Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello Everyone,

I have heard padauk changes from bright red to a more brown color as it ages. Anyone got a picture of an aged guitar or back and side set?

Thanks.

Jeff

Your a day to late. I had a Padauk dread in the shop Firday that I built about 7 years ago. It has not changed color since I finished it. It's a deep dried blood red, not brown at all.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

I don't have a pic but in the "Martin Guitar Masterpieces" book, martin built a 3 piece back with a center wedge of padauk. It was aged, still looked very red to me.

Thanks guys. That is good to know. I have a set I want to use soon, and had read that it would rippen to a darker brown. If it will stay red, that is great. I am just trying to think of a binding that will tie in with the red color. I might choose something different if it changed from red to brown.

Thanks again.

Jeff

Tim,
If you don't mind me asking, What sealer and finish did you use on the Padauk?

Daniel.

Hi guys,

I have a guitar with padauk back & sides that was made for me in 1981. It has turned a lovely brown slowly over time. It was quite red at first but lost that intensity over about two to three years, and started very slowly turning. To be fair, I seldom kept it in it's case so ambient sunlight (UV) I think is the culprit here.

This guitar has curly maple binding & that works well with almost any color back & sides. Jeff, you might consider the same for longterm binding color-appropriateness. It is finished in nitro & the pore filler (large pores) is a very dark brown. The particular grain pattern of this padauk is fairly pronounced for the species so it looks really nice - even at a medium light brown.

I'd never heard of padauk in 1981 but trusted the luthier to choose appropriately. I was lucky.

Skip

Skip,
I have heard that the solvent based finishes contribute to, or are the cause of the color change of padauk. (That was the reason for me asking Tim about his finish.)
I always thought that UV light was the culprit.

I have a few sets of padauk, and like Jeff would like to know about the changing of the colors.

Jeff, it will be affected by UV light, but if kept in the case, the color will remain as this guitar has:



By the way, it has black pore filler, and the binding scheme is Purpleheart w/ one fine strip of holly for a purfling line. This may be too much color for you, but it was something I just had to get out of my system by doing.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

[QUOTE=D.L.Huskey] Tim,
If you don't mind me asking, What sealer and finish did you use on the Padauk?

Daniel.[/QUOTE]
Shellac and Nitro. I used curly maple bindings and you must keep an eye on the nitro as it can leach red color out of the Paudauk and bleed onto lighter woods. It may have been where the shellac was scuff sanded through though???

_________________
tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Thanks Tim for that information, I will keep it in mind.

Daniel

Thanks again Everyone.

Steve, beautiful guitar! Looks like it has a padauk neck too?! Nice.

I think I will go with maple binding. That will work even if it does turn color.

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. Yes, the neck is padauk w/ purpleheart. Quite heavy, but the sustain is to die for.

The maple binding will look fine--great in fact. Good choice. Get some w/ lots of zoot!

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com