[@CarlWinter-oy8uf]

How dis you align the neck ? No gaps in the joint!

[@dottorpeto]

Brilliant process, kudos! But it's not clear to me if the fretboard is pine as well, and if yes if you can share your thoughts about this solution. Thanks!

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you :) And yes, the fretboard is pine with epoxy poured over it. For this project it was more fun than a process I would ever recommend seriously

[@dottorpeto]

@@IPGuitars yes, sure i totally agree. Btw i am interested in such experiments :) how do you feel the fretboard after this time? Do the frets stay in place?

[@IPGuitars]

The fretboard feels pretty okay, granted a little lifeless due to the epoxy layer. And I also glued in the frets to add a little more stability to the fretboard, so they've stayed in place great :)

[@dottorpeto]

@@IPGuitars thanks! :)

[@kevinanderson8118]

Great video! What was the name of the epoxy used on the neck?

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you! I used Chill Clear by Polymeres

[@CMRWoodworks]

I‘m mainly an acoustic player, but the guitar sounds great to me. Pretty cool project. Seems like something like this would be a cheap way to learn guitar making. If you screw something up, it won‘t hurt the wallet so bad. Anyway, cool video!

[@IPGuitars]

That was kinda what I was aiming to showcase with this as well. While yes, I rented hours at a local maker's space, you technically could achieve this with just handtools, which is what J ended up doing with his pine build (also with zero experience in making guitars).

[@willb3698]

Here in Australia we have King Billy Pine and the no- longer harvested Huon Pine (it is sourced from a damn in Tasmania now - yes Underwater!). ANYWAY Nowt wrong with Pine! Can be Beautiful. Many early instruments like Viol de Gamba's and some Double basses are made of Pine. Huon Pine looks like Ivory sometimes. Try some King Billy on an Acoustic. Well done, Brother.

[@IPGuitars]

That's cool! Andyeah, pine has been used for centuries and with good reason :) I still think it gets way too much flack for what it is. Need to look into some Australian woods, they're all bloody gorgeous. And thanks! :)

[@justinpurba]

This is by right a great guitar. One pickup is enough. For versatility, I would strongly suggest adding a tone knob. Love this video and keep up the good work.

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you for the kind words :) There is an upgrade video coming this year ;)

[@MykEviiL]

Eddie Van Halen, one pickup one volume. Done!

[@andimatrus]

Beautiful instrument

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you :)

[@hanovergreen4091]

That is abso-fookin-lutely gorgeous man! Congratulations! Best Regards and Best Wishes! If it works for Novo guitars.....

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you so much

[@Yosser70]

Thats a great build mate. I’m a firm believer in the wood making bugger all difference to the tone of a guitar. The neck is impressive but since you laminated it, should be pretty stable. Only slightly odd thing is the pickup placement, it’s in a bit of no mans land there lol Having it further back would brighten up the cleans and make the distortion more punchy. Going to do one with plywood for my next build, the last one was wenge and mahogany, so a bit of a difference lol

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you! Yeah, the pickup placement is not as intended. This was due to accidentally routing the neck pocket to the wrong mark that I had drawn on.. unfortunate mistake and resulted in moving the bridge back almost an inch. Oh cool, I've had a fair few friends make plywood guitars, so I wish you luck on the build! Always slightly different working with plywood than solid planks, with its own challenges.

[@Yosser70]

@@IPGuitars Yeah, guessed that’s what happened. Still sounded good though 👍🏻 Plywood should be interesting, I’m doing a fabric finish so should be able to cover up anything that doesn’t look great 😃

[@IPGuitars]

Yeah, it turned out decent but bugged me for the longest time. Now it just stands to show that I have indeed learned from my mistakes haha. Oh cool, that sounds like a fun idea. Be sure to pop by the comment section any time and let me know how it worked out!

[@baileymurray5592]

Awesome build homie domie

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you! :)

[@stratocaster539]

Great work and very inspiring

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you for the kind words :)

[@elsenorx·hace.10.años]

Where do you buy all hardware from? Meaning, bridge, pickups, frets, pots, pegs, etc. And is there a brand you would recommend for a balanced Price-quality relation. Thank you in avance.

