Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi everyone -

A local store has some sizeable bubinga boards that are almost perfectly quartered and seem, in their semi-sanded state, to have a moderate amount of figure. They were whispering "resaw me ... resaw me". (I'm guessing that each board has about 6 B&S sets hiding within.) Only problem - I haven't seen many finished bubinga guitars, and the pictures in the bubinga section on LMI's page are so low res that I can't really see what it looks like. Anyone have any pictures of bubinga creations lying around?

I've been slow in posting a bio, picture of #1, etc. I'll try to do that this week. I really like and appreciate this place. I'm a little reluctant to post much because I'm busy enough not to be able to get here all that often. I imagine starting conversations and then not being around to reply to the replys. Potentially a little rude, yes?

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Hi Jim, i don't have any pics of bubinga but i'm sure you'll get plenty from here!The reason why i'm replying is because of what you said in your last paragraph. I'm sure that no one here would even think you'd be rude by not replyin' right away to their last post or PM because that's the way it is with forums, i sometimes forget to log off or go away from the computer for short periods of time, letting people think i'm still there when in fact i'm not. when it's through a thread and you'd like to reply to a friend ex: after 2 days, just go to his last post and just quote him to reply to what he had wrote 2 days ago! Voila!

People will react the same through PM, they know you have a life beside the OLF and they are really forgiving because they have one too ya know!

Jim here's one I made. It's a slope shoulder dred.



This one was built by Gray Burchette


And this one by Tim Mcknight



Sure wish I had more of that Waterfall Bubinga

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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

YES, I got a couple sets of waterfall from Bob. I have a ton of lightly figured stuff too for resawing. It's a great wood. Like LMI says, underrated as a tonewood.

I saw bubinga plain on a hand made electric bass and it got me all excited because it was beautiful. Couldn't find the link quickly. But it is gorgeous under finish. I doubt the non waterfall is difficult to bend as the highly figured stuff.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

WOW WOW WOW ...... REWOW BOB, That's a fantastic one!

That waterfall Bubinga is something else! WOW too!

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

Jim
I am going to make one out of waterfall bubinga. I got this set from Steve at
Colonial
Andy
azimmer1/2006-04-03_131443_2006-03-07_215553_web1.jpg">

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

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] I completely agree with Serge Bob, WOW

Bob how does bubunga sound, what is it like that I might know?[/QUOTE]

Hesh bubinga is a lot like the rosewoods. It is sometimes referred to as Afican Rosewood but is not a dalbergia. It is very hard and dense and makes a geat sounding guitar of course coupled with the skils of the builder. I find that it is very under rated as a tonewood. Probabaly because it varies so much in pricing from very cheap to very expensive.

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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

Heh, I was talking about "average" bubinga, not "blow your socks off" bubinga     I don't think the second or third set above is lurking in the board I was examining.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I'm interested in the bubinga information too. The plans for my first build include bubinga b/s with a lutz top.

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aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

Jim, here's one I've posted before, and bear with me everyone for doing so again.
It's the only Bubinga guitar I've built, and I think it was my best effort. The stuff is an excellent choice for backs and sides.




Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Steve I've seen that picture many times and I still enjoy looking at it. Beautiful guitar.

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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

Steve, please feel free to post that picture anytime. It makes me drool just looking at it. (as close as I could come to a drooling smiley face)

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

I love boring bubinga. I made a guitar out of a set I picked up at the 2003 ASIA conf. It cost $25 for the set and included a fretboard and a bridge blank. The good thing about this bubinga was that it was simple and it bent like butter. The bee's wing and other highly figured bubingas have a reputation for being difficult to bend.

I say, go for it. They make a beautiful sweet sounding guitar even when the figure is "plain Jane".

[QUOTE=Mike Mahar] The bee's wing and other highly figured bubingas have a reputation for being difficult to bend.[/QUOTE]

Uh oh, I have a set of the beeswing from the Zootman (I think I won it in the OLF auction). Any suggestions on how best to go about bending it. More heat, thinner sides, more moisture, less moisture?

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Nice looking guitar Steve! Yes show her more often, i'll never get tired of seeing her!

Wood from LMI

Here's another Bubinga guitar. This one is in progress, having just been coated with epoxy. This set is from Brian Hawkins at Beach Tonewood:



Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Thankee for the kind words guys. As is evidenced, there seems to be as much variety in Bubinga as in maple. And like Mike, I appreciate the "plain Jane" also.
The sides to that guitar were just as curly as the back, but they bent quite easily. I wish I had a shop full of the stuff.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Go ahead, buy and cut them up, you will like Bubinga, it is great to work with.

Mike

[QUOTE=Dave Rector] [QUOTE=Mike Mahar] The bee's wing and other highly figured bubingas have a reputation for being difficult to bend.[/QUOTE]

Uh oh, I have a set of the beeswing from the Zootman (I think I won it in the OLF auction). Any suggestions on how best to go about bending it. More heat, thinner sides, more moisture, less moisture?[/QUOTE]
Dave, my knowledge of bending guitar sides is truly vast, and yet thinking back over the years and all of the sides that I have bent, I calculate that exactly half of all the sides I have bent were figured Bubinga. Er, well, I... OK, OK, now the truth: I have bent 2 sets of sides; one set was the figured Bubinga shown in this thread. I used a silicone heating blanket on a solid form, wrapped the Bubinga in wet paper, blue spring steel above and below, very little water, and about 315°F bending temp. When I was done, I thought I had faceting, but it was an optical illusion created by the curls. It came out smooth.

The cutaway portion of the bending form I made was not well thought out, and I had LOT of trouble keeping my cutaway caul in place. That fidgeting caused me to keep the sides in the bender at 315° at least twice as long as I had planned, and I scorched the sides in a couple of spots. It all sanded off. I mention that because I think that's another positive attribute of Bubinga. If it had been Maple or many other species, I think it would have been toast.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

The lower bout on that is pretty sweet looking Dennis .. did your wife/girlfriend/nextdoorneighbour pose for that one or WHAT !!!!!

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"