Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi-

I have a set of the very highly figured Sapele that most all of us are familiar with because of the Zootman. The quilting is so intense that it looks like it has veins running through the wood.

My question is, what is the origin of these sets? Is this wood from a one-of-a-kind tree like the famous quilted Honduran mahogany tree from Belize simply called "The Tree" or does Sapele occasionally have this type of figure? Zootman, are you out there?

Thanks-

John Lewis38982.9373842593

_________________
John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Woo hoo hoo John, now that's what i call nice!

I believe there was one really big log that was brought into the country a few years back that all that stuff came from. There's been more quilt sapele, but not like that. That was a *very special* tree. We may never see more like it again, but maybe so. Who knows?

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I've heard the one log story several times in my search for the stuff. I've acquired a couple billets that should yield 4 or 5 OM sets, another OM set, and a dread set....and that's after hours and hours of searching.

Andrew

True .. most of it (the stuff that looks like worm holes as I call it) came from one log. Same as the wild quilted bubinga thats around. It was one log from a German mill a couple years ago. Local shop here bought a lot of it, in fact, LMI bought some from him.

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

John as far as I know the wood was from one log. I bought some from 2 differant suppliers. One in the US and the other in Canada. Not having the forsight or the cash I passed on buying a lot more.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

I have one set that I'm planning to hold until years from now, when someone is seeking to have a guitar made from the legendary log and there's almost none left.

Speaking of famous logs, one well-known builder who I respect said he looked at a set of mahogany from "The Tree" (clearly there was a big lapse in marketing with the sapele; you need a memorable name, or a least a couple of letters for a name, if you want to create a famous log. Elsewise, people have to resort to a long description instead of just naming it. Remember this if you ever want to create demand for a particular plank of wood) . . . where was I . . . oh, this builder said it was the rubberiest mahogany he ever had his hands on and he wouldn't build from it.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Meaning the tree was rubbery?

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I bought some Quilted Sapele a while ago, do you guys think this is high figure or common-place stuff?

Thanks,
Greg
GregG38983.6490625

_________________
Gwaltney Guitars

Try this again, hopefully a picture shows up. Just wondering if this piece of Quilted Sapele is unique or common?

_________________
Gwaltney Guitars

I would say that you have a nice set - probably better than what's readily available anywhere right now - but not exceptional.

There are some sets with more pronounced veining or a very uniform, deep "bubble" look throughout that I would consider to be superior.

Here's a set that I think is about as good as it gets:



Andrew

I've been watching those - they had 3 and are now down to 1. I love the stuff, but I just can't bring myself to spend $750 on a set.

Andrew