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I just won a set on an eBay auction. B&S, Bridge, Headpiece, and Fingerboard. Also got some Black Walnut binding.

Questions, is that too much Padauk on one guitar? What neck wood would complement the Padauk? How is Padauk to work with?

Any other opinions or suggestions. Thinking about this stuff for an OLF SJ.

Thanks,

CrowDuck

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Chris Nielsen
Soquel, CA.

In my opinion, Padauk sucks to work with. Splintery, VERY brittle and if you do get it to bend, the sanding leaves everything orange. I wish I had better things to say about it becaus I like how it looks. I've gone back and tried to bind several guitars in it only to break a bunch and get frustrated.

Thin to 80, bends OK with a blanket. Your shop will look like a paprika factory after sanding, and you will need cement to fill the pores, but the end product is amazing. Padauk makes an awesome guitar IMO. Bes parlour I ever made was red cedar over padauk. I will have a jumbo done next week, sitka top, paduak B&S. I like to use mahogany for the neck, this one has a padauk strip down the centre. The colour when done is a beautiful red wine, fine vintage, and the chatoyance across the grain is beautiful.

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

I've just use it for the strip down the center of my necks. It looks pretty good. If there is a trick I suppose it is to do your final sanding then set it aside and let it oxidize a month or so. That will darken it up some improving the appearance in my, wish it was more humble, opinion.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I've got a nice quartersawn board of padauk, and I keep meaning to resaw it. So far I keep watching it...it hasen't moved.

Al

   Paduck The Red Baron Wood from EHHHHh well I learned that paduck is bendable ,more heat 375 and it will bend. I use wet paper so it won't dry out when I get the heat up.
    Can be splinery can be a pain but it is nice. I had a good laff on the paprika factory , as it is indeed just like that. Wear a mask as some people will have a reaction to it
john hall

Bleeding .. yes that can happen too. Keep the first couple coats very light, until you get some build, then you can hit it with full on wet ones. If it does bleed, a razor balde cleans it up nicely once set, then on to more shooting. Pix of my latest paduak later this week. I am finishing up on the buffer tomorrow, then gluing the neck on.

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

I've used it for a couple of guitars, and in some necks, too. It is nice but it does have its little issues like the others have mentioned....but it's worth it! I even managed to bend a cutaway in one of the guitars, so it isn't that bad.

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Mark Swanson
Swanson Guitars
http://www.MarkSwansonMusic.com

Chris,

I have had one in the works for about 1/2 a year, postponed because of moving, but I love it. Tap it when you get it, and you will hear a beautiful tap tone, (at least to my untrained ear). It bent easily for me, but did have a few splinters I had to work with. I think it is a bargain, for the prices it goes for at this time.

I hope to finish this one up in the next few months.

Jeff

Nice spalt in the graft. I have some maple and sycamore spalting that should be ready to cut soon. I'm hoping to catch the sycamore while it's still strong enough for back and sides.

Al

That one is lovely Jeff !

Just got some Paduak boards in a couple days ago. Here's some pics of a couple of sets I've cut. I love the lines on these sets and the sapwood.

Whew hew Doug, i agree with you, some killer sets!

Doug, that back set of yours reminds me of the orange shaggy-haired monster in the old Warner Bros cartoons.

I like padauk, not just for its looks, but because it is a great sounding tonewood. Very metallic, bell-like tap tone. But it can be a challenge to work with in a number of ways. I've built a couple of classicals using it. Here's one of 'em:





Yes, it tends to splinter, and likes to crack when being bent, but I've found that if I bend at about 325F and keep the wood wet, it bends okay, albeit slowly. It doesn't scorch like EIR or walnut, so high temp bending is not a problem. Use plenty of water, though.

You'll note the bridge on the above guitar is also padauk. I've used padauk for bridges on several guitars. It took me a couple of tries to get the hang of shaping a padauk bridge without chipping off the corners, but once I got the hang of it, it wasn't bad at all.

The above guitar also has padauk binding. Now that's something I'll never do again, cuz it splinters and snaps way too easily. If you need the red look, bloodwood works better for binding, although it will splinter as well unless one pays careful attention to grain direction.

I don't know if I'd want to use padauk as a fingerboard wood. The pores are very large, so it would have to be filled. But it isn't as hard as rosewood or ebony, so I would expect more fingerboard wear.

Best,

Michael
Michael McBroom38817.5545023148

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Live to Play, Play to Live

I have a love / hate relationship with Padauk.
I love the color, the smell, the appearance under finish and the sound.
I hate bending it, getting it up my nose, and into my clothing. The staining seems permanent.
My wife has forbidden me to make any more Padauk guitars, but I've got too much of the stuff lying around not to make more. Perhaps in a few more years....

Steve

P.S.--Doug, are those sets for sale? They're beautiful.Steve Kinnaird38817.595787037

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

My son built a Padauk guitar (he was 10 at the time), and it looks and plays great. Here's a picture:



The color is more red than this picture shows. He built it a year ago, and we have yet to see any of the darkening/browning that people complain about. It's still as bright red as the day he completed it. We'll see if that changes over the next few years.

Love the smell of the wood, but it makes your shop look like you dipped the whole thing in bright orange. It is very brittle, but we had no problem bending it to a dread shape at .80".

It sounded pretty good from the start, but it took about six months before the tone of the guitar really came alive. Now it is one of the best-sounding guitars to come out of my shop.

One final comment: It is a very BOLD color.

[QUOTE=Kelby] My son built a Padauk guitar (he was 10 at the time [/QUOTE]
Man, is he taking commissions yet? Put him to work now, before that "girl thing" kicks in!

[QUOTE=Steve Kinnaird] I hate...getting it...into my clothing.[/QUOTE]
Steve, two words--"shop poncho!"

Michael,
Beautiful guitar!!!
I've yet to bend a set, but You are probably right about the difficulties of bending. It is a very dense and oiley wood.

The blade on my 24" Mini-Max is now pretty orange also, as is the surrounding area in the shop.

The aroma of the wood is wonderful. I read somewhere that some of the tribes in Africa use to use this wood like a body freshener. They would cut it and rub the fresh cut piece all over their body. Sort of like a perfume. I can picture that.

I once turned a small 6" piece on a homemade lathe I built and then took the cut piece into the house. My house smelled wonderful with the aroma of Paduak.

Kelby, That is an awesome guitar also. I love the neck. The paduak really stands out and the darker bindings pop the wood so well.

I thought of having a T-shirt made that said something like, "I have bent Padouk and survived" It is almost as bad as Wenge. But, on the plus side it smells great, like cotton candy at a carnival, and it sounds very plinky when plunked, like Brazilian rosewood. Pretty too, and the too too crimson mellows with time.

John

I just got through bending some high figure Bubinga, have a set of Padouk, now I am really scared, never used it before, but I will give it a whirl.

Mike

[QUOTE=MSpencer] I just got through bending some high figure Bubinga, have a set of Padouk, now I am really scared, never used it before, but I will give it a whirl.

Mike[/QUOTE]

Please let me know how it works out.

Crowduck

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Chris Nielsen
Soquel, CA.

Same here Mike!Serge Poirier38817.9799768519

So Doug, are those sets for sale?