[@IPGuitars]

It really depends where you live. For instance in this build I used the cheapest parts I could find from a hobbyist store. Nowadays I pick and choose different places to order from for different things. In the EU there's actually a few distributors with good price-quality ratio, in the US likewise but I have less experience with. A good way is to talk to your local community of builders or music stores and do your research on parts available based on that :)

[@alexander_noren]

i love the riffs you played on "clean" tone. what are the songs you played? :)

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you :) they are all parts from this post-rock kinda song a friend and I wrote in high school (something like 12-14 years ago?). Only got around to recording the full thing earlier this year, we'll see if I ever release it in any way.

[@alexander_noren]

@@IPGuitars sounds very much like my favorite band - "Katatonia" :)

[@robinleebraun7739]

Okay. So very high quality pine can probably be used to build electric guitars. Like old growth Southern yellow pine which is harder and more stable than many hardwoods. But only the best with fine, straight grain and no knots. But that wood is actually more expensive than many hardwoods like ash and locust. The pine at the home center, even “select pine”, is very soft, can be almost any species, and will bend and twist and warp all over the place. For a guitar body it doesn’t really matter much. But for necks, forget pine. Leo Fender found that out 70 years ago.

[@IPGuitars]

And yet, this is made with the cheapest stuff possible and it hasn't warped (just did a 4 years later video too) heh. But yes, I agree 100%. While this -for some reason- worked for me, there is no way I would recommend it to anyone looking to build a guitar out of pine.

[@grantkoeller8911]

On the bandsaw, sometimes your thumb got a little too close to the blade. Please use a push stick, and you'll keep all 10 fingers.

[@IPGuitars]

Something that has been pointed out and I have made a video on that I will release at a later date. The bandsaw is one of my favorite tools and I know this particular one well, so I feel comfortable with it. The training and artisan degree I got focussed on shop safety and knowing how to operate machinery (such as the bandsaw) in a safe manner, so I was fully aware of where my hands were at all times. But I should teach better practice in my videos, you are correct.

[@zeetekton1016]

This is a great guitar sir... and i love that you filmd the whole process. I started building a guitar with pine... and it really sounds fairly good... the only issue i had with my pine guitar is that is can easily dent.... and a rat ate/bit a small chuck to it... so i decided to change my guitar body to mahogany...

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you :) I usually film the process of most of my builds. Pine is very soft, so dents can occur pretty easily. That's why I burned the body and also added a thin, but durable acrylic finish to it. Oof about the rat eating a piece of it. Good luck with the mahogany one!

[@zeetekton1016]

@@IPGuitars yes sir... i'm starting to work with hardwood in my later build... the only reason why i'm tempted to use pine(softwood) and a plywood... is because it is already flat and squared. Pine here is in S4S... so i don't need to plane it for a proprtionate thickness... i don't have a bandsaw and a thickness planner and all i have are bunch of power hand tools... so i tried to experiment and scout for some materials that i can use based on the availability of my tools...

[@IPGuitars]

That makes perfect sense :) work with what you got

[@f.b.jeffers0n]

Great build!

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you! :)

[@Davo2233]

My Squire Classic Vibe tele has a solid pine body. I think they all do.

[@IPGuitars]

And they are pretty nice👌🏻 some of the Fenders have them too.

[@slinkytreekreeper]

How is the pine neck after 3 years? Super curious!

[@IPGuitars]

Very well actually! Was just playing it yesterday

[@olenfersoi8887]

The problem is that "pine" is often a generic term for common construction lumber...which might actually be any of a dozen or more kinds of actual "pine" or other coniferous wood such as fir, spruce, cedar with varying degrees of hardness. In that regard, spruce or cedar is already the preferred wood for acoustic guitar tops...and strong cypress is preferred for flamenco guitars. (...with backs & sides as thin as 1/8 inch). BTW, since large lumber purveyors store hardware & such goods indoors, but much of the lumber in outdoor racks in the "yard", the most common name for such a place, at least in the USA, is as a "lumber-yard", while the company itself is likely to refer to itself simply as a "lumber company". Southern (USA) Yellow Pine, which is commonly available in Europe....though significantly softer than Maple or Rosewood...is significantly harder than the Alder, Poplar & especially Cottonwood (...Basswood) that solid-body electric guitars are often made of. Plus, for a premium in price (but still less than "hardwood" lumber) construction timber is available in "clear" grade...no knots. And, softwoods, as if done with maple, can be hardened somewhat by "roasting" at close to 400 degrees F for an hour or so. Bamboo is laminated all in one grain direction, unlike normal plywood. So, I don't see why that or SW - "strand woven" bamboo can't be used for fingerboards, as this can have a Janka hardness rating of up to 4000...similar to ebony & more than twice that of rosewood or maple And, it is dimensionally stable at varying temperatures & humidity. You could start with a piece of bamboo flooring, costing a few dollars, that can be planed & sanded to the appropriate radius, with uniform color thru & thru (unlike laminated oak flooring that is really a form of hardwood plywood) and I bet you could create a dense fingerboard to be proud of..

