# What do you consider best wood combinations for a guitar?



## supercolio (Jun 22, 2012)

As the title states, what combinations do you prefer? I'm going to a woodmill next monday to buy woods for my 7-string project, and I still haven't decided what woods I want to use. That's why I want to hear your suggestions for a guitar that has
- body
- top
- 3-piece neck 
- headstock top
- fingerboard (orly?)
I've been thinking about maple body and walnut top, while the middle block in the neck being walnut/wenge/etc darker wood. Rosewood fingerboard?
Throw some ideas :3


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## signalgrey (Jun 22, 2012)

ash body
Rosewood neck or Goncalo Alves neck
Ebony Board


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## HighPotency (Jun 22, 2012)

Quality of wood > type of wood in my opinion.


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## Necromagnon (Jun 22, 2012)

+1

I'll had: what you can find, the price, the look.
You can have a really awfull maple body with walnut top....


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## Pat_tct (Jun 22, 2012)

I do like the sound and low weight of swamp ash with a one piece birdseye maple neck with ebony fretboard. a nice top to it, maple would be fine and a matching headstock


For the birdseye maple neck: you really need to get a good quality piece


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## Dayn (Jun 22, 2012)

I've only ever dealt with basswood bodies, maple necks, and rosewood fingerboards. All low quality on one guitar... another with medium-quality woods... and another with high-quality woods (though a 5pc maple neck with wenge strips). Sure, it's standard, it's unadventurous, but with my 808Xs it gives me the perfect sound to sculpt.

I'd only change it perhaps for an ebony fingerboard, or a thin stained maple top, purely for looks.


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## supercolio (Jun 22, 2012)

Thanks for the tips&stuff.


HighPotency said:


> Quality of wood > type of wood in my opinion.


^ gotta agree on that one. The place I'm going sells all sorts hardwoods, so I'm expecting a wide range of Quality there.

I'd love to have an ebony fingerboard, but since ebony is almost extinct, I deny myself from using it.

Keep it coming guys :3


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## Necromagnon (Jun 22, 2012)

supercolio said:


> I'd love to have an ebony fingerboard, but since ebony is almost extinct, I deny myself from using it.


You know, a lot of species is in way of extinction, in fact. And it's not a matter of luthiery, but of mass exploitation.
I guess everybody knows it here.

For example, a friend is professional wood worker, and is actually working for an hospital. He told me they use awesome black limba lumber to make wedges to prevent chairs from touching walls... 

About the sound of woods... My true opinion, and I've already expressed that, is that it's like trying to fuck flies... I will do, when I've the time, two exactly similar guitars, one made purely of mahogany, and one other of maple. Then, I'll make a blind test.


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## USMarine75 (Jun 22, 2012)

HighPotency said:


> Quality of wood > type of wood in my opinion.


 
This! There's good wood and bad wood (insert joke hear) even in the same species. My Ibanez JPM P4 has a (boring) basswood body, but sounds a million times better than any RG I've heard, even my JEMs that have basswood. I'm sure the rosewood fingerboards they use are higher quality on the JEM and JPM than they are on a lower model. Rosewood especially has varying species and quality that greatly affects the price.

And you don't want mismatched woods and pickups that will kill your tone either. I would do a little research and try to match the woods for the tone you want, as well as the aesthetic appeal you are looking for.

For example I love birdseye maple necks and fingerboards, but if you want a smooth creamy tone you probably don't want that tonewood, as maple tends to be bright/snappy. But, if you put that on a mahogany body it would cancel out a lot of that tone from the neck.

Warmoth Custom Guitar Parts - Custom bass and guitar bodies and necks

^ good starting reference for neck/body tonewoods IMO


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## supercolio (Jun 22, 2012)

USMarine75 said:


> And you don't want mismatched woods and pickups that will kill your tone either. I would do a little research and try to match the woods for the tone you want, as well as the aesthetic appeal you are looking for.


First, thanks Marine for the nice post  And about that, I've done some research about tones of different woods. I've read that mahoangy is not the best wood for extended range guitars because the muddy bottom end, but that could be compensated with a maple top (brighter sounding?). That's why I'm thinking about maple; nice and bright tone. Well, I'll read that guide and see what I'll learn


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## supercolio (Jun 22, 2012)

Necromagnon said:


> For example, a friend is professional wood worker, and is actually working for an hospital. He told me they use awesome black limba lumber to make wedges to prevent chairs from touching walls...


