TIMBER DESCRIPTIONS

3rd-African-Mahogany

AFRICAN MAHOGANY

(khaya ivorensis)

African Mahogany has all the characteristics of a great tone wood. Its weight and strength allow for well defined ranges of tone as well as strong volume. It works easily and displays beautiful figure.
It comes in everything from straight-grained to flamed, quilted, curly and mottled. African Mahogany has great musical properties with a warm and full tone and good sustain.

3rd-Tasmanian-Blackwood

BLACKWOOD

(acacia melanoxion)

The looks and sound of Blackwood guitars are among the best that can be produced in a Classical guitar. Blackwood produces an outstanding warm, mellow and well balanced tone and is a highly valued tone wood. The grain varies quite a bit between trees, but the sonorous properties are very consistent and always top of the line. One of the finest choices for backs and sides and necks.

Australian tonewood

BUNYA PINE

(Araucaria bidwillii)

Bunya has a fine, even texture and a straight, tight grain with faint growth rings making it ideal for Soundboards. Bunya soundboards have a direct, strong, earthy and evocative tone with more midrange than Spruce. Bunya has enough flexibility to receive and amplify the vibrations of the guitar strings. Its colour is similar to Sitka Spruce, sometimes with slight pinkish tinges.

Camphor Laurel

CAMPHOR LAUREL

(Cinnamomum camphora)

Camphor Laurel has excellent working qualities. It has stunning, contrasting curly grain and can be a highly figured timber with beautiful grain pattern. The timber has a pleasant aroma and a nice crisp sound. Camphor is stable, moderate in weight, has a good tap tone and displays a variety of figure making it an ideal tonewood.

3rd-Flame-Sheoak

FLAME SHE-OAK

(casuarina)

This timber has striking colour and figure and is very stable. Ideal for fingerboards.

3rd-Huon-Pine

HUON PINE

(Lagarostrobos franklinii)

Huon Pine has a beautiful golden yellow hue with a fine grain. It is softer and heavier than Spruce. The tone of Huon Pine has tremendous sustain and great richness in depth in the overtone content over all ranges.

PNG Rosewood

NEW GUINEA ROSEWOOD

(pterocarpus indicus)

NGR is easy to work, has really nice tap tone and is an underused timber. Its colour ranges from a yellow, golden brown to a dark red (Red NGR). The grain is even and some select logs have a “bee’s-wing mottle” figure which is spectacular. It is a stable wood, classified as a moderate steam-bending wood. NGR is used for necks and is a great backs and sides wood. Accoustically, it has a very bright ping when tapped. It is generally a great tone wood.

Northern Silky Oak_3 (2)

NORTHERN SILKY OAK

(cardwellier sublimis)

The Northern Silky Oak has beautiful, lustrous grain with big, silver medullary rays. It has a nice tap tone. It is native to Northern Australia where is is called Silky Oak. In the USA it is called Lacewood.

3rd-Purple-Gidgee

PURPLE GIDGEE

(acacia camnagei)

Gidgee is an extremely hard and heavy timber. It is a beautiful dark, reddish brown colour with tinges of purple. It is an excellent timber for guitar bridges.

Queensland Red Cedar

QUEENSLAND RED CEDAR

(toona ciliata)

While Spruce is the more traditional wood for soundboards, the use of Cedar has become increasingly popular. Cedar is lighter, softer and a little more stable than Spruce and imparts a beautiful tone, sweeter than Spruce making it a favourite with Classical players. Cedar soundboards are also less susceptible to variations in humidity than Spruce. Cedar soundboards provide crispness, volume, depth and responsiveness.

3rd-Queensland-Maple

QUEENSLAND MAPLE

(flindersia breyleyana)

QLD Maple is a highly popular and sought after Australian tone wood. It is light, strong, has a fabulous tone producing strong mid tones and is striking to look at. Golden in colour with light brown features. It has a straight and wavy grain with frequent fiddleback features. QLD Maple is ideal for backs and sides, solid bodies and necks. It is used often for necks and neck and tail blocks because of its stability and lower density than other hardwoods. Quilted maple has a beautiful  wavy and satiny grain as can be seen in our Head veneers.

river oak

RIVER OAK

(casuarina cunninghamiana)

River Oak is a dense, hard, straight grained timber suitable for fretboards.

Luthiers

TASMANIAN MYRTLE

(Nothofagus cunninghamii)

Tassie Myrtle is an excellent tone wood. It has a fine, even grain, is pinkish in hue and has a warm sound.