[@IPGuitars]

Haven't run into that being a problem over here to be honest🤔 ours are very well labelled between the different evergreens in most cases. I've actually got a few luthier friends who have used laminated bamboo on guitars with good results

[@kontemplatemusic2189]

Since you made a guitar from pine, any chance you could do one from butter? I can't wait for that video....

[@IPGuitars]

I can't believe this is not butter.

[@kontemplatemusic2189]

@@IPGuitars I like your thinking.... apparently "I can't believe its not butter" is better.

[@bramvangool8224]

Is the neck still straight?

[@IPGuitars]

It actually is, just picked it up again yesterday and played it on stream. Totally surprised at how it has held up so well under tension

[@bramvangool8224]

@@IPGuitars great, then i can finally do something with the pine ive got laying around, thanks!

[@IPGuitars]

Awesome! Have fun!💪🏻

[@intotheblue50]

How can I hear what the guitar sounds like when you play clean tones with reverb. Shame, I would really liked to have heard it without effect. The idea was great though.

[@IPGuitars]

I have a separate video with more tones on this :) "What does a fully pine guitar sound like?" So the last part of the series, it has more tones and playing than this

[@nguyennambinhguitar-nhacvi8121]

34:25 is the top of the neck flat to the top of the body ?

[@IPGuitars]

Not quite, there is a few degrees slant in the neck pocket.

[@Binhguitar2007]

Do you think pine good for guitar neck build?

[@IPGuitars]

Not at all :D You CAN make one if you're smart with its construction (as seen in this challenge), but I really would not recommend it.

[@CarlWinter-oy8uf]

The paint was a problem on the body --so I used 3 coats of wood primer --then old fashioned auto enamel metallic blue ---peeled slightly --

[@DIYGuitarist]

How is the pine neck holding up?

[@IPGuitars]

Still holding up and playing great!

[@DIYGuitarist]

@@IPGuitars thanks, that gives me the courage to try building one!

[@grahamtyler5382]

Beautiful guitar! It seems that pine is a "tonewood". I think it's possible to make a guitar out of any wood (except, perhaps balsa, although even that could be entertaining).

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you! And yes, a guitar could be built out of anything. But the key thing here is: will it actually sound good and feel good to play with each material?

[@elsenorx·hace.10.años]

What is that Amps software you use sir?

[@IPGuitars]

On here I used the Neural DSP Archetype: Nolly plugins :)

[@billjackson6385]

Is balsa wood in a hardwood cadagory . Douglas fir is harder then most hard woods.

[@IPGuitars]

Balsa is also a hardwood. The actual density of the wood actually has nothing to do with the classification between hardwood or softwood :) Balsa is definitely the softest and least dense hardwood there is, while yew (a softwood) can be harder than most hardwoods. Great rule of thumb: softwoods are pretty much your evergreens (needles and seeds in cones that drop to the ground).

[@mattfischer3853]

How has the guitar stood the test of time? Any warping to speak of?

[@IPGuitars]

Still working just as well as when I first played it. No warping at all :)

[@mattfischer3853]

@@IPGuitars Nice, I am going to attempt a simple project using pine board (2x4 in the US) joined together and adding 3/4" maple boards to the top for added stability. Your work has alleviated some of my concerns. I will start will a telecaster body because it's simple and I wanted to see how the wood performs. If all goes well, I will carve a Les Paul using the same process. Mostly, I want to do this for practice before spending large sums on the hardwood as it gets expensive quickly. I plan on oven drying the wood first just to give myself the starting place. Cheers.

[@IPGuitars]

That sounds awesome :) and you are definitely going about learning the processes by using pine to experiment in the right way. It's definitely a low-threshold to try things out on.

[@louisaccardi2268]

Yes, I use cotton as well.

[@pasteye1671]

Leo Fender made early Tele's out of pine (in the 1950s), so why would it not work now?

[@IPGuitars]

Absolutely right! And Fender still uses pine bodies in some of the modern line of instruments as well :) It's no secret that pine guitar bodies work, but pine as a neck and fretboard? It should not work as well as it did.

