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I'm beginning my next classical build using Englemann and Padauk.

My normal rosette colors are green/yellow/copper



I'm not sure these colors would work with the deep red of a Padauk. Any suggested color schemes?
Thanks,
Steve

Replace green with purple and you should be good to go Camatillo rosewood, bois de rose, or purpleheart. Or dyed, I suppose.

Changing the green by padouk or bloodwood.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

good suggestions. I was even thinking of replacing the green with a dyed red, but I have a good supply of bloodwood that I can rip into strips. I may even use bloodwood instead of Padauk - decisions, decisions. Both seem to be solid tonewoods, with some aesthetic apeal other than the generic rosewood. The binding on the guitar in the picture is Bloodwood.

Does anyone have any experience (other than the Padauk dust) of working with either of these woods? Thoughts? Pictures?

Thanks,
Steve

Steve: Keep in mind that the red of the Padauk will then to turn more towards a brown especially if exposed to sunlight. I've done a couple that don't get any sunlight and they have not changed a whole lot. Padauk a good wood for SS but no experience with classical. The pores are larger and harder to deal with then most woods. It can tend to fracture if mishandled but said to be one of the most stable of woods. Some folks have had problems bending but worked OK for me with a form and blanket. The dust you have already experienced.

Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

It turns in a dark reddish brown with years, but it's kind of a nice color (for what I've seen). As tonewood, it seems to be really great. It's generally a bit denser than east indian rosewood. Some luthiers, like Greg Smallman, find that this density is just perfect for classical bridge.

On workability side, I never worked with it really, but I've seen collegue who built a classical with it, and he had some problem with the back. It came cupped as hell, but he cloth-ironed it flat, braced it, and now it seems to hold nicely.

When freshly sanded, your guitar will look like it is in fire

Good luck!

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Padauk is an autumn colour turning brown as it ages. The rosette would look good with spring and fall color combos e.g. reddish brown, olive, red fuchsia, and yellow ochre. Just google fall and spring colors for clothing and you will get the appropriate color to match the englemann /padauk

I use padauk for my bridge plates, a tip I stole from someone. My supply is all brown on the surfaces now and I always marvel when cutting it to expose the bright orange. I've wanted to laminate padauk and osage orange to observe the orange and yellow mute to brown.


The challenge is fixing a color binding/purfling scheme that looks good as the padauk morphs color. The above colors all sound good, but I think I would use some black to define the border of the padauk to establish a constant contrast with your color scheme.

Just a thought...

I made a strat ten years ago out of padauk that is a rich red color now, not a hint of brown. I finished it in 100% pure Tung Oil (Behlen's) and followed it up with some kind of wax, I forget what.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Steve, I wouldn't have any qualms about using the usual green in your rosette--even with the initial bright color of the padauk. However, all of these folks have suggested good alternatives.
Cheers!
Patrick