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Hello from Tasmania, Question i would like to receive comments from all Luthiers that have used any Tasmanian Timbers for Tone Woods, as i have been exporting small amounts of lumber for resawing but within the coming months i hope to be set up for doing the whole business here at the source selecting the best Tasmanian Timbers and doing the resawing of finished sets working with a close friend who is a well know Luthier, so any comments from anyone that has used our Timbers, likes, dislike's,Ect, would be much appreciated, regards Bob.  http://www.tasmaniantimbers.com.au

Hi Bob,

I have used quite a bit of Tasmanian wood although I do not know if your were the original source.  I think that some of the other TAZ species that are unique would be attractive to luthiers.  Silver Wattle, Blackheart Sassafras, Tasmanian Myrtle, Huon Pine (for flamenco), Cheesewood (for bindings and purfling) and others are all great woods that few see in North America.  While it is great to have killer blackwood sets, I know how much more scarse they are becoming and by introducing other woods that are native to Tasmania it would help you to differentiate as well as build demand for alternative woods beyond blackwood.

The two people in your part of the world that I have bought Tasmanian wood from are Tim Spittle of Australian Tonewoods (an OLF sponsor here) and Barry Kerr, a guitar builder in Hamilton, Victoria

Hi Shawn,

there is a lot of Timbers here in Tasmania that can be used by Luthiers, a have done alot of research over the years and realize the resource of some of the Timbers used in the past are now becoming rare and things have to change before its too late,

Timbers here so far i have found through comments from past customers are, Myrtle,Sassafrass, Blackwood, Silver Wattle member of Blackwood Family that is Acacia, Koa is also a member of the same family in fact one of my customers tells me our Blackwood has a better Tone than Koa, other Timbers are Native Olive, Celery Top, King Billy, Huon Pine, Eucalyptus, and as you were saying Cheesewood, a problem with a few species, Cheesewood, Native Olive, Ect, it is now hard to find Large Trees, Luthiers might have to start use'ing 3 or 4 Piece Backs even Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars has made this comment, as for your comment about high figured sets been Killers in looks i agree but high Figure is rare but good Dark colour Blackwood is beautiful, also White Sasafrass changes to a beautiful Golden Colour as well as Celery Top, i will post more news soon, best wishes Bob.

 G'Day Rick,

 Dont worry i am listening to what you are saying, i know i could not make a living from just the drop dead highly figured material as there is not enough of it, but as for good dark Blackwood this is not a problem, i am off out within the next hour to visit one of my sawmill contacts who i work with to organize some samples, and within the comeing weeks i will be doing a few trips around the State so that i can have everything in one place for you, i am very much looking forward to meeting you, regards Bob.[QUOTE=Rick Turner]I'm going to meet up with Burlman Bob in a few weeks. I'll report in on what we cook up. One of the things that I've been stressing to Bob is the need to not just have the totally bling stuff, but also to find just plain nice tonewood...alternatives to mahogany and Indian rosewood. Sure, the crazy, beautiful figured stuff gets a lot of attention, but there's a real need to find ordinary alternatives, too.   It seems to me that even the most plain Tassie blackwood is going to look nicer than ordinary mahogany, and at harder, it's going to lend a little bit more of a rosewood flavor to the tone.[/QUOTE]