[@nguyennambinhguitar-nhacvi8121]

How thick is your fretboard?

[@IPGuitars]

It is 8mm at its thickest. So with the radius (16") it thins out to 7mm on each side.

[@SIXPACFISH]

Now you just need to add a black Tele knob for the finishing touch.

[@IPGuitars]

Maybe for the upgrade whenever that happens

[@rosettenzerrer]

Bodywise, pine is perfect. Resonants very well and is lightweight. I would not use it for the neck or the fretboard. Just make sure you avoid big pockets of sap.

[@IPGuitars]

Exactly, and agreed. But that was the challenge :)

[@TheLoner70503]

The problem with pine is that it has to be very, very dry because otherwise it splinters easily. But I don't see why pine can't be used as a material to make the body of an electric guitar. The neck would undoubtedly be made of maple, since it is harder and withstands the tension of the strings better.

[@IPGuitars]

Absolutely right. And pine bodies have definitely made a sort of resurgence in the last few years! It's actually pretty cool to see. Still wouldn't recommend a neck, even though I have run into a few. And I mean, heck, mine is still in great condition after all these years (against all odds).

[@grimmseti]

What guitar pickup did you use?

[@IPGuitars]

A "Boston Electronics" humbucker. Basically the cheapest we found

[@keithjensen22]

Does crimson guitars have a luthier school for online because I'm from the United States of America

[@IPGuitars]

No online school as such. KZbin videos just like myself and others. However, they do have guitar building courses in England if you can make the trip over the pond. They've had people from all over go there.

[@SuzanneKowalski]

Awesome build, it's quite surprising that a pine guitar can sound like that. How much does it weigh?

[@IPGuitars]

Thank you! Yeah, I was just as surprised, but then again pine is very resonant so it makes sense :) and just weighed it, looks like it's just about 2,5kg

[@SuzanneKowalski]

@@IPGuitars Thanks mate!

[@Justus07]

Are you from finland?

[@IPGuitars]

Yes I am :)

[@Mauitaoist]

Great build nice video I don't think I would waste my time with the Pine Neck though just too soft I'd be afraid of it warping in the future but doing it the way you did will probably be okay because you turn the Grain on his Edge so you might get away with that we'll see

[@IPGuitars]

Well, the whole point of the video and challenge was "can it be done/will it work" :) And surprisingly enough, I'm happy to say that the guitar still plays great to this day. HOWEVER, no I would never recommend making a neck or fretboard out of pine.

[@rezzzo76]

Beautiful guitar sir! I would try this challenge myself, IF i had a huge professional wood shop like you do... but I do not.

[@IPGuitars]

But I don't have a huge professional woood shop :D I rented a few hours at a makers space and then did the rest at home in the kitchen/spare bedroom. You CAN do each process from home as well, but I just did the bigger portions at the makers space, because I live in an apartment building where routing would cause quite a lot of issues with noise. And also, thank you :)

[@ChrisFranklyn]

Yeah, spade bits always feel like you're fighting your way through the wood by repeatedly punching it. I feel more comfortable using a stepper bit to get most of the way there, then clear out the hole with a spade bit. But I'm no means an expert. It'll be interesting how it stands up over time, I don't doubt the body will be fine - and because you laminated a lot of bits of the neck perhaps there'll be no movement there. I enjoyed that.

[@IPGuitars]

Exactly, I personally just got so used to using step drills at Crimson, so now that I don't have one I feel like I've taken a step backwards (...pun iiiintended?). I've been thinking of doing a "6 months later" video to go over how it has stood up in that time. Given also that I live in Finland, so 6 months is enough time to go back and forth between cold, damp, hot, dry, repeat, shuffle, horrible climates and changes in air moisture.

[@robinlawson701]

It looks decent. Not so sure on the longevity of the neck & fretboard. Nice build. Novo use Pine on their $4000+ guitars, only on the bodies I believe.

[@IPGuitars]

Yeah pine bodies are actually surprisingly common. Even Fender brought it back for some models. While I definitely would not recommend a pine neck or fretboard in any case, I did make a video on this guitar now 4 years later. It's still holding up👌🏼

[@terencehealy5110]

At one time I may have read or heard I can't remember that squire guitars had pine bodys

[@IPGuitars]

Definitely did yes. And Fender as well, they have them on current products too

[@banjoganjo7116]

This was a great video...thanks very much for sharing your knowledge. Im thinking of making a pine guitar...simply because i have pine readily available and i have basic tools, so its given me a bit insight. Ive always asdumed pine would be structurally sound enough to make a guitar neck..ive witnessed some tough pine in my day. Its also a very easy wood to work with, when you havent got the greatest heavy duty tools.

