| Author |
Topic: Tone woods |
James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2007 4:06 pm |
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| I was looking at the various Weiss copies, and noticed that Koa , and Blackwood look very similarly grained.... I built a solid body electric out of solid 1 inch thick Koa, and put humbuckers on it to simulate a double cutaway Les Paul body shape ...I put a 59 reissue Gibson SG mahogany set neck on it and all .. I plugged it in, and was looking for some raunchy, rippin, Gibson tones from it , and it sounded JUST LIKE A STRAT !!.... So much for my thoughts on what that guitar would sound like ...So I'm asking , is Koa brighter sounding than the Blackwood , or visa versa ?.... I'd like to get a Teardrop made, but not sure what wood to go with, and if a Spruce top is in order ??....Thanks, Jim |
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Mike D
From:
Phx, Az
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Posted 26 Jun 2007 6:12 pm
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Koa and Aussie, also called Tazmanian, Blackwood are both Acacias and are very similar. I've heard some people say that the Blackwood is a little 'tighter' (this is talking about acoustic guitars) but there is so much variability in woods that I think that's too much of a general statement.
From what I'd read about teardrop Weiss' (never played one) they are usually brighter than the standard shaped ones. Probably due to the smaller top area and lack of a secondary resonance chamber. I think I'd stick with a hardwood (Koa, Mahog, walnut, etc) top to balance this out, but it depends on the tone you're looking for. |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2007 6:18 pm
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Mike,
I'm on the same train of thought as you just described.... Thanks for the confirmation ....It makes a lot of sense to me ...Thanks for your input ...Sincerely, Jim |
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Mike D
From:
Phx, Az
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Posted 26 Jun 2007 6:31 pm
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No problem Jim. Hopefully Steinar or someone that actually owns one will chime too.  |
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Gary Lynch
From:
Creston, California, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2007 7:31 pm
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| The grade 'A' Blackwood is beautiful looking and sounding. Perfect for a Weissenborn style guitar. |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2007 2:56 am
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Gary,
The Blackwood truely is great looking wood, but I need to know tone specific's compared to other woods ...Is it brigher than Ash, Darker sounding than Mahogany, Crisper sounding than Maple ???....You get the idea .... Saying that Blackwood is a great sounding tone wood for a Weissenborn is a very broad statement ... I need to know the characteristics of the wood....I already know that by choosing the teardrop model, that I will be probably be giving up some depth of the instrument as I will be giving up some actual volume/area of the body.... I don't want to end up with a nice looking , THIN souding instrument because I choose the wrong woods ...I have a Lazy River Weiss that Lance built me out of Rosewood, and a Spruce top....It's got the depth of tone and very rich sound from the Rosewood, and has the clarity and snap of the Spruce top...The combo is nothing short of amazing ... The Koa Teardrops that I have seen really have that look that makes me want to have one in the worst way ... To me when an instrument is visibly apealing to me , it makes me want to pick it up and play it more ... My Lazy River is like that ...Thanks for your input ..Jim |
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Gary Lynch
From:
Creston, California, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2007 5:33 am
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Ask at least three major builders of Weiss style guitars for their input. See what their consensus is. Go with that as they have to answer to you later. Most will take it back if it does not produce the tone they said it would.
Myself, my next will be a Blackwood Weiss. I have a spruce/walnut now and would want to mellow the sound down. |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 27 Jun 2007 6:20 am
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| Mike D wrote: |
| Hopefully Steinar or someone that actually owns one will chime too. |
I heard that!
When I ordered my Lazy River Teardrop model I decided to go with an all mahogany body (Sapele) because I worried it would be too bright with a spruce top and figured the mahogany would help balance that.
In retrospect I think I should have gone with a spruce top after all, the guitar is very soft and warm sounding - a beautiful sound in its own right, with great sustain, but not the cutting 'bite' I was looking for when tuned to one of the 'standard' weissenborn tunings.
One thing I've found out with this particular Teardrop is that it really prefers higher pitched tunings, like the highbass-G. This brings out a totally different range of overtones that brings it alive.
At the moment I have it tuned to a very high G (open-D tuned up to G), using a set of D'Addario 011-049 nickel strings (plain third string) and the sound is totally wild - in a positive manner - with beautiful rich overtones all around... 
