There are many web sites that have been helpful to me in many ways in developing my knowledge of guitar building and web-related technologies. I am grateful for the efforts of the people who developed the how-to-do-it guides, reference material, graphics files, and all the other things that I have found useful, and wish to express my thanks.  This web page is a list of many of these helpful web sites--I am sure that you will find them as useful and educational as I have.

• Parts & Supplies for Guitars and Basses 
• About Maples used in Guitar Building

The following are links to some of the online sellers of tonewoods, parts, electronics, and tools that I have found useful. I'll be adding more to the list as I think of them.

• Guitarwoods - Bob Tibbetts is a supplier of tonewoods for acoustic guitars and mandolins. I recently bought some "Inside the box" woods for my first acoustic guitar project, and the quality of the materials and the service were excellent.
• Luthier's Mercantile International - A major supplier of tonewoods, tools, and supplies for the acoustic guitar builder. They do have some solid body stuff as well. Located in Healdsburg, CA., they also host a guitar festival every two years.
• Stewart-MacDonald - A major supplier of parts and supplies for solid body and acoustic instruments, as well as the best selection of tools for guitar builders I have seen.
• Warmoth - A maker of bodies and necks for solid-body instruments, Warmoth also has a selection of wood, parts and electronics, as well as tools. They also make custom pickguards.

• AllParts - Another place to go when you can't find it anywhere else. They sell everything from bodies and necks for solid-body instruments to parts for building your own pickups.
• WD Music - One of the broadest selections of parts for solid body instruments. They have some stuff I can't get anywhere else, and everything I've ordered from them (which is A LOT) has been excellent quality.
• Guitar Parts Online - When I first encountered this site, it was www.guitarpartsonline.com. Then it was TNT Guitars. Now it's www.guitarpartsonline.com again. Whatever the name, they are an excellent source of parts for solid-body guitars. Primary claim to fame: they have great prices on MighyMite parts, which I find to be good to excellent stuff for the money.
• Guitar Electronics - The best selection of electronics parts and pickups I've found so far--they carry all Bartolini, Seymour Duncan, and Fender among others. They also have an online library of wiring diagrams for all styles of electric guitars and basses.
• Stewart-MacDonald - A major supplier of parts and supplies for solid body and acoustic instruments, as well as the best selection of tools for guitar builders I have seen.
• Luthier's Mercantile International - A major supplier of tonewoods, tools, and supplies for the acoustic guitar builder. They do have some solid body stuff as well. Located in Healdsburg, CA., they also host a guitar festival every two years. Their white luthier's glue is excellent.
• Ebay Resources - a list of parts and tonewood suppliers on Ebay that I do regular business with.

• Mr. Gearhead - This is Fender's technical support website. They have a library of layout diagrams and wiring diagrams for all the instruments in their product line.
• Guitar Electronics - The best selection of electronics parts and pickups I've found so far--they carry all Bartolini, Seymour Duncan, and Fender among others. They also have an online library of wiring diagrams for all styles of electric guitars and basses.
• Frets.com - "The Owner's Manual That Didn't Come With Your Guitar." Extensive information on maintaining and taking care of your guitar. Building guidance and advice from an expert. A section for guitar builders too.

Upright and Double Basses

• Bass Café - seller of fine acoustic upright basses in the Phoenix AZ area.
• Bruce Sexauer - seller of new and used upright basses in Northern California. Bruce also is an expert in the setup and repair of upright basses, and he builds acoustic guitars as well.
• Bob Gollihur - A seller of upright basses, upright bass parts, and strings in New Jersey. His website has lots of good information on all kinds of basses too.

Reviews and Other Information on Musical Instruments

• Harmony Central - for reviews, test reports, and other information on all sorts of musical instruments
• MyGuitarWorkshop - Lessons and other resources for guitar players

Here are some cool websites for links to anything you can think of related to bass guitars and acoustic (upright) basses:

http://www.electricbass.com

http://www.electricbass.com/classifieds/classifieds.cgi

www.basslinks.com

Click to join SFBayAcousticGuitar

Here's a description of the American varieties of maple used by luthiers and their characteristics:

Hard Rock Maple (Sugar Maple, acer saccharum): hard, strong, generally straight-grained, but can have a tight curly figure or birdseye figure. It is considered to be the best for use in electric guitar and bass necks. Most luthiers will say this the ONLY maple that one should use for these applications. I have used this maple a lot in the building of electric instruments. Birdseye maple is quite popular as a fingerboard material for electric instruments.

Western Bigleaf Maple (Soft Maple, Acer Macrophyllum): softer, lighter weight, but flame, tiger, and quilt figure are common in this species. The figure in this variety can be spectacular, so it is used as book matched tops on solid body instruments, and as back and sides on acoustic instruments as well. Also to make sides, backs, and necks for the violin family and mandolins. Can have spectacular spalting in fallen or cut trees, caused by fungi that invade the wood to begin the decaying process, and the spalted pieces are also in demand among electric instrument builders.

Red Maple (Acer Rubrum): Another species that is often referred to as "Soft Maple," this species can have spectacular curly or tiger figure, but I have found it to be closer to hard maple in strength and stability than the other soft maple varieties. I've used it for necks on one electric bass, one electric guitar, and one electric upright bass - it performed well on all three instruments. The wood tends to be whiter in color than Hard (Sugar) maple. Most commonly used for book matched tops on electric instruments and as backs and sides on acoustic instruments.

Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum): Another "soft maple" not commonly used in Luthiery, but I've heard that, like Bigleaf Maple, it can have spectacular figure. The figured pieces should be useful for electric instruments as book matched tops, and as backs and sides for acoustic instruments, but I have no personal experience with this species. I've also heard that it is the least resistant to rot and insect infestations of the species I've discussed here.