Binding Choices for body, neck, and headstock

[bluesman67]

I placed an order last summer for Green Mountain guitar, it's finally underway and the top is being worked on.

Sloped Dreadnaught
Top   Italian Spruce Bearclaw
Sides   Black walnut
Back   Black walnut
Neck width at the nut   1 3/4" left handed
Neck wood   Mahogany  12 FRETS TO THE NECK
Head cap   Walnut
Head cap binding   Maple
Tuning machines   Grover Sta-tites 18:1 open back
Nut   Bone left handed
Finger board   Ebony
Finger board binding   Maple
Finger board inlay   MOP, 12th fret marker custom
Side dots   Left handed, black dot
Heel cap   Maple ebony maple ebony
Back stripe   Ebony maple ebony maple ebony
Vertical strips   mahogany
Kerfing   mahogany
Neck and tail block   mahogany
Butt wedge   Ebony maple ebony
Body binding   maple
Top purfling   b/w/b
Back purfling   ebony
Rosette       Custom Walnut
Bridge      Ebony, left handed
Sound Port   Klingon, left handed

Scale length   25 11/32"

Left Handed Sloped dread with wedge  5 ¼" to 4 3/8" depth, 4 3/8" where your arm rests.

Tonal Characteristics
Some boom, lots of headroom to drive real hard but also very responsive to
the lightest touch, mahogany-like tone with some more overtones than you
would typically hear from mahogany.

[JOYCEfromNS]

I luv Maple anything. It just has the snap!!!!!!!

[norton]

Must be the way I was brought up, but nothing beats plastic as far as I'm concerned.  Or Ivoroid - call it whatever you like.  Yellowed white on an old Gibson.  Black on most of the rest.  Tortoise next to mahogany is as good as it gets for me.

[teh]

I didn't vote because I agree with Norton.

For durability, bolatron (plastic) is hard to beat and my 33 year old D-35 has some serious mojo on the binding because of the yellowing by from the aging process. 

While I love the maple binding on my flamed maple parlor and my mahogany 12 string, the proof will be in the pudding in 25 or 30 years. I would also like to have a wood rosette instead of abalone.

[Mr_LV19E]

It would depend on the body wood.

[bluesman67]

It would depend on the body wood.

Black Walnut and Italian Spruce top.

[dermot]

i would avoid Braz or any other wood that is a CITIES issue... i voted for koa, as long as it's flamed or figured.. sets off a medium to dark colored wood very well.

[L1D1]

Ivoroid (organic resin) not boltaron (plastic) as the former ages nicely alongside the top. Its classic while wood bindings are too classy...make sense ..?

2nd choice Herringbone.

[AZLiberty]

Light cream top, chocolate colored sides.  I think rosewood or another reddish wood would clash a bit.  I'd want a black or brown tonal palate.  I picked Blackwood, but Koa, or stripped ebony would look good I think.

Actually stripped ebony would be my first choice.

[Mr_LV19E]

I picked Rosewood, just seemed like it would have a uniqueness.

[fongie]

I agree with Norton and teh, I've grown to like the look of the plastic, especially the black on my LV-04E 

[Zohn]

Purple heart or Snakewood will look stunning on a dark back&sides guitar.

[naboz]

Zohn, exactly my thought; purpleheart w/ that dark walnut would give a "rich" glow...maybe with a black/purp. heart/black purfling (fine line on the black)--snakewood nice too!

[naboz]

...then again, I just noticed you already have an ebony/maple back stripe and end, so that might be best for a continuity of design element.  I like a light/dark contrast for accents anywhere, but they have to have a sense of continuity.  That walnut is a great pallette to start with (and I really want to own a cedar/walnut guitar)!
Ahhhh, if I could special order...

[bluesman67]

Going with flamed maple for all bindings!  Thanks for the votes of confidence!

I am starting a new thread that will cover this guitar build from start to finish for anyone who would like to follow pics of a custom guitar in the making.