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I've got some. Don't aske me the scientific name. It's pretty stuff and I THINK it might work well for guitars, though I am a little disturbed to find that it is sometimes used to make the damping blocks in expensive pianos. (with felt pads against the strings)

I don't think I have ever seen an acoustic guitar made of this wood, so I'm fishing for anyone with any experience.

John

I'm sure I've come across the wood as a tonewood before. You might want to check the MIMF archives, I think there's some info on it there. Usually spelled Goncalo Alves, though. At least that's what I've come across.Mattia Valente38371.2958449074

Goncalo Alves has the taxonomic name of Astronium fraxinifolium and has a specific gravity of 0.95, the same as Ziricote and Bocote and should tonally sit nicely between the rosewoods and Cocabolo/African blackwwod. My supplier says that it is stable and takes a good finish. I see no reason why well quartered wood shouldn't make a superb guitar.

ColinColin S38371.3749305556

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

Thanks Colin
   It is heavy and hard and quite pretty. And, it seems to be fairly available. Do you know where it grows?

When you bend that wood you should set aside alot of time for sanding and scraping, especially if it has the "flame" look to it. It is almost as if the darker parts shrink while the lighter parts expand leaving a very "bumpy" side (I hope your tools have 4 whell drive), and did I mention that it taps like cardboard? Just my 2 cents.....Brian

Beachtonewood

John,

I believe it grows, or at least originates in Brazil.

Colin

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

[QUOTE=Brian Hawkins] When you bend that wood you should set aside alot of time for sanding and scraping, especially if it has the "flame" look to it. It is almost as if the darker parts shrink while the lighter parts expand leaving a very "bumpy" side (I hope your tools have 4 whell drive), and did I mention that it taps like cardboard? Just my 2 cents.....Brian

Beachtonewood[/QUOTE]

That does not sound too promising. Have you ever seen or heard a guitar made from this wood?

I have seen one (pretty) but have not heard one.
I started a cutaway with it but after seeing what happened to the sides once they were bent and joining and sanding the back it occured to me that I have plenty of other wood to build with that had better tap. It may have just been the set that I had. The whole bubble effect thing made me keep putting off building with it until finally I put a kit together with it and gave it to a friend at church who was up for it as a first build. I just wasn't sure how marketable it would be and even though the b/s may only account for 20% of sound I still want that 20% if you know what I mean. Tap was aweful on the set that I had.

I've just got back from my tonewood chap (looking at a 150 year old log of Cuban! likely to be expensive when cut.) he showed me some Goncalo Alves and the tap tone on the sample he had was great. I guess it's a matter of whether its a good sample or not. He says that a some of his customers have built with it and like it, and bend in a side bender not over a pipe.

I managed to ponto (UK slang:get without having to pay) a set so I'll let you know how it goes, mind you you'll probably all be drawing your pensions before I get the current projects, 13-course lute and 13 fret Bubinga OOO/M finished, so don't hold your breath!

ColinColin S38372.511400463

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

I went out and tapped my GC sets last night. (with a fair amount of dread I might add) I was pleasantly surprised. They sounded about like Indian rosewood. More metallic than Koa or mahog and even Bubinga. I am very hopeful.

John

"Goncolo Alves" sounds like the name of a tribe that your previous avator would have been a part of

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Yeah, it seems to me that Brian had a set with a few hidden shakes (cracks) in it. Antique porcelain collectors test it by tapping, if it rings like a bell its OK, dull thud sound means a hairline crack somewhere. Could it be the same with wood. The set I've just "acquired" rings as well as all but my Macassar and Honduran rosewood. Looks like Brians got a nice set of headplates.

ColinColin S38373.383587963

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

See what you think of this. It has some zoot and some interesting grain.

OK now you've got my attention!!

That looks very nice. Where did you get this wood? Let us know how it turns out.

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

I picked this up at Atlanta Hardwoods. Just went throught the stack till I found something that spoke to me. I think I can get two, perhaps three guitars with judicious resaw out of the plank.

Wow....pretty wood. Looks like another winner. Something tells me you're going to love that stuff...

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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."

John, Lance McCollum lists it as one of his upgrades. Any one familiar with Lance's work and his beautiful guitars knows he wouldn't build with it if it wasn't a good tone wood. I have seen some but never bought any. Should make a wonderful guitar.IMHO

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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

Koa-ish, and I love Koa. Pretty wood John K. Looks a little Myrtle-ish too. Hard to put a finger on it, but it's very pretty, or should I say handsome?

Thanks for looking and making comments. I really like the wood but you know the deal, ya gotta sell it to the public, most of whom are pretty conservative.

Colin,
No cracks but not the same grain as what you are seeing here. Sometimes you will see GA where all of the darker wood is seperate from all of the lighter wood giving it a look like flames in a fire. I have little experience with this wood in particular but do have experience with other woods and have found that just about any species can yield sets that have poor tap. Altitude, growth rate and other things can contribute to this. I have cut billets where, for whatever reason, one set just taps considerably better than its' sisters and I have cut billets where they are all relatively the same. I have cut sitka with a variety of results from the same 5 or 6 inch billets. I probably just had a poor tapping set and grain may or may not have been a contributing factor. John, that is a very nice looking board!! Different then what I had, keep us posted on youe experience with it. Might be a potential product for...... Beach Tonewood

Brian

I hope you give it another try, I'm sure it's potentially a premium tonewood, one of our best custom lutiers over this side of the pond uses it on his high-end models with great success. But, we do sometimes forget that we are dealing with an natural organic product, and just as we may be the same species as each other, it doesn't mean that we all react to being tapped the same!

In the UK we don't have the large number of tonewood suppliers that you have over there, nor the number of builders, but luckily we are a small country so it is usually possible to visit them and select our wood personally. I'm particularly lucky in that two of the three main suppliers are within a 45 minute drive of me, which means I'm often to be found sculking around their timber, it also means I usually get my neck and brace wood thrown in for nothing!

Now, I got folks coming round for Sunday lunch so I better go and get that leg of lamb in the oven.

Colin

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

Colin
   In which part of the UK do you reside? I have been twice and loved it. Plan to go again. My last two trips I was either in London or in Scotland and missed most of the terrain in between.
   I noticed that you like Delta Blues. I used to live in Memphis and spent many a summer evening on Beal Street listening to Delta Blues from some of the originals.John Kinnaird38375.2972569444

Colin,
After seeing Johns board and hearing everyones input here, you are certainly right, I do need to get my hands on some and give it another look (thank you for giving me cause to rethink it ). I guess I am somewhat spoiled because I have so many different tonewoods here and at my disposal. I was wondering why, when I get wood orders from the UK they are generally larger than usual and with variety. John, is that board quartered? Can you post a picture of the end grain? I do remember that it seemed to sand nicely.

Beach Tonewood

John,
Sorry, I certainly didn't mean to be a discouragement, I really should have clarified that I have very little experience with the wood. Brian

Well, speaking from an EU standpoint, we've gotta pay considerable shipping, taxes, and often as not fixed brokerage fees (not much, maybe 5-10 bucks per order). So might as well mix things up a little, get a wider variety of stuff, more of it, and have it all shipped in one big go. It's not like it'll sneak through customs unnoticed anyway. So why not get a 'sampling' of varied, interesting woods while you're at it?

My reason for variety in my wood collection is that that's half the fun of custom guitars, you get to play with a wide variety of different tonewoods.