Brazilian Walnut – Sawn – Guitar Body – 50×360×600

Imbuia (Brazilian Walnut) guitar body blank. 50×360×600mm. Dense, fragrant Brazilian hardwood with chocolate-brown heartwood and caramel streaks. From a parcel purchased before 1990 — Imbuia is no longer imported. Sold per piece.

The most distinctive-smelling body timber on the bench. Imbuia — Ocotea porosa — also called Brazilian Walnut, milled to electric body dimensions from a parcel Adrian purchased before 1990. Imbuia is no longer imported into Australia. Won’t be coming through again at this size.

What it is. A dense southern-Brazilian hardwood with chocolate-brown heartwood, caramel streaks, and a warm spicy scent when worked. Heavier through the section than the everyday mahogany trade, with grain that ranges from straight to softly wavy depending on the cut. Listed on the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable (VU).

What you’d make with it at 50×360×600mm.

• Single-piece electric body — Strat, Tele, Les Paul, double-cut profiles all template within the envelope
• Carved-top body where the colour and figure carry the visual weight
• Bass body for a player who wants real mass and a darker tonal floor
• Hollow or chambered build where Imbuia’s density is balanced by routed cavities

Working notes

• Density: ~755 kg/m³ — expect a Les Paul-weight body or heavier
• Hardness: ~4.6 kN Janka — firm under the gouge, holds carved-top detail well
• Grain: Straight to wavy, fine texture — finishes near-glassy with minimal grain fill
• Surface: Supplied rough-sawn — dress one face true before templating
• Working: Machines cleanly with carbide; carves under sharp gouges. Natural oils suit oil and lacquer finishes
• Finishing: Oil deepens the chocolate tones — Rustins Danish oil for a hand-rubbed result; nitro or poly work well over a thin sanding-sealer base

What luthiers say about it. The Brazilian guitar trade has long held Imbuia as a body timber that lands between walnut and mahogany — denser than mahogany, warmer than ash, with a midrange focus often compared to vintage rosewood-bodied archtops.

The stack it came from. Imbuia is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and no longer enters the Australian timber trade. What’s on this listing is older inventory Adrian purchased before 1990 and held back for the build that would do it justice. We’re not restocking this. Once it goes, the listing closes.

References. Species reference: Ocotea porosa — Wikipedia. Browse more: our Imbuia Brazilian Walnut stock.