Official Luthiers Forum!

Just wondering if anyone has used jatoba as a back and side wood? It is also known as Brazillian Cherry and maybe a few other things. I'm considering this for my next build -- deep bodied 00. Curious to hear of any experiences, good or bad. Thanks in advance.

_________________
Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Bruce Sexauer has used it and seems to like it. I bought a couple sets from him but have not tried it. It looks very much like honduran mahogany but that is about as far as the similarity goes. It seems much more rosewood like in tap and flex. To my senses, pretty hard and stiff, may be a tough one to bend but I'm gonna give it a go one of these days.

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

John--

Thank you for the response. I think that I will try to find an 00/classical set to use.

_________________
Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

I built an SJ with it - fairly tight waist and no problems bending in a light bulb bender. The guitar had a cedar top and definitly had a more rosewood than mahogany sound. I was very happy with it, and the Jatoba was easy to work with.

                   Peace, Paul

curious if anyone has any pics of a completed guitar.

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

Not very good pictures I'm afraid, but here are a couple.



               Peace, Paul

kinda looks like mahogany....

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

It is about the same color as Mahogany, although if the pictures were better you would see some fine black lines in it that Mahogany doesen't have, and the pores are smaller. It is somewhat plain but it takes a nice polish and makes a very nice sounding guitar. Not high zoot, but a very good tone wood IMHO.

                       Paul

Nicer looking wood that I would have expected... very nice guitar Paul.

[quote=Paul]Not high zoot, but a very good tone wood IMHO.[/quote]

That's a very important comment Paul...

I'm really starting to think that going back to the basics isn't a half bad idea when it comes to woods. We've been so caught up in buying and using highly figured woods that eventually as the supply of exotics begins to dry up more and more, those highly figured woods will become more rare. Weaning the buying public off the crazy figured stuff is probably a good idea as well, considering the future of international wood trade.
After reading the article in the last issue of Guitarmaker about recent CITES activity, I'm beginning to feel fortunate to still have access to some decent plain mahogany. Pernambuco, Honduran Rosewood, and Nicaraguan Rosewood are three woods which are about to hit Appendix II on the list, which means severe limiting of import and export. Honduran Mahogany has already been added to that list. We would be very wise to start exploring other potential species that are in greater supply, because in the near future we won't have much of a choice.

_________________
"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."

[QUOTE=paul harrell]   Not high zoot, but a very good tone wood IMHO.

Paul[/QUOTE]

At last! Yes, yes, yes! It's all about the sound. A good tonewood is one that produces a good sounding instrument. Everything else comes way down the list. Way down.

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I've only used it for bridges and bridge brace plates, but it works very well in those uses. It's very hard, twice as hard as hard maple, and relatively stable- not quite as good as hard maple, but better than black walnut or sapele (info from "National Wood Flooring Association Technical Publication No. A200", from Lumber Liquidator's website). I've also used it for about 1000 sq. ft. of flooring in my house. One thing about it you need to know is that it darkens a huge amount with exposure to light. Much more than American cherry. My floor started out almost an exact match to an American oak floor in my Living Room. Now it's a very dark rosewood/old red mahogany color- took about two years to fully darken.

_________________
Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

I haven't built a guitar with it, but it does look promising. A friend gave me a bunch of big "scraps" that I've used for bindings & bridge plates. It bends, glues & finishes nicely.
Some of the pieces I'm saving for bindings have a lovely wide fiddleback figure. The pieces in my shop are much darker than Paul Harrell's guitar in the above pic.

Paul very, very nice looking guitar. Plain yes but still beautiful and if it sounds good then mission accomplished. Jatoba is a fine alternative tone wood. I recently cut some Sipo sets. It is in the Meliaceae family as is Mahogany. You would be hard pressed to know that it wasn't mahogany. It is readily available and another fine example of alternative tone woods.

_________________
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

This brings me to the next part of the question --- I've found a place that has this, but it is in Germany and I'd much rather spend my money with one of our sponsors . Can anyone source a set or two of 00/Classical sized back and side sets?

_________________
Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Some of us don't mind buying wood from Germany. What is your source?

_________________
Rian Gitar og Mandolin

www.espen.de

Select "Musik- u. Klangh." on the left. Then select "Akustische Gitarren".

They have sets for 39 euros.

_________________
Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Thanks!

_________________
Rian Gitar og Mandolin