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So how does spalting effect the guitars strength? Would you use backs or sides that have some spalting in them? I know its a stupid question but I am a wood moron

I'm not a wood expert but I BELIEVE spalting is a fungus that attacks the wood. If caught in the early stages, it doesn't effect the strength of the wood at all. If caught too late, the wood becomes punky and soft. However, you can soak it in epoxy and have a perfectly acceptable piece of wood. I've used it on backs and sides and liked it quite a bit. I say go for it.

When evaluating a peice ov spaulted wood, it all comes dowm to how spaulted is it. If the wood os caught at the right time you can find nice colors while still retaining strength. However wood that has gone too far in the process will be too soft to use. I've used some really soft but colorful wood for rosettes as Paul said a little CA hardens it quite well.

Al

    Much of the spalted wood that we see has spent some time on or close to the ground. The fungus that causes the spalting can create some beautiful patterns and color contrasts in woods that would typically never be seen in them otherwise. I llike spalting that is more radical and offers the most effect of the fungus.

    I've always said that my favorite spalted pieces are those that were harvested just in time before they got too punky and soft.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

Kevin makes a very good point. The very best spalted wood comes from standing dead trees where the wood fiber moisture content lowers gradually without contact with other soil fungus. Technically, "spalted" means the incipient stage or beginning of natural fiber decay. As we know, it's result can be nice colors or black zonal lines showing the advancing fungus zones. Once wood fiber softens it has passed out of the spalted stage into moderate or advanced decay stage. If your "spalted" wood is soft and punky it ain't spalted...just rotted

I've made attempts to induce spalt spores in maple by sanding good spalt wood and making a slurry pasted on the solid wood but have never achieved good success regardless of methods. There are at least two fungus species (that I know for sure) responsible for spalting and they require certain moisture levels, oxygen levels, temps and some carbohydrates (sap wood) to get started proper. I never achieved a happy environment for my "starters" apparently and decided spalt (like gold) is where you find it.

Spalt spores and fungus do not die when removed from weather elements, but just go dormant. They will reactivate when sufficient moisture is added back to the wood.

Here is one of the finest examples ive ever seen.

Paul McGill

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

There's spalting and then there's spalting...

The type of spalting that is actually carried by the tree's system while the
tree is alive and standing produces nicely-defined dark lines similar to
the McGill guitar pictured above and is the stuff most people find
attractive.
I sure do....

It's produced by a diseased crotch (ouch) or major injury to the tree, and
then spread throughout the tree...

The other type of spalting occurs when you leave a log laying on it's side
out in the forest for a year or so. The type of spalting produces "faded"
looking lines that are less dramatic, but still pretty cool....

You can induce "good" spalting in maple by cutting the tree into 24" and
36" sections (for backs and sides), and standing them on end in a shady
forest. The tree's system will carry the spalt throughout the tree much as
it would if it was alive....

Mill one up every once and awhile to see what you've got, and when
you're happy mill 'em all....

[QUOTE=spruce] There's spalting and then there's spalting...

The type of spalting that is actually carried by the tree's system while the
tree is alive and standing produces nicely-defined dark lines similar to
the McGill guitar pictured above and is the stuff most people find
attractive.
I sure do....

It's produced by a diseased crotch (ouch) or major injury to the tree, and
then spread throughout the tree...

The other type of spalting occurs when you leave a log laying on it's side
out in the forest for a year or so. The type of spalting produces "faded"
looking lines that are less dramatic, but still pretty cool....

You can induce "good" spalting in maple by cutting the tree into 24" and
36" sections (for backs and sides), and standing them on end in a shady
forest. The tree's system will carry the spalt throughout the tree much as
it would if it was alive....

Mill one up every once and awhile to see what you've got, and when
you're happy mill 'em all....[/QUOTE]

Spruce, can you provide some research links that define TWO distinct forms of spalting? Spalting cannot occur if wood fiber is not in the decay state. Pigment stains such as that caused by the Ambrosia beetle in "ambrosia maple" don't count as spalting. Sure one can find some true spalting in a standing live tree, but only in a dead section that is cut off from normal fluid movements.

Wish it was as easy as you describe to artificially produce spalt.. but it isn't so....not to say spalt couldn't happen of course, but if so we'd be overrun with spalt farms. Frankly most sapwood passes thru the spalt stage quickly and into the rot stage producing no remarkable or zonal lines.

Larry,
A few years ago fellow brought me some maple that he had sawn. Most of it was 5/4 and had been cut that morning. Brother stacked and covered it up for me because I had to go to work.

I didn't think anymore about it until about 4 months later. When I uncovered it I saw it had not been stickered and figured it was all ruined. I unstacked it and found that just about all the lumber had spalted and none was punky(rotten).

This may have been just a fluke that happened, but being stacked fresh cut without stickering certainly caused this to spault.

[QUOTE=D.L.Huskey] Larry,
A few years ago fellow brought me some maple that he had sawn. Most of it was 5/4 and had been cut that morning. Brother stacked and covered it up for me because I had to go to work.

I didn't think anymore about it until about 4 months later. When I uncovered it I saw it had not been stickered and figured it was all ruined. I unstacked it and found that just about all the lumber had spalted and none was punky(rotten).

This may have been just a fluke that happened, but being stacked fresh cut without stickering certainly caused this to spault.[/QUOTE]

Yep..that's how it would happen. Spalting is where you find it. Stickering would prevent spalting and mold from forming. Stacking wet, fresh cut wood tight can also induce mold which would only discolor the sapwood. Mold is not the same fungus that causes spalting. I'm still on vacation in Ohio, but if I had access to my library I'd post the fungus names responsible for spalting. For me, I find great pleasure in discovering some high grade spalting hidden in otherwise regular appearing timbers. I'm a sucker for buying great spalt wood. Right now I'm looking at a flitched log of Masur birch...high figure and high quality spalt for acrylized knife handles and fingerboards ..$50.00 board foot. I've plenty of great Masur birch, but have never seen spalted before and I need this bad....REAL BAD (typed with shaky hands) .

"Spruce, can you provide some research links that define TWO distinct
forms of spalting?"

No.   

That's just my limited experience...

We've all seen maple logs that have been sitting in logyards for w-aaay
too long. Those logs tend to produce that "fuzzy" spalt I mentioned...

But if you take that same log and cut it into short lengths and stand them
up on the ground covered with sawdust on the ends, you can produce
that defined spalting...

Or at least I was able to the 4 or 5 times I tried it....

I dunno...
Try it....

"I'm a sucker for buying great spalt wood."

I think it's a lot more common than we might think.
I know many figured maples were dumped because they only had a
3" ring of white wood, and the rest spalted...

I love good spalt over fiddleback, but a lot of those trees didn't make
it out of the forest...

Gotta ask, guys...does spalting carry any extra respiratory dangers in its dust?

More than likely.

Al

Quite likely spores, yes.