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I was at a wood boutique that I frequent & I came upon what was labeled as Nicaraguan rosewood. Unfortunately, they didn't have anything wider than 5-1/2" but what they did have was straight grained, clear and well quartered (vertical grain if you prefer). The color was sort of a medium reddish brown, leaning more red, sort of like Bubinga. It wasn't nearly as dense as Honduran Rosewood which was in the adjacent bin but it had a very nice resonance/tap tone.

The dealer had no pertinent info on specifically what it is. I tried to search it and came up with dalbergia tucurensis which is sold as Panama rosewood or possibly Guatemalan rosewood?

I've also seen reference to Cocobolo, it was definitely not Cocobolo.

Anyhow, I didn't buy any but now I'm having second thoughts, it was $18.52/bf.

Any insights or experience with dalbergia tucurensis or Nicaraguan rosewood?

Thanks,
Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Three or four piece backs aren't a problem! 5 1//2 should be fine for that.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Kevin - I have a few sets of D tucurensis and they are just like you described in terms color, density and resonance. For some comments from others on it, check out this thread over at UMGF. It's about Hunduran rosewood but there is a lot of discussion about tucurensis as well.

http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.y ... ly-1233977

I also thought it would make a nice 3-piece back but didn't know if it's easy to find wider stock or if the $18.52/bf price was good, seemed very cheap to me.

Thanks for the replies.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Bruce Sexauer love D. Tucarensis. I think he prefers it over Brazilian. Go get some!!

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PMoMC

Post some pics. I have about 7 or 8 boards of D. Tucarensus (Panama Rosewood) ranging from 4.5 to 7.5 in wide. Some is very consistent in color, while a couple of boards has some nice dark striping going on. I haven't worked with it yet, but when my new shop is done (june timeframe) I plan on resawing some of it.

Glenn

I'll have it on Monday & will post some pics then.

Thanks

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Me also like tucarensis, and 4 piece back more then 3 pieces....

Ok,

So here are some pictures. Not the most exciting stuff. It actually looks a lot like Honduran Rosewood but it's not nearly as dense or oily.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

looks alot like some of the boards i have as well.

Glenn

If it's anything like Honduran Rosewood, I'd say go for it. I picked up a nice piece of Honduran and made a ton of fretboards from it and they look and sound great. I was told that it is the closest in density to Brazilian. Don't know how true that is, but it is quality for sure.

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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."

That sounds like D tucurensis.

That board looks a little Stevensonii-ey, judging by the smallish pores. The feel immidiately gives it away, like you said.

Stevensonii is HARD, DENSE, and cool to the touch, like Cocobolo. Pings like a sheet of glass.
Tucurensis is usually alot less dense, coarser pores, and has a more woody tap, without the glassieness.

I do have a few fingerboards cut from the same board that really are in between Stevensonii and Tucarensis, and they look exactly like the boards you pictured. There are at least two species that are commonly called guatemalan/Panama rosewood. There's D. tucurensis, and D. Cubiliquitzensis (sp?). I've also heard it said that these two are the same species, but a different name.

Like all wood-stuffs, I'd bet there's a lot of variability in a single species, due to gegraphy, soil, etc.
Just look at the different looks Brazilian produces.

Beautiful boards! nice score. I'm wrapping up a D. tuc 12 fret dread as we type. I got a few sets from Gilmer, and a few from Cook woods. The Gilber sets are vERY orange in color, very pretty.

hm....reminds me even to Machiche / Mexican Cherry....but could be a lot judging from the picture. Tucarenis I don't think soooooooo much...

It could be Machiche, the seller had it listed as Nicaraguan which to what I could find, crosses to either Cocobolo or Tucurensis.

It's definitely not Coco. It looks like Honduran but like I said, not as dense or as oily.

I resawed it today & it actually smells sort of like Honduran.

How do you distinguish between Machiche & Tucurensis. The photos I've seen on the internet look very similar.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Here are some better pics.

I don't know why, but on my browser they are showing in actual size - BIG. In the past, they would show up smaller & you could click to enlarge. I hope these big pics are not too annoying.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Those pores look Exactly like the Tuc I have.

I've never handled Machiche, so I can't speak to that.

To separate closely related wood species you need to look at the cell structure in the end grain.
Here is a start..
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrp/fpl_rp665.pdf

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Lance Peck

Kevin - I'm glad you posted the larger pics as they show the pore size more clearly. The larger pores are consistent with what I've seen in the tucurensis I have. The color looks right to me, too. Based on the density you described, if it ring like a bell when you thump it sure sounds like tucurensis to me.

Now i am also bit more on the tucarenis. oxidized red, the pores....also havent handled my machiche for a while...will check later...

Another vote for D. Tucurensis

Kevin, that is Dalbergia Tucurensis, no ifs, ands, or buts. I have cut several thousand guitar sets of that stuff, so I know it well. It is an excellent tonewood.
Nice board. D.Tucurensis and D. Cubliquitzensis are basically the same tree, just tucurensis comes mainly from Nicaragua (hence nicaraguan rosewood) and cubliquitzensis (guatemalan rosewood) is found mostly in Guatemala. The two can vary a bit in color and density, I think is just from slightly different soil conditions.
The wood is very sweet smelling when you cut it.

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Machiche stinks when you cut it, and it is very splintery almost like wenge.

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I'm pretty sure tucurensis and cubilquitzensis are one and the same regardless of country of origin. Have a look at these links, which show they are just synonyms of each other. You may have to scroll down a bit to find the synonym references.

http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/ht ... .pl?311181
http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/ht ... .pl?311183

There does seem to be a lot of variability in its appearance, but it all has in common a lighter density than most other Central and South American Dalbergias, large and prominent pores and a very nice, sustaining tap. I've seen some pretty prominent luthiers call tucurensis the closest thing, tonally, to Brazilian, which I don't doubt considering the properties of the sets I have.

Hopefully John Arnold will chime in as I know he has a lot of this wood and knows a lot more about it than I do.

PS - I think the official spelling is tucUrensis but I've found it is often spelled as tucErensis, or especially tucArensis. Knowing that can come in handy if you're Googling.