Newbie question - WOOD???

try www.galleryhardwoods.com

Larry is the man.

 

Agree with Ron. +1 for Gallery... They have hooked me up with some nice stuff in the past.

Bill

 

http://www.gilmerwood.com/Default.htm

 

nwtimber.com

 

Thanks for posting that site Ron. They have a couple of stock flat woods that would really be worth me looking at. Of course, who would know more about finding great woods than you. Just look at your guitars. You da man Ron.

 

Good luck. Post back when you have some pics.

 

+1 on gilmer wood. They have some killer one piece mahogany and limba body blanks.

 

Spalted Maple is a really tough material to work with. If you haven't worked with it before you may want to go with the quilt. You're going to have to learn enough in this process as it is.

 

While I am not an "experienced luthier", I am an experierenced woodworker. I build mostly furniture, but am in the process of building a couple of guitars. They are LP style with mahogany backs and maple tops. It is not hard to cap the maple onto the mahogany. A couple of suggestions:
- If your top is more than one piece (ex bookmatched) you need to joint the edge before glueing the two halves together. This will ensure a very tight seam. Let dry for at least 8 hours.
- Determine the centerlines on the block of mahogany and maple.
- Apply a decent amount of glue to the mahogany. I normally use Titebond and then spread it around evenly with a putty knife.
- Place the maple top on the mahogany and line up the centerlines.
- Clamp the boards together using C clamps, bar clamps, or whatever else you have. Let dry for at least 8 hours (I usually let it dry overnight).

The amount of carve you want would help to define the thickness of the top. To do a LP you could probably get away with .5" top, if you wanted it more like a PRS you'd probably need a topy that is somewhere between .75" and 1".

Hope that helps.