Official Luthiers Forum!

[QUOTE=John K]Dave you might as well come to North Carolina while you're in the car.[/QUOTE]

Might do that sometime John. We have a condo in Tennessee that probably wouldn'e be to far of a drive from you.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

That guitar looks a treat - I bet she sounds fantastic too!
Cheers
Charliewood

Nice work John, Steve and Craig. I too have been waiting in anticipation after hearing about this collaborative effort. It was definitely worth the wait. Another great guitar.   

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Spectacular. Just jaw-dropping.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Way to go guys, that's really fine looking. I love that rosette!!

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Thanks guys. Your approval means a lot to both of us.

Craig...You know I am a pearl addict brother. Especially when you cut it.

John

Very Very Nice
A true collectors item....an original

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Let me voice my gratitude again, fellas.
You really are a kind lot.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Very Nice guys!

Mike

What a masterfully crafted guitar; to do this job between two people is harder than an invididual working on it.

[QUOTE=John K]

Paul that is a pretty cool idea. I really would like to do an Australian guitar. What kind of top wood do they have there? Anything that's hard enough for a fingerboard or bridge.

[/QUOTE]

John

Top woods that we have here in Australia would be King William Pine, Bunya Pine, Huon Pine or you could do a Blackwood top.

Maton , the largest factory here in Australia, are using some Bunya but a mate of mine who worked there didn't have particularly complimentary things to say about it. I've never used it so that's only heresay and a personal opinion.

There's plenty of hard wood for fingerboards and saddles. Some of these are harder than Ebony.

Cooktown Ironwood (called Red Ebony locally)
Mulga
Gidgee
Jarrah
Wandoo
Myrtle
Blackwood
Beefwood

I'm sure if Tim Spittle sees this he'll chime in, and he'd be you man to supply any of these timbers.

Cheers

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia

Sorry for chiming in late here. Absolutely beautifully and tastefully executed. It's not east to blend spectacular tonewood with inlay and have the two compliment each other -- John, Craig and Steve -- you've certainly done it here.

I see another rosette to plagarize

John, Steve recently told me that he taught you everything you know about guitar building, tell me it isn't true.

It Isn't True!
There, I've said it. (Disregard that man behind the curtain, bro.)
Actually, John taught me everything I know.

Thanks for the kind words Anthony, even if you stirred the pot a bit!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

thanks Anthony

Steve taught me all the good stuff. The rest I learned on my own.

Bob
   If you had to pick a top wood from the list you gave as being the best for sound, which would it be?

John

Steve/John,

My apologies it was a lame attempt at humour gone bad. I too have a brother and the sibling rivalry is one that is always nice to put a match too

Wow, that really is beautiful, I love the rosette...very nice!

Greg

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Gwaltney Guitars

Hesh I really do not remember the exact date. Seems like Steve and I have been noodling at this for some time now. I think about 35 years of so. Off and on. I quit building for a while and then got back on it strong. I do appreciate your kind remarks

Greg that rosette was Steve's creation.

Anthony, it was a good straight line for a snappy come back but I could not think of one. That's a real shame when you have all day to think about it.

King William Pine or King Billy as we call it here.

Peter Coombe is a Mando builder here who has used it a lot.

He has a page on his website here where he discusses some of the native timbers and how he uses them.

It might be worth an email to him.

Cheers

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia

Also King Billy has a weight of around 400 kg/cu.m and a hardness of 1.8 to 2.

Western Red Cedar is 380 kg/cu.m / hardness 1.5.

Englemann 440 kg/cu.m / hardness 2.0

So it sits in between Cedar and Englemann.

Don't sneeze around it.

Cheers

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia

Thanks Bob
   I like the sound of those king billy numbers. Cedar and englemann both have been good to me. What is your recommendation on how to go about acquiring these woods. Tim Spittle?
   Of the body woods you mentioned, which has the most ringing taptones?

John

Bob, I just realized you were listing fingerboard woods not body woods. So of those candidates for fingerboards, which are the darkest?

And do you have a list of good body woods?

TIA

John

I believe Tim has King Billy in stock John and he would be the person to talk to about tonal qualities.

I had some about 20 years ago but never built with it so I really can't comment.

Cheers

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia

Have a look at Tim's website John.

Australian Acoustic Tonewoods

I think there are some pictures of some of these woods on there.

There is also a link to Tonewood data which gives some interesting information on weights and hardness of these timbers compared with traditional tonewoods.

A lot of the fingerboard and bridge woods are hardwoods from Western Australia (which is predominantly desert) so they have very little moisture content even when green and are quite a bit harder than ebony.

As for body woods you really can't go past Blackwood or Myrtle. I have been talking to Tim about Native Olive which is from Tasmania. He compares it to Honduran Rosewood tonally so I'm keen to get my hands on some of that.

He also has some Eucalyptus delegatensis, which is known here as Tasmanian Oak or Victorian Ash which is also promising.

Blackheart Sassafras may be OK. A little softer than Blackwood but visually stunning.



Queensland Maple has been a staple of Maton Guitars here for backs, sides and necks for a number of years.
Looks and sounds like mahogany.

Cheesewood would be good for bindings. It looks like ivoroid. I've just got some curly Jarrah which we're going to use for bindings and this may be OK for backs and sides too.

Hope this all helps.

Cheers

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia