Scavenger Music reclaimed timber specialist.

Scavenger

Hi,
my name is Dom and I make guitars and basses from reclaimed timber, notably from old pianos.
It's a long story but in a nutshell : I have worked in musical instrument manufacture, repair , retail and performance for 30 years. Last year I relocated to Dorset and started to hone what had been a hobby into what I hope will be a viable business. I'd been working in a shop that sold pianos and thought it was a shame when a piano was scrapped , had a brief meeting with a sledge hammer it was then thrown into a skip.
So far I've concentrated on classic designs but I have plans for original shapes and styles. At the moment I'm building a new workshop (until now I've been working in half of my mother's garden shed) but when it's complete I'll get back to guitar making and post some build diaries here. 
Although I've always owned a guitar I was primarily bass player until I accidentally became lead guitarist in a glam punk band in 2019

Please check out my website and facebook page (some old build diaries on facebook) links in my profile.
Dom

WezV

I like the recycling idea.   

It would be great to see some pics of the whole process from Piano to guitar(s)

Scavenger

WezV said:

I like the recycling idea.   

It would be great to see some pics of the whole process from Piano to guitar(s)

It's all there on my facebook page and as soon as I've finished building my workshop I'll post a build diary here.
https://www.facebook.com/Scavenger-Music-697594160378026/photos

Scavenger

Not exactly a build diary but my talented and tolerant partner Jenni has bee busy working out how to turn old car seat belts into straps.
(The tartan one is mine  )

Rocker

Welcome onboard.  I wish you good luck with your new venture.

EricTheWeary

Welcome. 
I've no idea what wood pianos were built from, there was one in our house growing up and in the end I think my parents had to pay someone to scrap it. There was certainly a fair amount of wood plus all the strings and the iron frame. 
I somewhat doubt that the keyboard was actual ebony and ivory. Inlays made from reclaimed piano keys? 

Scavenger

Hi everyone , thanks for taking a look.
The majority of pianos are made from poplar with various veneers. It's fine for bodies but not quite as hard as I'd like for necks. I read somewhere that Danelectro use poplar but for what parts I don't know. You do occasionally get oak , beech , walnut and other unknown timbers that I reserve for necks.
If your piano was made pre 1930 the likelihood us that the white keys had ivory tops , the black keys are pretty much always ebony , you do get stained wood of bacolite on cheaper pianos. I use ebony for dot markers but not ivory. I just think it looks better in an elephant's mouth no matter how old it is. Old ivories are still used to patch up restored pianos so they aren't thrown away. 

Scavenger

I'm still halfway through moving workshop so a full build be diary will have to wait. This is a super Strat I've been working on in odd moments during the workshop build. It's made from 100 year old poplar. This is the first step in creating an oil finish, the transformation is satisfying the watch.
(Fingers crossed that the link works ...)

Scavenger

Fretboard smorgasbord!

I've been preparing some wood for fretboards , all salvaged from old pianos, mostly 100+ years old.

From left to right:

Beech , so far I've made necks but not tried it as a fretboard , similar feel to maple.

Walnut , nice dark colour , similar to rosewood when finished. I have a dark walnut neck in production too.

Oak , a bit unforgiving to work with due to it's course grain but necks and fretboards have a good solid feel.

Mahogany, from a very old piano, this is at least 200 years old , this would have come across the Atlantic in a sailing ship.

AntonHunter

Thanks for posting these, it all looks great! 

Scavenger

AntonHunter said:

Thanks for posting these, it all looks great! 

Thanks for your encouragement 
I've had a busy afternoon working on the neck, oak with walnut fretboard. frets in, levelled , crowned and polished despite my Dremel giving up in the heat!

Scavenger

I'm trading at a small festival next month and working on a couple of simple stock guitars. Just completed this super  strat , all made from 100 year old piano wood. Poplar body with mahogany veneer stripe, oak neck with walnut fretboard.
https://flic.kr/p/2mdfpEm
https://flic.kr/p/2mdboSW
https://flic.kr/p/2mdaiAd
https://flic.kr/p/2mddZZS
https://flic.kr/p/2mde1ar
https://flic.kr/p/2mdfqyR

Scavenger

More stock , tele neck made from walnut with an oak fretboard and ebony front dots all 100 years old. I like to leave the original distressed french polish finish on the back of the headstock and heel to show that the wood had a former life.



The ebony for the front dots is from black piano keys turned on a lathe, 6mm for guitars , 8mm for basses. I have made side dots too but not again, turning brittle ebony down to 2mm is more trouble that it's worth.

ToneControl

could you make electric harps from the metal frames that the strings are stretched across?

Scavenger

ToneControl said:

could you make electric harps from the metal frames that the strings are stretched across?

Yes , as long as the player doesn't mind lugging 100kg of cast iron to gigs!

ToneControl

Scavenger said:

ToneControl said:

could you make electric harps from the metal frames that the strings are stretched across?

Yes , as long as the player doesn't mind lugging 100kg of cast iron to gigs!

LOL

I've seen a lot of sample sets of treated pianos, etc. with strings being struck with all sorts of things
Just wondered if someone would want one mounted vertically on a wall

Scavenger

ToneControl said:

Scavenger said:

ToneControl said:

could you make electric harps from the metal frames that the strings are stretched across?

Yes , as long as the player doesn't mind lugging 100kg of cast iron to gigs!

LOL

I've seen a lot of sample sets of treated pianos, etc. with strings being struck with all sorts of things
Just wondered if someone would want one mounted vertically on a wall

If someone asked me to do it I would (for a price) I just take the wooden bits I need and the frames are traded in for scrap.

Teyeplayer

Scavenger said:

I really like how these woods contrast the usual expectation of guitarists and yet clearly look so right together. There’s real character and history in the hand there -love it! 

Dare I ask what a neck like this would cost?

Scavenger

Teyeplayer said:

Scavenger said:

I really like how these woods contrast the usual expectation of guitarists and yet clearly look so right together. There’s real character and history in the hand there -love it! 

Dare I ask what a neck like this would cost?

Teyeplayer said:

Scavenger said:

I really like how these woods contrast the usual expectation of guitarists and yet clearly look so right together. There’s real character and history in the hand there -love it! 

Dare I ask what a neck like this would cost?

I've never been asked just for a neck so I'd have to cost it and get back to you. This neck is for my personal/demo model tele but the grand piano lid that provided the walnut has enough left for another 15-20 like that.
My guitars start at £550 

Teyeplayer

Thanks @Scavenger I’ll pm you.

Scavenger

The neck installed on it's body, apart from the volume and tone knobs all the timber is reclaimed from old pianos and likely to be at least 100 years old.