Cabinet Wood Sources - EL34 members, NorCal lumber yards, Online retailers

[owen]

Looking for anyone that has a good US wood source willing to ship flatpacked/pre-cut to length boards (or mills around Northern California) to chime in.

I’ve been to 4 local lumber yards this week; and have struck out on straight, clean boards. I’ve also ordered from 3 lumber mills and have received unworkable wood. hoping for recommendations of known suppliers.

If there are any EL34 forum members to work with on this directly, I would absolutely love that.

[shooter]

Could anyone suggest

around Northern California

Surf up, woodshops, mills, custom board cuts.
here in farm country there's 1 largish sawmill, 2 locals with log size bandsaws that I know of.

[owen]

Could anyone suggest

around Northern California

Surf up, woodshops, mills, custom board cuts.
here in farm country there's 1 largish sawmill, 2 locals with log size bandsaws that I know of.

I'll keep looking. I've placed small orders from 3 lumber mills around the west side of the country and received really awful wood (warped 2/4 walnut that was split in several places, alder that effectively crumbled, and some worm-ridden pine) makes me a bit leery.

[echuta13]

I'm in SoCal and this shop is local to me, but they do ship, and I've been very happy with the quality of the Baltic birch and basswood I've bought from them.https://www.cherokeewood.com/

[acheld]

You will laugh, but I usually get my best (eg, straight) pine boards from the Home Despot.  Can't imagine why that would be so, but there it is.

I will say that I have been transitioning to Baltic Birch.  That stuff is usually straight as an arrow and very predictable.  A bit of a pain if you're going to use dovetails.   I've sourced that locally, but also online at woodcraft.com and Rockler.com.

For more exotic stuff, these guys are great (if they have what you want) https://americanspecialtyhardwoods.com

Chris

[mresistor]

Home Depot is where I got my last pine board for a cabinet.  I had to sort through a bunch of them to find a good specimen worthy of a ride in my truck. But there it was. 


The poplar boards they had were very nice but not the price.

[acheld]

poplar boards they had were very nice but not the price.

How is poplar in a cabinet?  I'm looking for (some semblance of ) tone, reasonable strength and lowish weight.

[sluckey]

Popular is considered a secondary wood in the furniture business. Good for hidden drawer sides, etc. Soft, easy to work, usually true grain (little warpage), very paintable, but not very strong and durable. I have no clue about tone, but it's relatively cheap so if it had a good tone, I would expect to see it used more in amp construction.

[mresistor]

I haven't used it because the price was on the high side - but it is used in the guitar industry and I have three Music Man Sub 1's that have poplar bodies..  they are wood that is light in color and have some fairly nice grain and they weigh in a little heavier than alder.  It's  true that some species of poplar are softer.  I really like my Subs and they sound as good as any strat I've played but that might not be because of the body wood. They seem resonant though as I can feel the string vibrations through the body. I have routed out middle pickup cavities on all three guitars and this particular poplar was about like alder to the router bit.

[mresistor]

This is like the poplar I was looking at..    https://sutherlands.com/products/item/8465767/northwest-hardwoods-select-poplar-board-cw-1x6-8-ft


Here's a speaker cab made from poplar..   (scroll down)   https://reverb.com/item/193535-b-custom-cabs-1x12-custom-guitar-speaker-cab-solid-poplar-natural-finish

[mwelch55]

I have never used poplar for speaker cabinets, but I agree with mresistor, that poplar makes a good guitar body.  I have two guitars with poplar bodies and it seems to my ears that they are about the same as an alder guitar to me as far a tone.

[owen]

I'm in SoCal and this shop is local to me, but they do ship, and I've been very happy with the quality of the Baltic birch and basswood I've bought from them.https://www.cherokeewood.com/

I added them to my list but hadn’t tried yet. Thank you! I’ll give them a buzz.

[owen]

You will laugh, but I usually get my best (eg, straight) pine boards from the Home Despot.  Can't imagine why that would be so, but there it is.

I will say that I have been transitioning to Baltic Birch.  That stuff is usually straight as an arrow and very predictable.  A bit of a pain if you're going to use dovetails.   I've sourced that locally, but also online at woodcraft.com and Rockler.com.

For more exotic stuff, these guys are great (if they have what you want) https://americanspecialtyhardwoods.com

Chris

cheers! I try HD and Lowes every time I’m there. Never any luck of dry, clear pine locally.

i’ll check that link for some of my finish pieces I’ll need. teak is the current hunt ($$$$$).

[owen]

This is like the poplar I was looking at..    https://sutherlands.com/products/item/8465767/northwest-hardwoods-select-poplar-board-cw-1x6-8-ft


Here's a speaker cab made from poplar..   (scroll down)   https://reverb.com/item/193535-b-custom-cabs-1x12-custom-guitar-speaker-cab-solid-poplar-natural-finish

I have some GOOD poplar that is nice, dry, dark, almost mahogany look. currently building a cabinet with it. I’ll do a pine one (when I find some) in the exact same config for comparison.

I saw that guy’s cabinet, but can’t find anyone else using it.

i love poplar for guitars, cheap and sounds as good as my alder fenders.

[Blueboozer]

I use curleymaple.com and bellforestproducts.com for a lot of projects.