there's also this method http://loadproject.blogspot.com/search/label/tutorials...
i sometimes use it in addition to the traditionnal offset thing...
pix plant is also a good plug
and there are lots of tips on the cg textures website ( tutorials section )
have fun

thanks...
very useful stuff.

thanks for sharing these models...
didn't know this Noguchi piece.

if you scroll down to the laminate top you have a choice of different wood species and by clicking on the guitar body shape it opens a new window ( around 600*875 / jpeg...pretty decent for most renders...
about the tiling... it's usually a bookmatched top so it's not made for tileable wood patterns but rather for fine cabinetry or stuff like that...

for fancy woods, warmoth has some nice guitar tops and fingerboards on their website...
here's an example :
http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Options/LPCarvedChambered.aspx[url][/url]

you may find something useful here :
http://www.cgtextures.com/
(under roofing / thatched)
raw pics / no seamless textures tho ...

great artistic render ( I like the soft feel of it ) and thanks for the PS screenshot
now we want more pics....

were different people involved in these renders ? ( I guess so but not sure ...)
anyway...again ...great renders

great renderings ( especially the 3rd one which makes me curious about the process involved ...)
and yes ...what do these unknown icons do ??? ( are there some rubies we don't know about ?)
btw : tried to visit the sketchupbbs board wothout much success ...

great presentation...love the details
curious too about how long did it take to model this ?