Originally posted by joe scalene
is the wood used in the whole guitar affect its sound? im thinking of using a plywood and mahogany.. im making my own pick-ups. what kind of magnets does tele uses? i want the common one

Wood has some huge effects on the sound. You don't want to use plywood and your average tele is not made from mahogany (that's more commonly used in LPs). Teles are usually made with a maple neck, maple or rosewood fretboard, and an ash or alder body. Making your own pickups is a difficult process, you'll probably save money, time, and have a better finished product ordering from a separate company such as DiMarzio.

Brief wood stuffs using my poor skills of description-
-maple: hard wood, brighter
-alder: vintage, light wood
-mahogany: darker sound, middish
-basswood: even tonal balance but it's soft
-rosewood: stiff fretboard material also used for the back and sides of some classical guitars. This has a few varieties including Indian and Brazilian, all of which have some very significant differences.
plywood: used in $20 souvenier guitars sold in Mexico to tourists who don't know a fret from a bridge
-ash: vintage rockish