Comments

• noodlenot ✭✭✭

  June 2013 Posts: 388

  that´s one of the funkiest looking woods i´ve seen, the figure so logically laid-out it rather seems man made. even for a wild method of veneer cutting it looks over the top, almost reptilian... definitely not cypress, though. winter growth on cypresses (and false cypresses too) doesn´t have a high contrast. also, is it a one piece back? no bookmatch there.
  
  still, one hell of a guitar!
• noodlenot ✭✭✭

  June 2013 Posts: 388

  sorry, that wood´s got me puzzled: at first it seemed like some uber-form of quilt (although a very geometrical and homogenous quilt), but as you move the guitar around, the quilt should change it´s looks as it reflects light differently (adjacent fibers on quilt figure are oriented all over the place) - but in the clip it looked quite the same way irrespective of light angle. is it just me? anyone care to say what wood you think it is?
• Al Watsky New JerseyVirtuoso

  June 2013 Posts: 440

  What ever it is , its striking !
  The listing mentioned that the back was with out braces.
  The only time I've seen that done is with a carved back. Not bent or joined but carved as is some times done with a violin that has a 1 piece back.
  No way to know without very close examination.
  Amazing piece.
• CalebFSU Tallahassee, FLModerator Made in USA Dell Arte Hommage

  June 2013 Posts: 557

  That guitar sounds amazing!

  Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard.
• Michael Bauer Chicago, ILProdigy Selmers, Busatos and more…oh my!

  June 2013 Posts: 1,002

  That guitar lived with me for several months in 2009. I sent pictures to wood guys all over the country with no luck. Then I found numbers for a wood club in Washington. I called one of the officers and he asked me to send him pictures, telling me it would likely take a few weeks to figure it out. To my surprise, he called me back in about 15 minutes, telling me that the wood was some obscure maple that only grew on the island where he lives in Washington. he told me what it's name was, but I have long since forgotten. Take it for what it's worth. He sounded very sincere to me. If it's maple, it's the weirdest stuff I have ever seen. But he insisted that he was absolutely certain.

  I've never been a guitar player, but I've played one on stage.
• Al Watsky New JerseyVirtuoso

  June 2013 Posts: 440

  Wood is endlessly variable.
  Only god/nature can make a tree.
  Trees are like snow flakes, every one is different.
  Busatos are also endlessly variable it would seem.
  Whats not to like ?
• Jazzaferri Victoria B.C.Moderator Dunn Ultrafox, DuPont MDC20 Gretsch Chet Atkins CG

  June 2013 Posts: 3,707

  Drooling, wishing Ihad a spare 15k :shock:

  The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
• noodlenot ✭✭✭

  June 2013 Posts: 388

  if that guitar was near me, and there were no shipping and custom issues i would be VERY tempted, in spite of the cheesy ivoroid bindings...
  
  michael bauer: which guitars haven´t gone through your hands?
• noodlenot ✭✭✭

  June 2013 Posts: 388

  ok, the story continues... i consulted with a few luthiers/lumber guys and the consensus points to tamo ash as the most probable candidate. still, it would be a VERY special specimen of Tamo ash, someone talked about doug fir being able to exhibit such kind of pattern, although i suspect it to be very rare. Maple didn´t pop up in any answer.
• Bones Moderator

  June 2013 Posts: 3,338

  Looks like a one piece back (no center seam)?
  
  Maybe flat(ish) sawn curly bigleaf maple?
  
  I dig the ivoroid binding. Not very Selmer but more of a traditional US archtop look.