[@IPGuitars]

Thanks for checking out the video, I'm glad it was helpful :) If you're looking to try things out and only have access to basic tools, pine will be perfect as a material. The key is more in the design and planning out, so that you will have an end result that is structurally sound. That being said, pine is sturdier than many would think if used properly :) Most importantly: have fun with your project!

[@banjoganjo7116]

@@IPGuitars thanks...im sure i will make plenty mistakes....but learn lots. Great channel btw..many thanks

[@IPGuitars]

Mistakes are exactly how we learn :) I've always said that you should never fear failure, instead learn from it, so that you can do better next time. I have not met a single luthier who hasn't botched a project or a few

[@tdrduarte]

People should know by now that most of the guitar sounds comes from: 1- Pickup; 2- How well the instrument is built; 3- strings; 4- fingers; 5- BRIDGE TYPE AND MATERIAL; 6- body and neck material (wood). As long as it's not a bunch of soft pieces that will absorb the vibrations, the guitar will be fine. Depending on the quality (and how it's done), even plywood guitars can sound good. All wood do is vibrate back so the strings keep the sound going, it's not that important for the sound quality. Tone wood is a thing for accoustic instruments, but not for electric. Pine wood is a good material for body, ok for neck (good if you reinforce it) and not so good for fingerboard (it's better to use something a little harder there). Because not everything is about sound, but durability, weight, playability and looks too. I think pine doesn't look bad at all for body material.

[@IPGuitars]

Completely agreed. While I have my own views certain things, I do agree that tonally the wood makes up for very little in electric instruments (and pretty much none for active pickup systems). I always like the metaphor of every part of an instrument is like ingredients in a recipe, which also works well with "taking things with a pinch of salt" :D Pine is a great body wood. I think it looks great and it's very lightweight. Hell, even mentioned a bunch of times in the comments that so many actually make pine bodied guitars nowadays (even Fender have gone back to it for some models). I would not ever really recommend it as a fretboard wood, but that wasn't the point of the video anyway. Thank you so much for you comment and that you checked out the video!

[@tdrduarte]

@@IPGuitars The video was pretty cool and the guitar sounds good. A lot of people get impressed because it's a non traditional material, but there's a lot of Amazing instruments made out of exotic wood that sounds great, even acoustic guitars. Congrats on the work btw.

[@IPGuitars]

Exactly right. And honestly so happy whenever I see someone step outside of mahogany body+maple top traditional combinations of woods. I made my first prototypes out of birch and oak. They sounded great. Making something purely out of tradition feels... boring. And thank you :)

[@yellowcat1310]

i'm about to make one out of pine. probably pine anyway. assorted scrap wood at my place, i figure i could make three guitars and the wood is old dry and hard as a rock. so i'll watch this for some ideas.

[@IPGuitars]

Sounds awesome! Lemme know how it goes :)

[@dappawap]

I made a pine guitar body but I find the sustain is pretty bad...still I used cheap pickups I love your ratchet clamp

[@IPGuitars]

Really? That is pretty interesting as I found this to have pretty good sustain and resonates really well. It's also very loud even without plugging it in

[@boxerfencer]

Thank you for saying that microfiber cloths leave scratches. Personal experience tells me so, yet anyone ive encontered who has an opinion stubbornly argues the contrary. They dont beleive whats in front of their nose, or if they do maybe they dont trust their vision, or perhaps blind.

[@theredstormer8078]

That's white pine, right? Isn't yellow line much stronger?

[@IPGuitars]

I had to check what white pine is. As I've understood, we don't really have that species of pine here. I used the pine that is native to Finland, which is "Scots pine" (Pinus sylvestris), which I guess is similar to what you referred to as yellow pine (which includes a few different species).

[@theredstormer8078]

@@IPGuitars ah, okay thanks for the explanation.

[@chadwilliams8583]

Wow

[@christiancolon147]

No colored powders in the resins?!

[@IPGuitars]

Not in this one, no :)

[@jeffreyking5206]

Nice

[@IPGuitars]

Cheers!