Official Luthiers Forum!

I was looking at RC's wood site at Osage Orange (Bodarc) to se what they offered. I noticed the site mentioned to save your scrapes as it is very good for use as bridge plates.

Bodarc is often noted for it's sound "quickness" (not sure this is the correct term), low loss, and good sustain. Seems like it would make a great bridge plate. I know martin originally used maple which i've heard described as either adding bass or described as being very neutral influencing the tone very little. Then they went to rosewood which I've read either emphasized treble more or cut bass more. Now they are back to maple as I understand it. So how does Bodarc compare?

Appreciate your thoughts.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Darryl, here's a a link to that topic. Al Carruth has used it with some reservations. http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=20353&hilit=+bridge+plate

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

I have used a LOT of it. Rift to nearly flatsawn is best IMO. Skew the grain orientation at least 30* from perpendicular to the top's grain when gluing in place.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Thanks for the comments and link to the other post, it was helpful.

Any comments regarding how this wood affects the tone, volume, or sustain?

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

In terms of the measureable properties that ought to be important to tone production, bodark is a drop-in replacement for BRW. Thus, to the extent that the bridge plate material can effect tone, I'd expect it to sound like BRW. I'm not at all convinced that the material of the plate per se has any effect on the tone. The mass and stiffness probably do, but you can make bridge plates out of lots of materials that would have pretty much the same mass and stiffness. Not so sure about damping.

Thanks Al.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......