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Hi Folks!

For your viewing pleasure, I have just published a profile on Bastogne Walnut as part of my ongoing tonewood database. As always, improvements, corrections and additional information/ your own experiences are much appreciated- I'll update the profile citing you and linking back to you!

This may be a little contentious and but no means complete: Bastogne Walnut technically refers to the paradox hydrid which is J. hindsii x J. regia. There are other hybrids which exist such as J. ailantifolia x J. cinerea, J. nigra x J. regia, J. hindsii x J. nigra to name a few and I found researching Bastogne Walnut a little more difficult than the other tonewoods I have already profiled. If you have an experiences or data to share, I would be very grateful.

I can't link pics directly to here so do pop by to
http://guitarbench.com/index.php/2009/0 ... -database/

for the full Visual presentation. As always, I present the text portion of the interview for your consideration- although I do highly recommend popping by to see the pics!

Warmest regards,
Terence
http://www.guitarbench.com

Juglans x paradox Burbank | Tonewood Profile | ”Bastogne/Paradox Walnut”

Tonewoods Database

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Bastogne Walnut technically refers to the paradox hydrid which is J. hindsii x J. regia. There are other hybrids which exist such as J. ailantifolia x J. cinerea, J. nigra x J. regia, J. hindsii x J. nigra to name a few.
To start with, I'll just run through a few of the scientific and common names for the various walnuts.

*
Juglans regia— common walnut, Persian, English or Carpathian walnut
* J. californica S.Wats. — California Black Walnut
* J. hindsii — Hinds' Black Walnut- most commonly called Claro walnut
* J. nigra L. — Eastern Black Walnut

Quick Facts
Scientific name:J. hindsii x J. regia
Trade names: Bastogne, Paradox
Janka: approx 1000-1500 lbs force
Uses: Back & sides, drop tops, veneer
RIYL: Walnut/ Maple/ Rosewood
Bling factor: Figure is common
Availability: Limited
CITES status: Not listed. No restrictions

Natural History

Luther Burbank attempted to create a fast-growing hardwood by cultivating hybrids of English (J. regia) and Claro walnut (J. hindsii). [Our research is unable to determine is Burbank actually hybridized these strains or he discovered a naturally hybridized tree].

There are several theories how the tree received the Paradox moniker. One is that hardwoods conventionally take a long time to grow and mature hence, a fast-growing hardwood is a paradox. Another possible paradox is a naturally occurring hybrid which does not display characteristics of either of its parents.

It has more recently been marketed as Bastogne, a more elegant French term derived for ‘Bastard’ due to it’s heritage. What is certain is that Burbank succeeded in cultivating his Paradox walnut and it still stands at the Luther Burbank Homes and Gardens.

Bastogne Walnut matures quickly, anywhere from 20 to 80 years and grows much larger than either of it’s parents. In addition, to producing few fruits [some trees produce non at all!], it is sterile and unable to reproduce naturally.

Status

Bastogne Walnut is not currently endangered- it is cultivated for it's physical and growth characteristics.


Physical properties
Bastogne Walnut can vary greatly in color, texture, grain and density. However, it is generally the densest of all walnuts and often displays a green hue and broken fiddleback figure. The most common color contrast is with the colors of Claro and the dark streaks of English Walnut.
It has a Janka rating of approximately 1000-1500 lbs force and a specific gravity of 1. Air drying takes long but it is stable in service once dry.Bastogne Walnut is prized by big bore shooters as it is strong enough to stand up to recoil yet heavy enough to slow recoil torque.

As a tonewood…
As a tonewood, it is comparable to Claro walnut in how it works and produces a striking guitar.

Bob Taylor once described walnut as "rosewood on steroids". I believe he was referring to Bastogne Walnut!

George Lowden says" Bastogne walnut is harder than claro or English walnut as a generalisation. It usually has less colour variations but does have very nice figure often."


Subjective tone…

I have played a number of Bastogne Walnut and tonally it rivals the best Indian Rosewood in terms of overtones but it retains a stronger mid range and a fundamental. What I found attractive about these guitars is the projection, which is within the realms of a mahogany guitar.

George Lowden again: "Because of the hardness it gives a very defined clear sound, great for most playing styes except perhaps flat picking where you might prefer to use a rosewood for that 'thicker' lower mid range. I love walnut as a tonewood, particularly good with redwood tops and sitka in mid sized, and cedar in large guitars. In small guitars it works well with cedar also.".


Availability

Fairly good.


Similar woods/ Alternatives

Platanus racemosa and wrightii are also American sycamores which have similar properties to P. occidentalis. London Plane (Platanus x hispanica) and Plantanus orientalis are more common in Europe and worldwide and have their own profile coming up soon. "P. racemosa tends to be denser and stiffer than occidentalis. "


Tonewoods Database

References:
Wikipedia
Fine woodworking: encyclopedia of wood
Rick Davis, Running Dog guitars

Pictures copyright individual holders. Sycamore picture courtesy of RC tonewoods.

