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So the plan is to make a les paul-ish style guitar with a carved top and humbuckers.
The question is what combination of woods would go well with this type of guitar?
I have black walnut, tulip poplar and black cherry available, possibly some maple as well
So what would you guys go with?
A. Walnut back, cherry top
B. Poplar back, cherry top
C. Walnut or Poplar sticking with a standard maple top
D. Poplar back, Walnut top?
Another combination?
I have read that walnut doesn't go well with humbuckers unless it is chambered
so if I use a walnut body should I chamber it?
Ill probably use either a cherry or walnut neck depending on stock i have available and the body woods I choose.

Im going to make a bass as well and was thinking about a poplar body sandwiched in walnut front and back, sound good?

BTW I was wondering about alaskan yellow cedar for bodies, has anyone tried this?

Thanks in advance...
Jebarri

I would do a cherry body with walnut top, cherry neck and and finish it in clear. That I think would look very nice.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Mike, I was thinking the cherry would be heavier for a body so I didn't mention it but now that you say it it probably wouldn't be that different than walnut or something, I was also thinking that walnut or poplar would be more similar to mahogany traditionally used in les pauls...
Thanks for the input, ill think about it, I was thinking of doing a subtle sunburst on the top but haven't decided yet

cheers, Jebarri

Les Pauls are heavy, and IMHO, the weight may be a factor in sound, but I couldn't prove that. But the only experience with cherry that I have is on a Martin which had cherry back and sides. The tone was warm and with good bass. The low end is part of the "chunkiness", for lack of a better word, of the LP. Again, IMO. All of this is opinion, which is pretty much true with any talk about tonewood. If a good solid chunk of cherry has these characteristics, that's what I'd go with. In my experience, poplar sounds more like alder, not the traditional mahogany used on LP's. And from what I've read(no experience), walnut can be on the bright side, thus my recommendation for use as a top, as well as the fact that the grain in walnut can be really sweet, depending on the piece, and the cherry is more subdued. But you have a lot of choices, and I can't imagine you could really go wrong, whichever way you went.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

yeah Im not necessarily looking for the exact les paul sound either, just using it as a starting point this being my first electric.
I also agree that if you have a good piece of wood that fits the basic parameters for the application (not way too heavy or soft or whatever) that it will in most cases anyway make a first class instrument, I have used untraditional woods for acoustic instruments and been really happy with the results.
Thanks again, advice, input, suggestions, critiques are always welcome

Jebarri

I'd say pick something that looks prettiest to you and you're set. Unless you really radically depart from the mechanical design of a normal LP, any of those woods will probably sound 'right' given the right pickups. Nobody can tell if it's maple or walnut in a real blind test but I'd bet most people with decent ears can tell the difference between an Alnico II and a Pearly Gates pretty easily.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Thanks Bob, thats what Im beginning to think, go with whatever I feel like doing