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Hi there,

I'm new to the building life and my first attempt is a neck-through bass. In my quest for wood, I have come across a GORGEOUS piece of Brazilian Rosewood from the top of an old table. It's 52" x 25" x 5/8". Now I know that this type of wood is endangered and hard to get without a lot of legal documents and certification. This table is 150 years old and I can prove it, so the legality of the wood is not an issue. I'm just curious of the value. What would an item like this be worth? I want to start chopping it up but considering my skill level and the fact that I really just want a solid body bass, it seems like it would be better off in the hands of a skilled luthier. I mentioned it in a guitar shop and was immediately offered $1000. That's when I began to realize this was out of my league. If somebody could give me an idea of what I actually have, I'ld really appreciate it. Thanks.

Can you post a pic? It's most likely made of several pieces glued together so more suited to fretboards or bridges but you never know.

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

This is actually two pieces that have been joined together to form 25,3/8" wide. However, there has been a hinge installed so, ultimately, it had been cut to three pieces. Each original piece has been cut from the center of the log. The 3 pieces are 11,1/8", 6,1/4", and 8" x 52,3/4" x 25,3/8". Definitely more than fretboard lumber.

No pic? Why not? Are you sure it's not veneered? Even back then they did this.

_________________
Another day, another dollar.

This definitely not veneered.

I'm not sure you would want a bass made entirely from BRW, unless you have 2 men and a small boy to help you carry it.

Seriously, that wood as described is worth much more for other purposes if it is not veneer.

I would NOT start cutting on it.

James

I'm not sure you would want a bass made entirely from BRW, unless you have 2 men and a small boy to help you carry it.

Seriously, that wood as described is worth much more for other purposes if it is not veneer.

I would NOT start cutting on it.

James[/quote]

No, I wouldn't cut it until I knew what it was, what it was worth, and how much I can ruin it. I'm not a complete knucklehead, just part one.
Originally, I got the Rosewood for a fretboard. My bass neck will be made of birdseye or tiger maple with a swamp ash or alder body.

Let's see if this works.

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee5 ... 0_6338.jpg

I'm assuming this is the current offering on Ebay with a BIN of $1999.?
Your photos are not clear insofar as showing the detail of the edgegrain (which looks to me like a veneered cap rather than the edge of solid wood).
There is also no picture of the underside of the boards which would tell the trale of whether it's veneered or not.
I've purchased many Brazilian planks and had guitar sets sawn from them and I can tell you that usable commercial grade sets are not a foregone conclusion from old planks. Checks and other problems can cause sections to be unusable and succesfully patterning out usable sets can be simply a matter of luck or no.
At present, two or three totally usable primo sets in hand might be worth your BIN but "on the hoof" one still has the costs of processing as well as considerable risk involved.

Better pics would be a help to someone deciding whether or not to take the plunge here.

Here's a shot of the end grain.

Just as I suspected. It is terrible. Probably worse than terrible. You better let me pick it up and take it off your hands before the CITES police show up to put you in wood prison!

Yup. More than fretboards and bridges in that table. It's hard to tell from the pic, but is that solid all the way through? It must weigh a ton if it is. Edit: I just saw the new pic above this post. It is solid but not as thick as I thought. Still sweet though!
Just PM me your address and I will come get it.

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

what a sweet find

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That's a pretty sweet board.

Brazilian back & side sets that look that nice are usually at least $1000.

The real question is how many could you successfully get out of it. This is a gamble but if the table is over 100 years old, the wood should be pretty stable & less risky.

Theoretically, with a Lenox Woodmaster CT & assuming a kerf of 0.04" (they spec 0.035"), you could get 4 slices 0.126" each out of a 5/8" thick board.

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.

Better pics would be a help to someone deciding whether or not to take the plunge here.[/quote]

Thanks for your input. Though I should add, that while I am a novice guitar builder, I have extensive experience with antiques and furniture building in general. I have not a clue.
.

Thanks again.

Thanks a lot. I figured a decent acoustic set for around $1000 but wasn't sure of what was needed or how much could be gotten in wood or dollars. I'm thinking I'm going to pull my ad until I have a better idea of what to do. Thanks for all your help.

Andrew

I resaw a lot of wood with that blade and effectively kerf is about 1/16" for a perfect cut after saw marks are removed. You could maybe get 4 1/8" slices if it were 3/4" thick, but I'd say no way with a 5/8" thick board.

WOW!!!!

Ok, let's check the math.

Board thickness = 0.625"
Your effective kerf after removing all saw marks = 1/16" = 0.0625"

3 kerfs = 3/16" = 0.1875

0.625 - 0.1875 = 0.4375

0.4375 / 4 = 0.109" per slice after removing all saw marks.

I get 5 useable slices from a 3/4" board with my CT (over 0.090" final thickness after removing saw marks)

Kevin Looker

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

The pic of the end grain looks veneered to me, although the pic is blurry. Great shot of the doorknob, though! End grain of solid Brazilian would be nearly black.

_________________
Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

I would tend to leave it as a beautiful table...but if you must cut it up, there are a lot of us folks in the NEL group who could help.

http://www.newenglandluthiers.org

If I can help, let me know.

Don Williams

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Ouch

What do you mean? I'm not in the picture. Sorry guys... veneer.

Yeah, I really don't see how ANY conclusions can be drawn from that blurry picture, especially saying that the sets of this wood would sell for $1000. Antique furniture was veneered often, with walnut crotch, mahogany crotch, brazilian rosewood, etc. Even if it's not veneered, there's no picture showing the figure of the wood, is it quartersawn, wildly flatsawn, rift, etc? The brazilian rosewood antique furniture I've seen (which was almost always veneered) is never quartersawn, and has kind of crazy figure which may not work well in back and sides.

I would guess it is veneered. It is often VERY hard to tell if it is veneered because they covered all sides in veneer.

The sonic value of the wood would be better served by putting a 1/4 or 3/8 inch top layer on a light mahogony body, Les Paul style. I have recently played two solid rosewood electric six strings, and neither one had a tone noticeably better than conventional woods. One was a good amateur copy of a stratocaster with a vibrato bridge, the other was a "factory custom" one-off Les Paul with a longer scale length and the bridge further down the body. I really wanted them to sound fantastic, but they didn't. You could build a lot of necks and electric body tops with that wood, those being the parts that builders seem to agree benefit from tropical hardwoods. If you like acoustics, think of how many outstanding old flat tops were made with Brazillion rosewood bridges and fretboards, so that the vibrations from both ends of the string are first greeted by this beautiful resonant wood that seems to have the magic property of loving both low and high vibrations.

The sonic value of the wood would be better served by putting a 1/4 or 3/8 inch top layer on a light mahogony body, Les Paul style. I have recently played two solid rosewood electric six strings, and neither one had a tone noticeably better than conventional woods. One was a good amateur copy of a stratocaster with a vibrato bridge, the other was a "factory custom" one-off Les Paul with a longer scale length and the bridge further down the body. I really wanted them to sound fantastic, but they didn't. You could build a lot of necks and electric body tops with that wood, those being the parts that builders seem to agree benefit from tropical hardwoods. If you like acoustics, think of how many outstanding old flat tops were made with Brazillion rosewood bridges and fretboards, so that the vibrations from both ends of the string are first greeted by this beautiful resonant wood that seems to have the magic property of loving both low and high vibrations.