New Builds
TO ADD FORUM POST USE THE DISCUSSIONS TAB OR ADD NEW TOPIC IN THE SIDE BAR
Organizer:
- Organized by
-
-
Opinion on figured wood for top
-
Opinion on figured wood for top
Hello everybody,
I am about to embark on building an acoustic with a top other than spruce. I have some mahogany and looking to buy some koa. I have always heard and read that when looking for spruce tops that the tighter and straighter the grain on the top the better. Should this hold true for other species as well. For example, looking at the sample koa selection in the picture would the center option have a better sound than the option on the right (all things being equal). I realize there is much more than just the grain orientation to consider, I guess my question is how much does that effect? Is there a real sacrifice of sound for asthetic appeal?
Thank you!
Mark
-
2 Replies
-
Aloha Mark,
I’ve made a number of different sized ukuleles using figured wood for the back, sides and soundboard. I’ve also measured the physical properties of tops made from other woods and koa as well. See enclosed figure. The tone can be ok, much like mahogany, but the wood is structurally weaker. And that means that you’ll have to make the top proportionately thicker. I usually ended up sealing the instrument bodies with epoxy as a pore filler, and with figured koa, the resin went all the way through the top!
-
Thank you Kawika! Looking at your graph am I correct in interpreting that “runout koa” is more less figured and the “koa” is straight grained? Also is the “Modulus of Elasticity” representing the stiffness of the wood? So the chart is proving that cedar is more stiff or less elastic than koa? And what does the specific gravity represent, I assume density?
Mark
-
Log in to reply.