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I understand this wood is similar to koa, but less expensive.  I am considering it for a guitar.  I don't have any experience with it as I do with koa. 

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

It's one of my favorites. Don't expect the price to be a lot less though. The supply is dwindling as land is being cleared and trees being replaced by faster growing and more commercial species.

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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."

I just finished a guitar with it, it turned out fabulous and the wood was very easy to work with. If you want to see/hear it I posted some sound bites and pics a few weeks ago.

Greg

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Gwaltney Guitars

Of course Bob if you want a good deal send me a PM at your leisure.

regards

Tim

Planes easily? I like the stuff, but it has interlocking grain and many pieces require some finesse when planing.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I've used (and still have some) California black acacia, acacia melanoxylon, which is the same as Tasmanian blackwood as far as the Latin is concerned.   I find it to be denser than acacia koa...more like Indian rosewood in that sense. It's great guitar making wood, at least for backs and sides. Yes on the interlocking grain, but I've got a wide belt sander so it just isn't an issue. But that interlocking quality should make it very tough and crack resistant. Might be good for a bar fight guitar...

Tasmanian Blackwood like Koa also fits very comfortably in the resonator world for not only back and sides but also tops.

Things to look out for with Tasmanian Blackwood (Black Acacia) are:

Pin knots in side material. These can be a point of failure when bending particularly if you are bending without any back support. Most dealers will exclude sets with pin nots, but you should check.

Drum sanding should always be done with a knew belt and small increments at each pass. This is most inportant with very curly grain. Too much too soon will result in burning of the end grain where it breaches the surface of the wood.


regards
Tim

I've used it and its great to work with....better than Koa IMO.

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

Beautiful Hesh!  I expected to see some black lines running through it.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

I used Tassy Blackwood on my second guitar. It's so easy to bend, but I found it dulls tools and sandpaper quickly. Also my hands seemed to take on a black stain every time I worked with it. Perhaps why it gets it's name?



Fiddleback acacia bindings and end graft.



I matched it up with a Australian Cedar top that I thought really complimented it.

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
Facebook
Cairns, Australia

Nice top Allen. What species is the Aussie Cedar and where did you get same?

Cheers Martin

I too find the grain to be interlocking. I haven't had any real issues with bending sides, but I have found it to be somewhat tough to sand. It seems to resist sanding more than I would have expected.

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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."

I love all Acacia woods, Black Acacia, Koa, Mesquite and others. Very stable. Nice warm tone.

I love the stuff, but it's a lot more expensive now than when I first started using it.

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Pete
http://www.petewoodmanguitars.com

[QUOTE=kiwigeo]Nice top Allen. What species is the Aussie Cedar and where did you get same?



Cheers Martin[/QUOTE]

I got all the wood for this guitar from Berry Kerr. It's suppose to be Queensland Cedar, but I don't know if there is a any difference to Australian Cedar. I suspect its still Toonis Australis, just sourced from Queensland.  I've been trying to get some more, but seems hard to come by in quality sizes for tops.

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
Facebook
Cairns, Australia