And what a hell! Insane


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## Navid (Jun 22, 2012)

supercolio said:


> [...]I've done some research about tones of different woods. I've read that mahoangy is not the best wood for extended range guitars because the muddy bottom end, but that could be compensated with a maple top (brighter sounding?). That's why I'm thinking about maple; nice and bright tone.



My custom 727 is african mahogany/african mahogany/indian rosewood and i love playing clean with it. 
Just chose the most beautiful woods you can afford and do not forget to show us your shopping cart!
I always buy the cheapest quality woods available.


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## Speculum Speculorum (Jun 22, 2012)

I like mahogany guitars with maple tops
I like ebony fretboards
I like all kinds of neck woods


I, personally, believe that your wood option does play a part in the tone of the guitar. Could you imagine a Les Paul style guitar made out of swamp ash? I have a hard time believing it would sound the same as a traditional mahogany one. 

I know for a fact that putting an all-macassar ebony neck/fretboard on my strat changed the tone of my guitar - it actually became more rich, but has a different envelope to the attack of the than when it had a maple/rosewood combo. It also emphasizes higher partials and 

It's really a mix of every factor that goes into the instrument. The construction type, pickup choices, string choice, pick choice, bridge choice - they all make a difference in the overall tone of the instrument.

For example - I'm not a big fan of the tone that Floyd Rose bridges impart. A lot of dudes might say I'm nuts for it, but I feel it deadens the tone of an instrument. Then again, I remember having a conversation with a guy who asked me why I didn't use Clayton picks because he loved the way they felt, and when I told him they had a "waxy" sound he looked at me like I was from Mars. Perhaps I'm just a weirdo.


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## luthierjules (Jun 22, 2012)

You've got some pretty good suggestions up there! ^^

I'd like to add that if you want to keep your ecological footprint to be the lowest possible, choose your main woods considering those that grew in your country first, and then find exotic hardwoods to create some contrast.

Better yet, if you find some interesting finnish maple or cherry or (I don't know if they grow in your region) dark walnut, you'd already have a pretty interesting color palette to chose from 

And best of all, you'll notice that the woods the guys suggest most tend to be the hardest with the smallest pores. Choosing according to this aspect of the wood will give you longer sustain and better vibration transmission through your guitar.

Now, go and show us what treasures you have found!!


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## Necromagnon (Jun 22, 2012)

Speculum Speculorum said:


> Could you imagine a Les Paul style guitar made out of swamp ash? I have a hard time believing it would sound the same as a traditional mahogany one.


I can do more than just imagine it. 
Les Paul Voodoo Review | Gibson | Electric Guitars | Reviews @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com



Speculum Speculorum said:


> It's really a mix of every factor that goes into the instrument. The construction type, pickup choices, string choice, pick choice, bridge choice - they all make a difference in the overall tone of the instrument.


That's the point. And if you make a quantitative analysis of the influence of every parameters, I'd guess (and I don't affirm anything) that wood would be on the least influensive parameters. If lutheiry is perfect, hardware from the highest end, pick ups as close as you want in terms of tones, etc., you can choose every wood you want, the tone would change so lightly that I'm not sure you could notice the difference.
It's like with stradivarius violins. Every body says they sound extraordinary, but blind test to vilon player between high end luthier violin and a stradivarius choses that they can't say which one sounds better.

I trully believe that, to hear a difference, you have to use a huge amount of this wood. I mean, if you want to hear the tonal influence of mahogany, your guitar as to be full body mahogany, and maybe neck.
Saying that I will take a top of that wood to have this influence, a body of this one to have this sound, etc... No.



Speculum Speculorum said:


> For example - I'm not a big fan of the tone that Floyd Rose bridges impart. A lot of dudes might say I'm nuts for it, but I feel it deadens the tone of an instrument. Then again, I remember having a conversation with a guy who asked me why I didn't use Clayton picks because he loved the way they felt, and when I told him they had a "waxy" sound he looked at me like I was from Mars. Perhaps I'm just a weirdo.


I agree. Bridges have a direct influence on the sound, much more important than wood, it's clear.

And I agree with luthierjules. You could use european walnut (that can be really goergous, I got one OM set of flamed european walnut...  ), spruce, sycamore, cherry, and I don't know others that could work great.


