Hi ,I am wondering if anyone has ever made any stringed instuments,particuliarly guitars,out of paulownia.If so would love to hear from you.
cheers jim
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Hi ,I am wondering if anyone has ever made any stringed instuments,particuliarly guitars,out of paulownia.If so would love to hear from you.
cheers jim
Me too! :wink:
P
:D
Its a fast growing species isnt it? That would count against its use as top material. Might be ok for lining. Would be interested to hear more about this wood.
The Chinese use one of the Paulownia varieties for intsruments, usually the longest growing one, takes about 40 years to mature. Most of the plantations about use the fastest growing varieties, about 10 years to maturity, and it regrows. Apparentley there are about 12 different Paulwonia species that can be used.
http://www.toadgully.com.au/images/guitar.jpg
http://www.toadgully.com.au/articles/kiri_ptimber.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PaulowniaQuote:
This unique guitar was made by Yokinobu Chai (master instrument maker, Japan) from Kiri wood provided to him by Masaichi Tanaka, curator of Ryogoku Kiri Museum, Tokyo. The guitar has a deeper, warmer tone than those made from cedar or pine. The fretboard requires a very hard wood and was made from ebony, but all other parts of the guitar are made from Kiri - a truly excellent instrument.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...tar?sku=512150Quote:
http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbas...5/1/313951.jpg
Paulownia catalpifolia
Paulownia elongata
Paulownia fargesii
Paulownia fortunei
Paulownia kawakamii
Paulownia taiwaniana
Paulownia tomentosa
The tomentosa is the most common garden variety ornamental, along with the fortunei most often used for plantation timbers, not sure which one is the long growing one but its the best for instruments....
I have some logs and some cut, sure is an interesting timber, strong and light with resonant properties...
http://www.paulowniatrees.com.au/
http://www.paulowniatrees.com.au/ima...ber_sales3.jpg
http://www.paulownia.org/
http://www.paulowniatrees.org/
http://www.worldpaulownia.com/
http://www.worldpaulownia.com/html/p...warehouse.html
http://archive.idrc.ca/library/docum...52/086352g.htm
http://paotong.9su.net/en/ptlz.htm
I grew some trees at my last place and was amazed at the resonance when you put your ear to the trunck and taped it somewhere. Always thought it would make good instruments.
Dom
I'm 99% sure the fast growing commercial variety grown here in Australia is a hybrid, between 2 of the species, don't know which 2.
yes, a few of those sites below mention the hybrids available. The higher quality or tighter grained paulownia grows in temperate or colder climates and grows a bit slower with the seasons making the growth rings closer together. In China where its native, the different varieties were all in different climate zones with the cold weather ones more highly prized.Quote:
Originally Posted by Amb
Some of the suppliers of the timber, especially in Japan will have the tighter grained stuff at higher prices, but it's definaltey available.
When i cut the log i have i;ll see if there are wide enough boards for a guitar, definaltey a uke but am not sure there enough for guitar size.
Hi john_james and all, I recently made an experimental Classical entirely with Paulownia (except the bridge and fingerboard). Thought I'll share it here.
The guitar is very light, as you would expect with Paulownia. The sound is deceptively resonant, warm, good separation, voluminous. The wood is easy to work but the edges chip off easily when worked. However it takes shellac very nicely, just that it takes ages to pumice its millions of tiny pores! But the Paulownia is very difficult to get that is big enough for guitars, maybe older trees. The characteristic of the wood doesn't allow for a greater sustain. Maybe with some design alterations and a different top may change somethings. As is, this timber truly exceptional, so many other uses and yet so musical! Between the next Paulownia, is a Flamenco project. Hope can share more then.
You may see the photos here - http://pimach.com/sg/index.php/about...out-the-guitar. You can also hear the guitar at the home page.
Keep the music alive.
hi all,Quote:
Originally Posted by notamen
i'm sorry that the earlier link to hear the paulownia classical guitar is broken. so here are the updated links.
audio sample at http://www.myspace.com/ngohguitars
construction photos at http://ngohguitars.blogspot.com/sear...ia%20Classical
keep the music alive!
love the construction pics notamen
i am delighted that you have made the neck out of this wood..
initially i thought it might not be strong enough but your pics say otherwise
It's fine for solid body guitars, I've got no info on it's uses for acoustics, but I suppose it would be ok. Necks? probably stick with maple etc...but then it's all about choices and experimenting...:2tsup: The body of the strat is Paulownia, and the solid body blank is also Paulownia.!!!! Not hard to get.
hmmn
just been lookin at some of me guitars and found this one
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f..._01/back-2.jpg
light weight - in region of basswood ; soft - easily dented with fingernail; looks like mahogany but far too light weight to be so imo; originally came from China
very resonant sound but sustain is shorter than typical...suspect neck might also be paulownia
i have always suspected this wood to be paulownia; what say you , fellas who have used it?
