unfinished body woods

[e_chord]

So I'm having too much fun working on my first build that I'm thinking about what to do for a second.  I was curious if there are body woods that don't require a finish similar to how wenge or padauk don't require finish as a neck wood? 

 

[Cagey]

That would be all of them, really. The reason to finish some woods used for necks is because they respond to humidity and can change geometry, which may make them unplayable. With bodies, you probably wouldn't care so much. If one were to warp or twist at all it's likely to be little enough that you may not even notice, let alone suffer any effect on playability.

The downside to an unfinished body would be more along the lines of how grungy they can get. Raw wood doesn't clean very easily, and guitar bodies are subjected to all sorts of sweat and body oil, dead skin cells, beer/wine, slobber, dirt, hooker dust, etc.

 

[line6man]

There is a reason that no one does raw bodies, and that reason is that they look horrible. You get grey wood and funky stains almost instantly.

If you don't want poly, try an oil finish.

 

[dmraco]

Rosewood is the only one I would risk it with.  But it would still be prone to the aforementioned oil marks etc.