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## supercolio (Jun 22, 2012)

Thanks a lot guys! Reading this sort of relased me from this tension of considering the tonal properties of a certain wood over the looks. Now I'll just make up a budget and wait till moday (damn midsummer holidays ) and see what I'll find 
You can still post your favourite combinations if you wish 

E: And of course I will show you guys what I'll find!


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## brector (Jun 22, 2012)

supercolio said:


> I've read that mahoangy is not the best wood for extended range guitars because the muddy bottom end, but that could be compensated with a maple top (brighter sounding?).



A few of us have all mahogany DC800's and none of them sound muddy (from the clips I have heard). But I think that has to do with the quality of lumber again

-Brian


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## Necromagnon (Jun 22, 2012)

supercolio said:


> Thanks a lot guys! Reading this sort of relased me from this tension of considering the tonal properties of a certain wood over the looks. Now I'll just make up a budget and wait till moday (damn midsummer holidays ) and see what I'll find
> You can still post your favourite combinations if you wish
> 
> E: And of course I will show you guys what I'll find!


Take pics also of the (wood) stock they have! I like being hurt!


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## leonardo7 (Jun 22, 2012)

Honestly its gonna depend upon if it will be neck through or not neck through. Which is it going to be?


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## supercolio (Jun 22, 2012)

leonardo7 said:


> Honestly its gonna depend upon if it will be neck through or not neck through. Which is it going to be?


Neck-through all the way 



Necromagnon said:


> Take pics also of the (wood) stock they have! I like being hurt!


Haha  I will ^^
The place's called Woodim and apparently you can browse their site in english!  Oy Woodim Finland Ltd


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## Konfyouzd (Jun 22, 2012)

Whatever looks nice together. That's how I roll... 

But the guitars I own tend to be mahogany, basswood or alder bodied w maple/wenge necks, maple boards and quilted caps.


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## TankJon666 (Jun 22, 2012)

supercolio said:


> First, thanks Marine for the nice post  And about that, I've done some research about tones of different woods. I've read that mahoangy is not the best wood for extended range guitars because the muddy bottom end, but that could be compensated with a maple top (brighter sounding?). That's why I'm thinking about maple; nice and bright tone. Well, I'll read that guide and see what I'll learn


The 7 string guitar I just built has a mahogany body with a wenge neck and ebony fretboard. Its a 27.5" scale too. Doesn't sound muddy at all I have to say.
My 25.5" Viper 7 string has a mahogany body with a maple neck and rosewood fretboard and sounds super tight!

I would also say that whether you get muddiness or not has alot to do with pickup selection too! And obviously amp EQ'ing etc...


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## leonardo7 (Jun 22, 2012)

Do maple/wenge neck, swamp ash wings, walnut top, and ebony fretboard. Lots of balance between heavy/dense/lows and brightness


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## supercolio (Jun 22, 2012)

leonardo7 said:


> Do maple/wenge neck, swamp ash wings, walnut top, and ebony fretboard. Lots of balance between heavy/dense/lows and brightness


Oh man oh boy that sounds attractive!  Not sure about swamp ash though, mahoangy might be good too.


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## bob123 (Jun 22, 2012)




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## leonardo7 (Jun 22, 2012)

supercolio said:


> Oh man oh boy that sounds attractive!  Not sure about swamp ash though, mahoangy might be good too.



Yes mahogany would be good too. The maple neck and ebony fretboard would add the high end/brightness/sizzle, that would be the foundation of your tone. Mahogany will fight that and give it some full blown deep low end while the walnut top is supposed to add more lows like the mahogany. I recommended swamp ash cause of the walnut top. But mahogany will work as well, might have more mids and more lows with the mahogany instead of swamp ash. Thats just what Ive gathered from my own experience and from what Ive read.


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## supercolio (Jun 22, 2012)

leonardo7 said:


> Yes mahogany would be good too. The maple neck and ebony fretboard would add the high end/brightness/sizzle, that would be the foundation of your tone. Mahogany will fight that and give it some full blown deep low end while the walnut top is supposed to add more lows like the mahogany. I recommended swamp ash cause of the walnut top. But mahogany will work as well, might have more mids and more lows with the mahogany instead of swamp ash. Thats just what Ive gathered from my own experience and from what Ive read.