Looks very much like plain Eucalyptus.
Cheers Bob
ya not wrong there Bob ...i got some eucalyptus that looks similar but it's too lightweight and soft thoughQuote:
Originally Posted by woodturner777
there might be lightweight eucalyptus but not the ones i have
I have come across some light weight eucalyptus here in tassie.
Cheers Bob
Quote:
Originally Posted by R3R
i looked in this stuff and had samples sent down by a local grower.....
if you want to build guitars out of wood that is very similar in weight and density to balsa wood, paulownia would suit you
I'm working on taking better pictures. But I'm glad you enjoyed the photos as much as I do putting them up.Quote:
Originally Posted by R3R
The paulownia neck was build in the traditional spanish heel construction, wasn't reinforced, and the neck also has a very flat profile, for my playng pleasure. Still, it's been over a year, and it's still very stable, as you would have read about this timber, in spite of string tension. But bear in mind, that this neck takes nylon strings at medium tension - D-addario J45. For higher tension, like on a steel-string guitar, maybe you can let me know when you build one with a paulownia neck. But my feeling is that, it'll fair pretty well. Reinforced it with hardwood, like ebony, down the middle, if you like and it'll look very handsome as well.
Keep the music alive!
aah yes...the nylon strings bring much less tension...i forgot about tht :)Quote:
Originally Posted by notamen
unfortunately i prob won't be using paulownia for necks anytime soon as i am going in the other direction... towards using the more dense/stiff woods rather than less dense but resonant woods
hi R3R, from your experience, for neck woods, with all else being equal, what are the differences between using a dense/stiff and a less dense/resonant one?Quote:
Originally Posted by R3R
i did a 1-piece cocobolo neck (truss rod from back) recently using something like 7/8" stockQuote:
Originally Posted by notamen
the typical bolt on neck is around 1"
just from the cocobolo neck (and in comparison to maple and mahogany necks - i have a few guitars i can compare to) i make the following observations:
1. the cocobolo neck has not deviated one iota from the straight line using strings gauge 10 and tuned to standard pitch...and it is not particularly thick as i shaped the neck to quite a slim rounded profile (but not thin)
greater density = greater strength ...which means i can use less wood to get the stiffness of a larger neck made from less dense materials
win, win in ma book
2. there appears to be a stronger fundamental tone using the cocobolo relative to maple and or mahogany
this creates a sound with more clarity...espc on the lower notes where, on less dense material neck, lotsa overtones can contribute to a wolfy/muddy sound when using high (or even moderately high) gain settings on the amp
moreover the attack (of the sounded note) is a bit faster and the decay slower leading to more sustain
3. this cocobolo did not require a finish at all (not all dense woods like this btw) and i found the feel to be far superior to a finished neck - satin/oiled/or otherwise
in fact there is a silkiness that comes from the patina that develops after a while of playing the neck ...tht is simply quite luxurious
i now rarely play any other guitar due to this fact alone
4. i have been itching to do a neck without a trussrod using this material and i suspect it be more successful than using typical maple material
i really dont want to adjust a neck at all and am looking for material that just do not deviate from the straight under the (quite light string pressure) of strings tht are gauge 10 and tuned to standard pitch (iirc it is around 140 pounds of lateral tension pressure...not sure what the vector component of the force is acting downwards on the neck, though)
maybe when we get a nice stretch of weather here in the west, i will soon start doing something of the ideas in me head
sorry to resurrect an old thread but i thought i'd get more discussion here.
any thoughts on this wood as a tonewood?
i see a few body blanks going for quite cheap (as well as those already routed) on the internet.
will be for a bass, and the lighter the better.
You'd want to be careful how light you go in the body, otherwise it will do a neck dive every time you put it onQuote:
Originally Posted by ftssjk
Chop the cheap body in half and make a through neck
Well... It's traditionally used for Musical instruments in it's home range...
Then.. the early Fender electrics were made with Pine bodies.... Solid Spruce has been used plenty of times on electrics as well... No reason Paulonia wouldn't work just fine.
I say go for it!
Thanks