I don't know if this is a general issue with Teardrop models or just this specific guitar though. Rance will build me a shorter scale (23") model later for this tuning, so I can use a slightly heavier string gauge, and then I'll probably keep this one in D6 or something.
Steinar
_________________
"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2007 6:24 am
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| On my Superior Weissenborn, I have an A, high bass, tuning. Not so much to enhance the sound of the guitar but that's a tuning I am very much familiar with. However, it really makes the guitar sparkle. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2007 6:25 am
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Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
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Posted 27 Jun 2007 10:05 am
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Somewhere back in my little brain, I thought Rosewood would be the #1 choice for the better quality guitars because of its grain structure and ability to resonate sound frequecies.
These qualities are why Rosewood was/is used to make expensive Marimbas and guitars and similar high quality stringed instruments so they would produce that beautiful ringing sound.
Bob will probably have something say about this. |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2007 3:10 pm
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Hmmmm...A lot of food for thought ....
Steinar ,
Your answer kinda threw me for a loop !!....I really thought that an all Mahogany Teardrop would work very well considering the size,the shape, and the nature of the wood .... Here's something you might want to consider ...I have a really sweet Walnut Larrivee OM model ...Typically , Walnut is a pretty brite sounding wood, however here's the kicker ....The Larrivee has a CEDAR top on it which sort of neutralizes the briteness of the Walnut ... You end up with the punch of Walnut, but the smoothness of the Cedar top !!.... Maybe going in between Mohagany, and Spruce for the top ( Cedar ) , it may be the answer ? ....Jim
PS..Now I'm thinking maybe a Rosewood Teardrop , with a Cedar top !!.... |
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Chuck Fisher
From:
Santa Cruz, California, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 27 Jun 2007 6:28 pm
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I had a Superior that was mahogany with "select spruce" top, it was a canon, very loud and pretty balanced, kinda both low and highs , not very midrangy. Top-wise cedar is mellower, also redwood is also nice for tops, a bit mellower but not like mahogany which is kinda dense threfore quiet comparitively. J. M.H.O.
CF |
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Gary Lynch
From:
Creston, California, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2007 7:11 pm
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Regarding tone and volume. Out of high school I worked in the construction industry for about 10 years. We did not use ear plugs and all of my buddies have hearing loss now. Then I worked the rest of my career up to retirement as a medic. In the 'old' days the sirens were really loud inside the unit and on scene the noise is deafening at times with multiple engines and apparatus/tools at work. So my hearing is not too good. I am telling this because my spruce/walnut Weiss style is so frigging loud it hurts my ears! The soundhole is right in your face so-to-speak unlike a Spanish style guitar or an amp you can turn away from you. So, volume is not an issue unless you camplain about it being too loud.
Bottom line for me is I really like the spruce/walnut but also want a Blackwood (top/sides/back) for a mellow less biting tone at times. If the Baritones were not so large I'd go for one but a standard scale Weiss is already a pretty large guitar. |
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Don Kona Woods
From:
Hawaiian Kama'aina
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Posted 27 Jun 2007 10:41 pm
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Excuse me!!!
Sorry, 
I thought that you were talking about my cousin, Tone.
Aloha,
Kona Woods |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
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Posted 3 Jul 2007 9:19 am
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Wow, beautiful Ricky What are you going to do the first time someone rests his cigarette or coffee cup on that machine?
My wife had the idea once that she should place a flower pot on my steel when I was not playing it.  |
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Vince Luke
From:
Iowa, USA
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Posted 3 Jul 2007 10:58 am
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I read on the Lazy River website that his teardrops are shallower than his standard weissenborns. The Celtic Cross ones, on the other hand, are the same depth. I think Asher makes teardrops also, but I don't know how they compare size-wise. So that's got to factor in, too, right? Your preferred tonewood might be different depending on the dimensions of the instrument.
Not to complicate things. . .
Vince
p.s. Ricky, I'm no luthier but that's a terrible teardrop weissenborn! |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 3 Jul 2007 12:55 pm
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| Vince Luke wrote: |
| I read on the Lazy River website that his teardrops are shallower than his standard weissenborns. |
Yeah, it says so on the website, but mine is just as deep as his standard models. His prototype was shallower, as you can see on the photos, but mine is standard debth and as far as I know that's the only two Lazy River Teardrops so far....
But you have a good point, there are many other factors besides choice of woods that determines how a guitar will sound.
Steinar
_________________
"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
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