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Flamed Black Redwood http://www-.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=10778	Page 1 of 1

Author:	rcemech [ Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:11 am ]
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I found this on McPherson Guitars Flamed Black Redwood. Has anyone built with this wood? Can you tell me about the sound? What makes it black? Thanks! -Rich

Author:	A Peebels [ Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:14 am ]
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Dye ?

Author:	Dave Rector [ Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:38 am ]
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Man, that is kewl! Almost looks like some mutant strain of burl walnut or something.

Author:	Brock Poling [ Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:42 am ]
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hmmmmm..... I would really be careful of stuff like this. Just cause it is pretty doesn't mean it will sound good, or hold up well.

Author:	rcemech [ Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:52 am ]
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Yeah, I had a guitar made and it was going to have curly redwood on the top, but it had runs and it cracked. I ended up with sinker redwood instead. This is the first time I've seen that stuff and it is beautiful, but you are right, I would want be very careful if building with it.

Author:	Homeboy [ Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:31 pm ]
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That top has to have been dyed to that color with a translucent dye. It looks cool but figure in wood is just localized runout so I wouldnt want that top on my guitars. Just my opinion. Blake

Author:	Kim [ Tue Feb 06, 2007 8:04 pm ]
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Could be double topped like thinned right down and laminated onto some other spruce. Cheers Kim

Author:	John Mayes [ Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:24 am ]
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It's not going to fail... it is a double top, with a third added for brace positioning (mostly gets routed away by the CNC).

Author:	McCollum [ Wed Feb 07, 2007 3:13 am ]
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It's not dyed, It's pond cured, that's what happens to redwood that's been in the water too long! I saw this stuff 3 years ago PNC had it, I passed too much runout! The only redwood tops I had fail came from them. Nice guys , but.... Lance

Author:	Howard Klepper [ Wed Feb 07, 2007 5:12 am ]
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John, is that double top as in nomex core with a solid core in certain areas (bridge to neck, typically)? Or is it double top as in two-layer laminate? What does the third layer do? When you say it's for brace positioning, I imagine that the third layer is first routed away by the cnc where the braces go, and after the braces get glued with those routed away slots for alignment, the third layer is routed away everywhere else, except a few inside corners that the cnc router can't reach. That right?

Author:	Hank Mauel [ Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:45 am ]
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Here is a photo of a REALLY flamed redwood top...not darkened...so you can see just what you might be dealing with if you ever build with this type wood. The owner take meticulous care of the instrument (always cased, humidified and lovingly cared for) and it has held up well. It is NOT a top for road use or playing out at the local bars, etc. I still have a dozen or so sets of this wood and it would make a really nice top overlay on an electric solid body where none of the runout, etc would be an issue. ARRGH...forgot the photo posting feature is AWOL!

Author:	Hank Mauel [ Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:55 am ]
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[QUOTE=Hank Mauel] Here is a photo of a REALLY flamed redwood top...not darkened...so you can see just what you might be dealing with if you ever build with this type wood. The owner take meticulous care of the instrument (always cased, humidified and lovingly cared for) and it has held up well. It is NOT a top for road use or playing out at the local bars, etc. I still have a dozen or so sets of this wood and it would make a really nice top overlay on an electric solid body where none of the runout, etc would be an issue. ARRGH...forgot the photo posting feature is AWOL! [/QUOTE] OK...try this: http://www.mauelguitars.com/Steves_flamed_redwood.jpg

Author:	Hank Mauel [ Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:57 am ]
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Whoa...I got the photo to link through from my website.

Author:	Homeboy [ Wed Feb 07, 2007 11:14 am ]
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Wow!!!, not dyed huh? I never would have thought that. I was sure it had some dye job. Really cool piece of wood and I guess since its a double top, the runout wont matter at all. Thanks for the info guys. Blake

Author:	peterm [ Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:33 pm ]
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That high figure redwood sound like a great contestant for a double top....

Author:	Sam Price [ Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:37 am ]
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Holy Moly....what a LOVELY guitar top...stained or not, it is STUNNING!!

Author:	John Mayes [ Thu Feb 08, 2007 1:17 am ]
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Howard. It is a double top in terms that it is a laminate, not Nomex. Let me explain how they normally do a top as that will be easier than this redwood (which is just the same but with two pieces laminated to equal the thickness of the two I'm about to explain) This is an educated guess as I did not actually see them do it, but I got to see the finished braced top up close and personal so I'm pretty confident of this. The take a normal top and then glue a B grade top to the underside of it. they then put this in a CNC machine and mill away the brace placement, then they go further and remove a lot of extra leaving some for design purposes (you can see a pic of it on their website, and with this horrible description it might make some sense) This way the braces are assured of a perfect fit. the even recess the bridge plate, which is pretty nifty...hope this makes some sorta sense. It is much different than anything I've ever seen and I think it has some potential to be very good. It's not the tone I shoot for but it is unique...

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