Allright! Thanks for the tips. What about a maple top, in case I can't find a nice piece of walnut? That would give it a bit too much high end, wouldn't it?  Mahogany wings and maple top. Classic.


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## leonardo7 (Jun 22, 2012)

supercolio said:


> Allright! Thanks for the tips. What about a maple top, in case I can't find a nice piece of walnut? That would give it a bit too much high end, wouldn't it?  Mahogany wings and maple top. Classic.



If you do a thick carved maple top then it will give it lots of high end. I personally dont like too thick of maple tops cause it just brightens the tone too much for me. If I want a bright tone then Id go with alder wings or as I said swamp ash but swamp ash doesnt have mids, just tight as fuck lows and gorgeous highs. If you use a maple top as well as maple neck thru then Id recommend using some warm wood for the wings no doubt and in the neck like mahogany stripe or some other warmer wood for the stripes. Walnut stripes?


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## supercolio (Jun 22, 2012)

leonardo7 said:


> Walnut stripes?


A real possibility. 

Mahogany wings, mahogany-walnut-mahogany or maple-mahogany-maple neck and a nice curly maple top. Awesome! 

E: Two edits. Damn I need sleep.
E: 3rd >_> Maple-walnut-maple neck. Perioid.


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## Necromagnon (Jun 22, 2012)

leonardo7 said:


> Yes mahogany would be good too. The maple neck and ebony fretboard would add the high end/brightness/sizzle, that would be the foundation of your tone. Mahogany will fight that and give it some full blown deep low end while the walnut top is supposed to add more lows like the mahogany. I recommended swamp ash cause of the walnut top. But mahogany will work as well, might have more mids and more lows with the mahogany instead of swamp ash. Thats just what Ive gathered from my own experience and from what Ive read.


So, if I do a laminated body of mahogany, ash, walnut, maple, wenge, and ebony, I will have a clear deep low dense high mid sound?

So why don't everyone do this?!

Can someone advance a scientific proof of the sound influence of the fretboard, seriously?


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## mwcarl (Jun 22, 2012)

Why wouldn't the fretboard affect the sound? It's one of the closest parts of the guitar to the strings, it makes perfect sense that it has an affect on the tone.

In addition to looking for a good resonant piece of wood, for the neck you'll want to pay attention to the grain orientation.


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## Speculum Speculorum (Jun 22, 2012)

The fretboard does play a roll in how the guitar sounds - but it seems to have more to do with the attack envelope of the instrument. People say maple tends to have more of a snap to it (twangy even). Ebony is a crisp attack with a smooth but decay leaving behind more harmonic material, and rosewood has a less pronounced attack and a gradual decay with more fundamental. Or I'm full of shit.


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## Jake (Jun 22, 2012)

I like mahogany bodies and necks like my ESP was that was probably the best i've had. But mahogany body and maple neck hasnt failed me yet either.


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## ras1988 (Jun 23, 2012)

My favorite combo has been lightweight resonant body wood with good mid emphasis, dense/rigid neck, ebony board, and brighter top. As for the particular recipe that I went with a light weight mahogany body, rosewood multilam neck, Macassar ebony board, and a maple top. I feel the characteristics (rigidity, weight, and resonance) of the wood and the combo/construction play more of a role than the specific species that get thrown around in there.


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## Navid (Jun 23, 2012)

This is starting to be another "wood/tone debate" kind of thread.
BRB Bringing pop corns.


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## Necromagnon (Jun 23, 2012)

mwcarl said:


> Why wouldn't the fretboard affect the sound? It's one of the closest parts of the guitar to the strings, it makes perfect sense that it has an affect on the tone.


Or maybe because it represent at least 5% of the total wood quantity in the guitar?



mwcarl said:


> In addition to looking for a good resonant piece of wood, for the neck you'll want to pay attention to the grain orientation.


Or maybe just because you can't find tree with enough diameter to obtain a neck with perpendicular grain...

Everybody seems to agree that wood is very important, blabla. So can someone tell me why japan made 80's guitar sounds 10 times better than a lot of middle/high end modern guitars, while they're laminated bodies?
Just sayin'...

But as I said, if someone can bring a real proof (I mean more than is personal feelings that are completely biased by the room, the amp, the finger, the mood at the day, the taste, and tons of other parameters), I would agree with this opinion.


