# Birch as a body wood?



## sleepy502 (Mar 14, 2011)

There is a slight chance I might be getting an endorsement from a local luthier who is looking for players that well, play shows and he wants to get his name out there.

The thing is, he is using birch in some of his models. I've never really heard what birch sounds like in electrics.

Is it a good choice? Would pickups that work well with alder/basswood work in birch? Should I get him to go to a more common wood? I would love a basswood guitar but hey, endorsements.


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## rebell82 (Mar 14, 2011)

I used birch in the wings for my rr7, but its neck through, so it problably have little effect on the sound. I am building a strat 7 with all birch body at the moment, but it's still far from done.

I would guess that an all birch body will be kind of like alder, just by the feel and weight, but it's just a guess.


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## espman (Mar 14, 2011)

Birch is used in 90% of cabs, so I don't see any reason not to try it. Plus, using more uncommon woods will more than likely get the luthier (and you for playing it) more attention, just because it'll be something that you don't see very often, if ever.


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## capone1 (Mar 14, 2011)

I've done some research on this and what I've found is that Birch was interchangeable with maple in the Gibson plant for their hollowbodies and in the fender shop for (alder/ash not sure which) their solidbodies I don't think it was that known or talked about but Leo was definitely a utilitarian he used what he could to build his guitars. 

I've got a large Birch tree trunk almost dried and ready to use right now so I'm going to dive in very soon.

Edit: Gibson was birch fender was pine. Late night;-)


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## AeonSolus (Mar 15, 2011)

I heard that in percussion Terms Birch is a cheaper replacement for Maple, so you do the math


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## sleepy502 (Mar 16, 2011)

AeonSolus said:


> I heard that in percussion Terms Birch is a cheaper replacement for Maple, so you do the math


I don't mean to be rude, but this isn't about percussion


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## sleepy502 (Mar 16, 2011)

Like, if they use it in cabs it must have some sort of resonant quality.


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## SD83 (Mar 16, 2011)

AeonSolus said:


> I heard that in percussion Terms Birch is a cheaper replacement for Maple, so you do the math


I guess there's cheap Birch and more expensive Birch... 
Is he using Birch for the body only or also for necks? 
Btw, this is what wikipedia says:
"Baltic Birch is among the most sought after wood in the manufacture of speaker cabinets. Birch has a natural resonance that peaks in the high and low frequencies, which are also the hardest for speakers to reproduce. This resonance compensates for the roll-off of low and high frequencies in the speakers, and evens the tone. Birch is known for having "natural EQ." Drums are often made from Birch. Prior to the 1970s, Birch was one of the most popular drum woods. Because of the need for greater volume and midrange clarity, drums were made almost entirely from maple until recently, when advancements in live sound reinforcement and drum microphones have allowed the use of Birch in high volume situations. Birch drums have a natural boost in the high and low frequencies, which allow the drums to sound fuller.
Birch wood is sometimes used as a tonewood for semi-acoustic and acoustic guitar bodies and occasionally used for solid-body guitar bodies. Birch wood is also a common material used in mallets for keyboard percussion."
I'd definitly give it a try. It also looks nice (at least that's my opinion)


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## tender_insanity (Mar 16, 2011)

Here's what I've done with birch (and some cherry + oak). Only oiled. The fretboard is NOT attached to the neck. It's just there.

Anyway, never become a guitar. Still have the body, though. Messed up with the neck so let's see what'll happen with the body.


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## AeonSolus (Mar 16, 2011)

> "Baltic Birch is among the most sought after wood in the manufacture of speaker cabinets. Birch has a natural resonance that peaks in the high and low frequencies, which are also the hardest for speakers to reproduce. This resonance compensates for the roll-off of low and high frequencies in the speakers, and evens the tone. Birch is known for having "natural EQ."



Call me crazy, but even if it's not percussion related, i made my point. Maple tends to enhance a small amount lows and a pretty decent amount of High frequencies, it has a good presence and attack on the lower strings, almost piano-like, but on the top strings it'll be too much top end if the scale length is over 25'' or 25.5'' and depending on your string gauge of course. Birch would enhance around those areas but not as exagerated as maple, and is also not as scooped as the latter, making it a liiiittle, in my amateur and humble opinion, to the frequencial response of basswood (I said Close, but never identical ). i've played some all-maple guitars and i do currently own a solid baltic birch body superstrat and a few basswood guitars, i think i have a solid comparing point on this one....or hope rather


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## Customisbetter (Mar 16, 2011)

Price and forum talk don't determine tone, your ears do. 

If its well seasoned and worked by a professional, you can make a guitar out of any wood.


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## CooleyJr (Mar 16, 2011)

Customisbetter said:


> Price and forum talk don't determine tone, your ears do.
> 
> If its well seasoned and worked by a professional, you can make a guitar out of any wood.



True. Gibson made an SG out of plywood.


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## Verity (Mar 16, 2011)

AeonSolus said:


> I heard that in percussion Terms Birch is a cheaper replacement for Maple, so you do the math



That simply is not true. My birch drum kit (Tama Starclassic Performers) cost almost as much as its maple counterpart. Purist douchebags blindly worship maple over all other woods because it's been instilled in their brains that maple = best. Really, the biggest difference is the frequency response. Birch is much punchier than maple and has more pronounced high and low frequencies. Read and learn: How the Drum's Shell Effects the Sound


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## yacker (Mar 16, 2011)

sleepy502 said:


> There is a slight chance I might be getting an endorsement from a *local luthier* who is looking for players that well, play shows and he wants to get his name out there.
> 
> The thing is, he is using birch in some of his models. I've never really heard what birch sounds like in electrics.



Umm.....call me crazy, but if it's a local luthier, does he have some guitars that were already constructed out of birch for you to try out and listen for yourself?

Everyone on the internet has an opinion about everything, if at all possible pick up an actual instrument made of whatever material is in question and see if you like it. For that matter, if at all possible pick up _several _ guitars/instruments/whatever made of that material and see what you think.

But to be frank, I think the whole benefit of having a local luthier do anything for you is the ability to try out their past work and see if you like it. I don't mean to be negative, but what use is posting on a forum about something incredibly subjective and getting opinions from people who you know nothing about, when you have somebody nearby who most likely has first hand experience with the exact material you'd be getting? That's my 2 cents.


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## BlackMastodon (Mar 16, 2011)

SD83 said:


>


Needs more controls  But seriously that birch does look pretty nice.


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## Customisbetter (Mar 17, 2011)

CooleyJr said:


> True. Gibson made an SG out of plywood.



Gibson has made a lot of guitars of plywood, MDF, just about everything.


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## Mind Abduction (Dec 3, 2013)

Here's my example of how Birch sounds as body wood. Seems to work fine.

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/lu...ons/255864-self-made-custom-birch-guitar.html


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## Walterson (Dec 3, 2013)

Birch? There you go: Ikea Guitar


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## The Hiryuu (Dec 3, 2013)

I was wondering about birch myself the other day. Good to see someone else asked.


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