Official Luthiers Forum!

Has anyone here ever used Camphor Burl for back and sides? Sure is a gorgeous wood!!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

burls are very difficult to bend due to their grain and run-out nature. I have see a couple done but the sides were not near as burled as the back.MichaelP39001.5731828704

Yup... I was worried about that!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I wouldn't do that. It would look great on an electric, but I would not try that on an acoustic.

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

Would make a nice headstock overlay, end graft, and rosette.

Al

I nearly bought some billets from a wood dealer that were beautiful, but as some said....bending sides would be highly risky. It's expensive wood too, so that brings a lot more risk.
It also adds a certain sense of resposibility to the seller of the wood to support the customer with some understanding of the wood's properties. And what if they broke a side, where would you get a new set?

Yikes! Not me...

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"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."

If the wood looks that nice, it would be a shame you could not build with it.
Don, You could sell it with a disclaimer or "only to be used for Dreds" or someting!
I wonder how much other nice figured wood never makes it to back and sides because they are "too risky" to bend?

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

I have seen some amazing sets for back/sides over at Gilmer Wood. My
suggestion would be to first ask Marc @ Gilmer what he thinks about it as
a tonewood - he is extremely knowledgeable about such things. If it is
potential, then I would laminate the sides. Thin them down to about
0.04" and bend carefully - and laminate to another hardwood. Man oh
man, would that be a killer looking guitar.

SimonF39001.8690625

Simon,
What wood would you use as the backing laminate?
Would you bend the two together or seperate?

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

Wade,
I have never laminated sides yet - but I know that it is very common
practice for high-end classicals. I personally would use a very stable
wood like mahogany for the inner laminate. And I think I would bend
them separately on a Fox style bender. 0.040" is like thick purfling and
you know how easy it is to get that stuff to the shape you want - it
obviously requires a bit of effort and maybe making a special jig but it
shouldn't be too difficult. I certainly think that it is very feasible to bend
the burl if it is thin.

I was actually thinking about buying a camphor burl back and side billet
set from Gilmer Wood but have over extended my wood buying budget as
of late. I personally would make sure to ask Marc @ GIlmer what he
thinks - he is very honest and can tell you if it is going to be a good
tonewood or just be a visual piece only. I personally wouldn't bother
unless the acoustic potential is there - because the stuff is going to ultra-
expensive.

--
SimonSimonF39001.8687615741

I have built romantic period guitars (pre-Torres) that were burl veneer (sawn) for the outside laminated to spruce or Italian poplar for the inside as there are historic models in which this was done. Even with the burl layer veneer thickness it can be still very unstable. Often small section of burl would suddenly decide that they did not like being curved around a bout and would start to protrude. Because the only structural bond is the glueline itself, if the onderlay moved then burl would move double.

The look can be fabulous but the stability will almost always be an issue.

I have twice used camphor burl in particular on a guitar, once as a headstock and tie block inlay and once as pickguard veneer for a small #0 in which I laminated it between black fiber and a clear .003 plastic sheet. It was stable only because it was sealed for all other atmospheric influences.