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## supercolio (Jun 23, 2012)

Navid said:


> BRB Bringing pop corns.


Bring some to me too!

Now back to the subject;
I believe that combining too many woods will make the sound too complicated/rich so that it sounds like shit. I prefer more straightforward approach to woods.

This is what I want atm:

Mahogany wings, maple-walnut-wenge-walnut-maple neck (surprise!! 5-piece neck!), ebony fretboard (since everybody wants to use it, it can't be all bad) and thin figured maple top, for looks and a bit for sound. 
Oh that's not so simple approach either... Fff-  .. well, as long as it works. 

Sounds good, right?


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## Necromagnon (Jun 23, 2012)

supercolio said:


> I believe that combining too many woods will make the sound too complicated/rich so that it sounds like shit. I prefer more straightforward approach to woods.


I don't think so. My 8 str is mahogany body, bubinga top, niangon (don't know the english word for this wood) with wenge stripes in the neck, and cocobolo fingerboard. As there's a lot of mahogany and niangon (which a cousin of mahogany), it would sound rich and warm. It sounds very clear, very powerfull, very heavy. Just because the pickups are very powerfull, in fact...

For your choice of woods, very classic, but you can't go wrong with this choice.


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## supercolio (Jun 23, 2012)

Necromagnon said:


> Everybody seems to agree that wood is very important, blabla. So can someone tell me why japan made 80's guitar sounds 10 times better than a lot of middle/high end modern guitars, while they're laminated bodies?
> Just sayin'...


In the end, it all comes down to how the body (whatever it is) resonates. Perhaps those laminated bodies just resonate well, and that affects sound. 
I'm not saying that wood -> tone. Pickups and tuners and saddles and bridges and electronics and amps and players and cables and tubes and elements and room size and of god the listeners ear determines what guitar sounds awesome!

/endofrant 

E:


Necromagnon said:


> For your choice of woods, very classic, but you can't go wrong with this choice.



Thanks


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## Necromagnon (Jun 23, 2012)

supercolio said:


> I'm not saying that wood -> tone. Pickups and tuners and saddles and bridges and electronics and amps and players and cables and tubes and elements and room size and of god the listeners ear determines what guitar sounds awesome!
> 
> /endofrant


That's exactly what I'm trying to say. People want to adjust the sound of the guitar with the thing that affect the least the tone. I cannot understand.


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## supercolio (Jun 23, 2012)

Necromagnon said:


> That's exactly what I'm trying to say. People want to adjust the sound of the guitar with the thing that affect the least the tone. I cannot understand.


It might have something to do with a mental side of the builder; if one uses exotic woods one might feel the instrument sounds better. But it is a fact different bodywoods sound different; telecaster's alder body and les paul's mahogany... This is too complicated subject


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## Sirppi (Jun 23, 2012)

I'm pretty sure you'll find what you are looking for from Woodim, just measure how wide you need the top to be and find a piece of wood large enough for a bookmatch. While your there, bring me some wenge/walnut/bubinga please? :3 By the way, ebony fingerboard from Korpi Instruments is 67&#8364; planed and slotted. Eww.

E: Tell me when you're ordering from Korpi, I'll order my fingerboard too.


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## supercolio (Jun 23, 2012)

Sirppi said:


> Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
> ...Tell me when you're ordering from Korpi, I'll order my fingerboard too.


Will do!


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## mwcarl (Jun 23, 2012)

Necromagnon said:


> Or maybe because it represent at least 5% of the total wood quantity in the guitar?



Sigh. I'm not arguing that wood has a huge effect on the tone. But the degree to which a component affects the tone isn't because it makes up less percent of the guitar. Otherwise the bridge, frets and nut wouldn't do basically anything for the sound. And trust me, those three things have a huge effect on what a guitar sounds like.


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## drenz (Jun 23, 2012)

swamp ash bodies with maple necks is what i prefer, and what most luthiers seem to think works best, so i'll go with that


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## eddiewarlock (Jun 24, 2012)

i think this is all about trends.


About 5 years ago, i didn't see that many people choosing ash over mahogany for instance...


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## supercolio (Jun 25, 2012)

Yes, I got (some) of the wood today. Pics soon. So awesome! (And we forgot one plank to the warehouse. Fail).


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