Official Luthiers Forum!

When I was in college on the first day of a philosophy class folks were getting seated and the prof. with sleeves rolled down approached the podium and started talking.

The first thing out of his mouth was "Good Morning, my name is Prof. So and so and I believe that it's better to have sex with animals than to eat them....."

Needless to say the students started exclaiming things such as "gross", "disgusting", "what a sick *(*&", etc. The prof just stood there grinning from ear to ear. Then one guy got up and walked out, then another, and more until approx. 12 students left and approx. 12 remained.

The prof. kindly asked if anyone else wanted to leave and at that point I just had to see what he was going to do next.

No one else left, he strolled to the back of the room, closed the door, went back to the podium, took his time rolling up his sleeves, looked at us and said: "Let's start over, my name is Prof. so and so and I don't really believe that it's better to have sex with animals than to eat them but I wanted to have a good time this semester with my students and wanted my class to be open minded." All the while he had a warm smile on his face.

He then proceeded to tell us that he was also the national director of the Humane society....

Anyway I liked this guy at once for his sick sense of humor and we became personal friends.

Off to the store here to get some ribs, ground sirloin, and all the other stuff to have a great, gluttonous holiday weekend. Hope you all have a great weekend too!

By the way what was this thread about? Maybe we can make some charcoal out of this stinkin tree....

I just heard an old interview last night with the guy who was the camera man (or something like that) for 'The Godfather.' Apparently that was a real horse head in that one scene when the guy woke up with a dead horse... Gross!

OMG, not another Torresification thread!!!

One of the questions on the RCMP application is 'Have you ever had sex with an animal?'.

Most people get the answer wrong. The answer of course being 'Yes, every time.'

"OMG, not another Torresification thread!!!"

Torres ification. Are we supposed to make "The Tree" sound like a Torres?

Well, someone did say it tapped like cardboard...

"Well, someone did say it tapped like cardboard..."

It took me a minute, but....

Thanks! Sure sounds great...probably looks great too. I'm not sure its anything magical though. Pretty much sounds like a guitar

That's my impression as well. I've played a "tree" guitar and though it sounded good, it sounded like a guitar, as you said. I'm not one to attribute magical tone to any wood. I'm a fan of "tree" for its story and beauty.

I listened to that clip and it sounded great but it is difficult to really say if it is "The Tree" or the effects he has on the recording.


As far as paying some outrageous amount for a story... I think I will save my money and just buy "regular" wood with no story for a whole lot less.

Actually the story I like is this one:

I was alive in the forest
I was cut by the cruel axe
In life I was silent
In death I sweetly sing

-Inscription on the face frets of an Elizabethan lute

The opening page of:
"Guitarmaking Tradition and Technology"
by William R Cumpiano and Johnathan D Natelson

Cheers,
Bob

Lots of stuff here to read. It got pretty heated at one point. I just read the whole thread. Being a newb I'm not about to offend anyone here as your all way superior luthiers to anything I might come up with. I just remember Bob Taylor's pallet guitar. Something else that maybe some of you didn't know. Antonio Stradavari refused to make an instrument from highly figured wood. Said it was weaker then the more plain Jane wood. Sigh!!!! This discussion seems to have been going on for a few hundred years. Being almost seventy I doubt I'll be around to see who wins.
KenC,Haans thumbs up guys


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"Antonio Stradavari refused to make an instrument from highly figured wood."

Sorry, what kind of story is this, I have seen 4 Strads directly in front of my eyes, in my hand I had 2, all of them having highly figured maple backs and sides...
Taylors Pallet guitar...well sounds probably like other Taylors, so no surprise to me...

Taylors Pallet guitar...well sounds probably like other Taylors, so no surprise to me... [/quote]



Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

"Taylors Pallet guitar...well sounds probably like other Taylors, so no surprise to me... "

Did you find it unpalatable?

Well Srads wood was somewhat figured but not highly. Heck what do I know I just read it in a book. Never met the man himself.


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Remember Strad built fiddles for royalty. Who sometimes paid musicians to play them. But mostly stored away in the treasure house. His fiddles didn't go out onto the open market so much.


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Sorry I missed out on this thread, I have a lot of posts to read. LOL I've been pretty busy "Tree" hunting. Most of what I have had has been cut from large boards, at least 22 inches wide and over 12 feet long. Boards that Robert Novak sold are all marked with a number and he signed them. Many had Handlogger's paper work stapled on them too. As of this moment I am buying a board that is signed by Robert. The Sausage Curl conference table was well documented…and when you see a 37 inch wide board 13 1/2 feet long with that figure, you know it's Tree. You just do.

Like the stuff or not, cool. I love it.

My opinions of the wood is it is more dense and in the end to me leans more towards a sound like Brazilian. I am not a builder, I have handled over 200 sets of this now though. Cut "most" mahogany and weigh it, if cut to the same specs I've found The Tree is heavier. I'm sure there are exceptions. All I know is the stuff that I have sold has made a lot of believers that this wood is not your typical Honduran Mahogany.

The tortoiseshell and sausage curl are pretty distinctive, the more muddled gets harder when you don't see the whole board. Here is part of a board I am buying, it is signed like Robert signed them. As you can see the lower edge is very "Tree" like, the upper half not so much. As you move up the board you find more and more figure. If there is interest I'll size the 15 pictures of this board so you can see what I mean.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xqw6ucx05wn7qsq/DSCN1403.JPG

I have lots of photos, this month Guitar Aficionado is publishing an article about "The Tree". Give me tomorrow to read all the posts. I would be happy to post the many "faces" of Tree Mahogany. I've got another 150 board feet in my site, now I have to decide if I take a loan out on my house. LOL

Jay

You can reach me at jay (at) blahblahwoofwoof(DotCom)

Just a week or so ago someone was selling a small block of "The Tree" on eBay. I thought it looked great, but it went for stupid money. Never thought about how it might have sounded, other than just the way mahogany normally sounds.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Lotsa woods are more dense than average honduras. Doesn't mean it SOUNDS better.

Unfortunately my evaluation of your objectivity is overshadowed by the fact that you have a stake in acquiring and reselling the wood for most likely obscene profits.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

And I'm OK with that. I got my first set in 1992 from Luthiers Mercantile. Been loving it ever since. I have stated I'm NOT a builder. I can only say what builders of very high caliber have told me when they have worked it or worked it for the first time. I'm not going to try to convince you of anything. One could also say that you would recommend another wood because you don't have any Tree so you get the sale. Just because you say it will sound better doesn't make that so either.

Please don't tell my wife about the obscene profits though, she'll want to know where they are!

Jay

I bought my first set for $350 in 1992. Breedlove built me a great guitar with it. It was the same cost as Brazilian at that time. I was a gigging musician doing about a 100 40 buck and a muffin gigs a year. I needed a new guitar, had a job that supported me and my two boys and went for it. It's been my main guitars for years. Before Steve Henderson left Breedlove I was playing Sisters Folk Festival and Steve was in horror I was touring with that guitar and insisted he build me a less valuable guitar to tour with. It was a great guitar he built me that fall. Having your guitar built, a custom guitar, is a collaboration of artists. If you don't see eye to eye, it will be an annoying process for both.

If you want a guitar out of "The Tree" find a builder who loves it or would love to build with it, not one who will begrudgingly build one for you. If a builder said other wood he has would sound better I would do one of two things. I'd think "I've loved his work, seen what he's done and I trust him that his statement is true and not use Tree or I'd find a builder that was excited about building with it whose work I also loved. If the build starts out in an adversarial tone, with people wanting to prove the other wrong or right…thats a Kobayashi Maru. Work with the woods and the people you want to work with, life is too short.