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Hi all
My first question ever, an it wont be my last.
I’ve been doing a bit of trawling for materials and came across this.
What is it and is there any of our sponsors stock it.
Hope yer holdin up with the weather out there folks
a’ the best Geordie

_________________
some tunes on acoustic and guitar synth.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGeordieAdams
http://www.myspace.com/geordieadams

Hi Geordie.

It could be way too many things to be able for us to identify it for you. It's obviously figured wood, but that doesn't help at all. It actually makes it more difficult! Even having the wood on hand, it would be hard to ID it.

FWIW, I've seen figured Mahogany and figured Makore that looked like this a lot.

Browse around this site, maybe you'll find something similar: http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/ ... xtotal.htm

Good luck!

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

It really reminds me of Ancient Kauri.

Not the best pics but its probably aningere or one of the satin woods.

Joel.

to be honest these could be any woods displaying that kind of figure.

the top one does have the kind of color of some maple's or it could be makore, cherry, or even a pinkish wood like gaboon of another cheap mahogany-a-like.
the bottom one has bright yellow hugh on my computer hence the aningere or satin wood geuse but it could be yellow siris or one of the mahogany,s again or anything else for that matter its impossable to tell from the pics in this case i think.

if its the figure your after then you have a plethera of woods to choose from.
vist bob c,s website (rc tonewoods) or if you want to buy closer to home give me a call i have quite a few figured woods that may well please the eye as well as make a fine guitar,
i have some bee's wing cylon satin wood that looks mighty simalar to the bottom pic.
Joel.

I agree with Sammy.

It also reminds me of this Bubinga.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

it could be a lot of things. picture way to small and too tight of a sample to identify

hi all
many thanks for your input.
Apologies for the size o’ the pics. I’d just cut a wee section as a reminder but found the originals.
I think this is very beautiful stuff.
heading say’s Balkan maple for cello. I’d never have guessed it.
thanks again
Geordie

_________________
some tunes on acoustic and guitar synth.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGeordieAdams
http://www.myspace.com/geordieadams

Geordie, whatever that is, it's beautiful.
Buy it!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

That is amazing maple....

hi all
thanks Sam & Steve good call, the figure is not known to me but it seems to be of the quilt type but on a large scale.
It also looks like its been left in the light for some time.
I have seen something very simmilar figure effect and it was on/in a piece of wait for it ----
Silver Fir ????? from the Alps and was an ivory/ cream shade!.
Does it (the effect) have a name or maple of this type? does anyone have any ideas?
I want some.
Geordie
PS. oops just notices verhoevenc identifyed it a few replys ago - well done.

_________________
some tunes on acoustic and guitar synth.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGeordieAdams
http://www.myspace.com/geordieadams

The figure is very typical of or euro maple or sycamore as we like to call in the uk.

that set would be an average graded set becouse the flame is not even how we like to see it and would set you back about £45 for a guitar set.

that wood from the larger pic is air dried bosnian maple which has been used for many years for violins and is considered the best european sycamore you can get (but good old scottish sycamore is one of my faves).
you can tell its air dried by the color.
sycamore has to be harvested between october and march when the sap is at its lowest otherwise it goes a sort of brownish grey color as the sunlight attacks the sugers in wood.
when it is air dried in the manner violin tonewood suppliers dry it can take on this golden hue.

but in general sycamore is prefered as white as possable and i would be unhappy with a batch that was discolored that much.

also i think the pic may have been touched up a bit to add that color to give the impression that the stock is very old air dreid stock (which it may well be).

in sycamore we look for even figure like this.



but kind of like the more iregular flame you get in peices like the peice in your pic.
by the way that pic is a violin set an ill not yeild a guitar set.

Joel.

Hi Joel,
I think Geordie say this wood is for a cello which measures somewhere around 30" X 17 3/4"

_________________
"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

sorry my mistake but it would still not yeild a guitar set.
A, you would not get your sides out of it and B, the set will be tapered from about 1/2" -2" thick which would make alot of wastage if you were to try to resaw it for guitars.
the sahpe of the billet would cuase all sorts of hassle.

also a set like that for a cello would probably be excess of €300 which would put me off a little.
you have to be very carfull buying wood like this with the idea of resawing as you can end up loosing money in the long run.

basicaly he was asking if any of the sponsers supply this wood and i am repling by saying yes i do and i am quite local.

Joel.

hi all
To clarify it’s not cello wedges I’m after it’s the visual effect of the maple and did any of our vastly experienced sponsors have a name for it?, that's all.
what I’m seeing in them that I think Sam and Steve and I find so attractive in them is not the traditional lateral flame / tiger stripe / fiddle back call it what you will, as depicted in your excellent sample Joel. It is the diagonal (to each half) light and dark sheen as I say above is like a quilt or wave effect but on a large (relatively to flame) scale.
There are a few flames in there and in a perfect luthiers world I would rather they weren't present, just the subtle diagonal “wave”. Now Jole if you have any of this
The pictures are from an old and respected specialised violin family tonewood suppliers, air dried and about five years old but Jole I think you are right the pictures have been taken with to much light / flash or altered but it gives an indication of what different finish could bring out in them.
Sam and Steve please correct me if I am misrepresenting either of you here.
Jole if you supply me with "average £45" timber I'll have some.
yours Geordie

_________________
some tunes on acoustic and guitar synth.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGeordieAdams
http://www.myspace.com/geordieadams

Geordie,

No misrepresenting here!! I agree with every word!

Aesthetically I happen to far prefer the irregular pattern in the wood pictured earlier in the thread; it happens to be the most beautiful wood I have seen! If it is a suitable instrument wood, that's even better.

Whether it makes a good guitar is a more important matter.

I think that there is alot to be said peices with figure that is not "perfect" and in fact nature is not perfect in itself so it can throw up the most beutyfull natural creations in the likes of of figured maple and the such.

I have found that quite often when people pick through my piles of sycamore (great maple) they find the irregular peices the most pleasing to the eye.

i would love it if this was the case all the time but many people will only except the typical figure and color.

if people were more excepting i could offer some wonderfull high figure sycamore that has discolored to a pinkish brown color for as little as £5 a set.
but the fact is people wont buy it even at that price becouse it does not conform to what they are told they should expect from a given species or figure type.

for example the set below is has some really pretty figure but its uneven and the grain on set is not 100% streight also it has a band of discolor.
for this reason i will sell it for £25 instaed of nearly £80 for the first set.

apart from that it is quarter sawn and will make a stunning om or smaller guitar.



here is a close up of the figure,




i think the figure on the set you have displayed above is two types of figure on top each other.
the first is a diagonal deep curl that is simalar to ribon figure on mahogany of sort and the second figure is standard tight curl but very sparce and irregular.
these combine to create a another type of figure all together.
you get this alot with satin wood and sometimes walnut, mahogany and cocobolo we call it bees wing figure and its the result of two contrasting figures in top of each other.

It one of natures anomaly,s and all the more beutyfull and rare becouse of it IMHO.

If you want figure like this i suggest you buy from the mid grades and pick through stocks in person if you can becouse this type of figure is allmost impossable to photo.

any of the uk suppliers and some our own sponsers can supply this for you and i encourage you to shop around to the peice that is right fro your prodject.

I hope this has explained how we go about gradeing sycamore and at least awnsered your origonal questions.
Sorry for the rant,

Joel.