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A few years ago a local sawyer cut a number of boards for me . Some day I would like to use them. I belive mulberry wood is used to make musical instruments in central asian republics, iran , turkey, western china, etc.The wood is about the same density as walnut but color is close to osage orange turning a muddy yellowy brown on aging . Looks like it could be used on small instruments. Anyone out there worked with it?? and if so , do you feel it is worthwhile to make instruments from mulberry???

Guitars can be made of just about any wood. I've built with southern Cypress, and just now am building a guitar of White Pine.
You can make a guitar of your Mulberry. Will it be great guitar wood? Who knows...

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It's a durable wood as far as i know and would be good for bindings. I've never built with it yet, but wouldn't hesitate to use it. I think if the trees were larger, it would be more widely used. They just don't get a good size for sets very often.

Sawyer cut up 6.5in by 5/4 stock

If I remember correctly Mulberry is in the same family as Osage Orange. I have a really nice mulberry log that is super dense. I'm planning on making mandolins out of it.

I replaced a red mulberry soundboard on a small oud-like middle-eastern instrument some time back (the owner knocked it off a high shelf and it hit the corner of a table making a large gash in the soundboard). I couldn't find any mulberry anywhere so ended up staining a nice piece of Lutz spruce to match the old soundboard color. The instrument ended up looking and sounding like the original according to the owner. So, I'd say go ahead and use it!

Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Maybe it's a Southern thing, but I see large mulberry trees quite often. I have a couple of 16" wide boards to resaw.
The wood sort of reminds me of sassafras, which I like a lot.

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John

I live in west central Illinois and we have Mulberry trees and they do get big. The trunks split easily in high wind. I have one in need of taking down. I have used the wood for bowls, and it is very unstable when turned wet. I have stored bowl blanks, but they too split as they dry. If you are going to use it, dry it carefully and completely. Ours is a rich brown with light yellow and near black streaks when cut. The yellow sap wood dulls with time. I'll try and put some back for later guitar use as well.

Danny

Thanks dan I put a wax sealer on the boards . Your right , tough to dry and when wet likes to cup shrink and split. The color here is a more intense yellow like osage.

I read somewhere that mulberry is one of the oldest woods used for string instruments. My brother had a tree blow down but it wasn't very big. I've been using it for bridge plates. It's tough and rings like a bell. If I had larger boards I'd use it for back and sides. This tonewood company in Turkey offers back and sides in mulberry. http://www.octopus.com.tr/store/?page=products&rid=24&cat=133 It looks a lot like what I have.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Some people are allergic to mulberry dust.