Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi!

Anyone building with African Blackwood? I would love to see some pix if you have any.

What top are you guys using?

thanks!!!

Welcome to the OLF SkyHigh!

You can't build with anything but WRC with AB, it's the only wood that will work. Do not let anyone else fool you.

On occasion, we have someone say something out of ignorance around here. You can use other top woods. Of course. Shame on you Elmer. You know better.
Stop trying to stir the pot!

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"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."

[QUOTE=E. Finkelstein]You can't build with anything but WRC with AB, it's the only wood that will work. Do not let anyone else fool you.[/QUOTE]

im confused.

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sweat the small stuff.

Elmer is Don  I told on my sister a lot too when I was a kid.......

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Darn, I would have sworn there was an Adirondack top under that layout plexi, hmmm, guess not.

Shucks, just about any top would work great with that B and S set.

What do you want to use? And where is your picture of the blackwood..... ?

I recommend Sitka, Lutz derivative, Adi Red, or Cedar, or just anything else you have lying around ought to work well, mainly a conifer.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I too feel that cedar is the best with African Blackwood.
Sure, you can use others, but the resonances that set up in AB work in synergy with cedar better than any other wood. They seem to have magical properties in combination. I'd call it a Super Combo. It's the closest thing there is to a sure thing.




Ok, that's bullpucky. But it was fun to say anyway.

[QUOTE=C Kent] Ok, that's bullpucky. But it was fun to say anyway.[/QUOTE]

Sky High, don't listen to Superman or Elmer Fudd. I think they think your post is naive and maybe so. Any good top will make a great guitar.

If you are after a certain look, then find some examples. One suggestion is looking in the Archives of the OLF. Luthing is like a box of chocolates, and you never know what you are going to find in the archive.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Adi top on this Kinnaird.



See, Adi Red spruce works fine.... as will others, check the archive

Your search for 'African Blackwood' has found 118 results

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

i knew elmer finkelstein just didnt sound right .

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sweat the small stuff.

Here is an ABW "Hollow Back" viewed from the inside.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

More pics of the completed guitar:

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Gee Tim, those double-back guitars must get expensive to make, eh?

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"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."

[QUOTE=Don Williams] Gee Tim, those double-back guitars must get expensive to make, eh?[/QUOTE]

You got that right ... but ... the material cost is passed on to the customer.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Beautiful Git'r Tim! Sitka top?
Very pretty indeed. Elegant, classy. Great 'claw too.



That's a 7 Clapper out of 7...!

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"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."

Thanks for the welcome guys!

But I wasn't asking which top will go well with ABW. I was just asking what you guys are using if you happen to have one on your table.

 

Tim, Beautiful guitar!

[QUOTE=SkyHigh]

Hi!

Anyone building with African Blackwood?

What top are you guys using?

thanks!!!

[/QUOTE]


Ooops, a lot of us are just average English students.   

We forgot to read between the lines....

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Never use the stuff, too endangered.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Was that the one I played Tim? After playing one of Tim's double back guitars, I can tell you that they 'ooze' TONE. Beautiful work Tim!

Vince

Beautiful guitar Tim!

Skyhigh,

First things first... You didnt state what type of guitar you were building (Classical, Dread, OM, etc) and what style of playing (fingerstyle, bluesgrass, slack key, etc).  The choice of wood for the guitar has little to do with the back and side wood until those things are decided.

Construction style also has alot to do with the choice of top wood as the back can be built as a reflective surface or a resonating surface.  Classical guitars in general are usually played with the back of the guitar not touching the player whereas a steel string player using a strap could be standing with the body of the guitar against their stomach and chest.  All of this affects the sound contribution of the back and side wood.

From what I read, African Blackwood is not near endagered, because it is a relatively aggressive weed in its very wide-ranged habitat (like locust here). The problem with getting good wood is that the trees grow very slowly and often as a multi-stemmed bush form.   So, wood wide enough for backs is very rare, but the species is not rare. Nevertheless, there is a group heading up the African Blackwood Conservation Project which is replanting whereever they can and encouraging the locals to nurture the trees for long future generations of music makers.

[QUOTE=Shawn]

Skyhigh,

First things first... You didnt state what type of guitar you were building (Classical, Dread, OM, etc) and what style of playing (fingerstyle, bluesgrass, slack key, etc).  The choice of wood for the guitar has little to do with the back and side wood until those things are decided.

Construction style also has alot to do with the choice of top wood as the back can be built as a reflective surface or a resonating surface.  Classical guitars in general are usually played with the back of the guitar not touching the player whereas a steel string player using a strap could be standing with the body of the guitar against their stomach and chest.  All of this affects the sound contribution of the back and side wood.

[/QUOTE]

Again, I'm not asking which top would go best with ABW. That was never my question for It's subjective. If you look at my original post, I am only asking to see some pix if anyone has one being built, and if so what top are they using.

thanks!