All About Guitars
Guitar Building
African Rosewood, also known as Bubinga, comes from the Ivory Coast, Gabon and Cameroon. Bubinga is bright and rich, with great variation in pink, orange, red and dark brown. The core can be color pink with red-purple veins and darker purple stripes. African Rosewood wood grain is blocking, it is harder and heavier than Brazilian Rosewood, and has a medium texture. Cast of mauve pink Bubinga oxidizes to a brown-red over time. African Rosewood can be simple or stained. There are photos of a steel African Rosewood classical guitar at the site ellisguitars.com. There are many species of mahogany in Africa. Used in guitar making is known as Khaya Mahogany. Khaya Mahogany is found in tropical Africa and Madagascar. Khaya Mahogany is light pink to medium brown to red brown in color. Khaya Mahogany is more strength to Sapele Mahogany, African Mahogany others used in the construction of the guitar. It has a moderately coarse texture that is sometimes connected, sometimes straight. Grain interlocked producing a striped figure on quartersawn surfaces (best for guitars). Like most Mahogany species Khaya Mahogany guitars are warm and clear with a good balance. Other Mahogany familiar to luthiers is Sapele Mahogany. Entandrophragma cylindricum is found in West, Central and East African forests tropical, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Zaire and Tanzania. Sapele mahogany has salmon pink heartwood and sapwood pale yellow. The core rose can change to red brown with age. Sapele Mahogany wood has a close texture with interlocking grain that changes in direction and can be regularly distributed. You can also have large irregular pores, interspersed with bands of small pores. Wavy grain produces very intense fiddleback or figures spotted doing the same 3D appearance. Sapele Mahogany tonewood is heavier than other African Mahogany, but not so strong. Ovangkol is relatively new to the construction of the guitar. Guibourtia ehie also known as Mozambique, shedua, Amazoue and Amazakoue is found in West Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, southern Nigeria and Gabon Ovangkol heartwood is yellow brown to deep chocolate brown with gray black stripes. Ovangkol wood grain is interlocked and texture moderately coarse. Hue, Ovangkol back and sits between Rosewood sides and high elevations Maple. Padouk is a wood color depth also known as Pterocarpus soyauxii, MBE, Mbila, Mututi, angle and Bosulu. Padauk or Padouk is found in Central America and tropical West Africa, extending south-western Nigeria to Zaire. The wood is bright orange or red and almost as Tonewood guitar has good grain, straight, slightly harder and heavier than Brazilian Rosewood, with fine loam. Padouk timber oxidizes to a darker, rich purple-brown over time. Padauk guitars have a strong tone. Wenge is a deep dark chocolate brown wood found in Zaire, Cameroon and Gabon in Africa. Millettia Tonewood Laurentii is brown with spaced, fine black veins and dark and light brown bands. Wenge guitar back and sides timber has a tight grain in a straight line across the width and a coarse texture. Wenge Tonewood guitar is heavier than East Indian Rosewood and and like most of an African Wenge wood guitar has a good strong tone. Zebrawood is named for stripes is intense. Microberlinia brazzavillensis is found in Africa, Gabon and Cameroon. Zebrawood timber has bold colors evenly striped overall with gold-tan, yellow and dark brown. Wood has texture of coarse-grained to very coarse, and is similar in density of East Indian. Tonally Zebrawood has the same resonance as East Indian. The cream of African wood for the construction of the guitar is African Blackwood, which is really a Rosewood. Dalbergia melanoxylon and pink to dark brown with black streaks. African Blackwood has a wood-grained and polishes well and is said by some to be the best of Rosewood. African Blackwood Tonewood response was excellent, and TAPTONE is fantastic.
About the Author:
Andrew Ellis is the Head Luthier at Ellis Guitars, Perth, Western Australia. Ellis Guitars make fine handcrafted acoustic guitars and the Ellis Acoustic Stompbox. Website - www.ellisguitars.com
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - African Timbers - an Exotic Touch at Ellis Guitars
50 days of guitar building in 3.5 minutes
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