Any infringement of copyright is entirely unintentional. Any copyright issues should be address to: writers@guitarbench.com. We will attempt to resolve these issues quickly. We accept that we can make mistakes and omissions thus, any additions or corrects will be cheerfully accepted!

©2009
Terence

Thanks! I thought the tree was much rarer than you indicate. Sounds like not. We should be planting more of them!

You still have a section referring to Sycamore at the bottom of the text.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Thanks for the info, Terence. I'll have to drop by to see Burbank's tree. I've seen several sets for sale here and there listed as bastogne. Is there any way to be certain that it is that?

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

My sense is that a lot of claro, especially from around the graft line where it mixes with the English/regia and tends to form inklines, is being sold as Bastogne. I too have it on my list to go by the Burbank garden tree, take a few photos, and gather whatever info is offered.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I find the whole concept of Claro Walnut to be rather confusing...

Years ago my father used to be into making gun stocks. He found a source of Claro in the Chico, Ca. area. This old timer (whom I'm fairly sure has passed on) said that Claro was the result of grafting an English walnut to a native american walnut tree. This was because walnut trees native to North America tended to produce an inferior fruit but the English variety didn't like the soils of the Sacramento Valley...the solution was grafting...the native walnut part of the tree resided in the soils and the fruit producing part of the tree was the English variety.

The woods this guy had were pretty awesome...he took the time to show us pieces of wood from the same tree and pointed out how the most beautiful pieces were those that were the nearest to the graft (as Howard points out)...

From my viewpoint I don't see where Claro is (or can be) given a latin classification as its not even a hybrid in the true sense, its the result of a graft!

Mike, claro (juglans hindsii) is a species. It is often found as the rootstock in an orchard tree, with J. Regia as the fruit bearing tree above the graft. But a grafted tree is not the definition of claro. It was discovered growing as a native in California, and needs no graft to be its own tree.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

there appears to be conflicting information on this subject...

http://www.woodfinder.com/woods/claro_walnut.php

where Claro is defined as I did above, and how I was told by said old timer in Chico (I spent 20 years of my life in the Bay Area..from age 6 to 26)....

wiki defines it as you do...
http://www.woodfinder.com/woods/claro_walnut.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juglans_hindsii

though wiki does state there is confusion on the subject...

when I do a search specifically for Juglans hindsii I find it repeatedly referred to as either Northern California Black Walnut or simply California Black Walnut...

I think the best (and yet most confusing) article on the subject is this one:

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Claro:+th ... a013330780

and I'm going to have to agree with the following quote: "Gary Goby , an Oregon physician and owner of Goby Walnut Wood Products, calls claro walnut a "wastebasket term." "I think of claro as more of a descriptive term. When customers calls for claro, I ask them what they mean by that. Usually they are asking for a certain color or pattern."

the reason I agree with that statement is because I find very, very little reference to claro when Juglans Hindsii is searched for, yet find a lot of reference to 'wood workers' when a search for claro is done...

All very confusing this walnut stuff. A few years back I looked around the net for what I could find to clear up the mystery surrounding Bastogne Walnut. I am not sure what site I got it from now, I think it was a gunstock billet vendor but after much deliberation in deciding which veiw was correct, I pasted the following text from that site next to my inventory to describe Bastogne Walnut

"In order to develop Claro root stock, nuts of a Claro Walnut tree are planted and raised to proper size for grafting to English walnut. Early on it was discovered that once in several hundred times, strange looking rootlings appeared. Old timers referred to these peculiar looking strangers as Paradox Trees. The renowned botanist Luther Burbank determined that Paradox was a hybrid result of a cross-pollination between English walnut and California Claro walnut. The name Bastogne walnut was bestowed on this hybrid walnut tree by the gun stock industry. Bastogne is a low umbrella shaped tree of healthy vigorous growth. The wood is somewhat heavier and more dense than either parent, the colors are a mix of both English and Claro. Bastogne walnut is without a doubt one of the most rare of all hardwoods."

From this and other research I found at the time in support, it would appear that Bastogne Walnut is not just a matter of grafting. Rather it is a very rare genetic anomaly occurring only very occasionally from the seed of the true Claro variety. I was led to believe that these "Paradox" seedlings were weeded out as undesirable by propagators for fear that if left to mature they could contaminate known and desirable commercial crop strains threatening the walnut industry, hence the name Bastogne (Bastard). This would explain why you only find Paradox or Bastogne on private property where they can escape eradication.

I cannot say this is true, after all I am in Australia and have seen few walnut trees. But you must ask yourself why if Bastogne Walnut were just a matter of grafting it has not been set out in plantation to satisfy the veneer peeling industry?

Cheers

Kim

The line in red should have been added above but the edit clock beat me before I realised.

Cheers

Kim