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Has anyone around here used, played, or heard a guitar with pear wood back and sides. I am pre-mature in asking this as I have not even completed my first guitar but have a bit of an addiction to purchasing wood. I can lay off tool buying, drinking, and smoking but when it comes to collecting wood I have no control. But seriously, how does pear wood compare to other tonewoods out there? I have built many things using pear as this is probably my favorite wood to work with, besides apple which is very hard to come by. I just love the way it works under my cutting tools, planes, knives, etc.

I also think it could make for a very nice looking instrument given the right back and side set.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1157931855 ... arElsbeere
https://picasaweb.google.com/1157931855 ... ischeBirne

I like the swiss pear alot, somewhere above EIR, with a touch of maple...

I love carving pear wood. Didn't think about using it for guitar back and sides. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Steve, are you feeling alright? I can't even see a piece of furniture without at least thinking about using it for back and sides.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Last time I used it was about 15 years ago to carve a carousel horse - I had kind of forgot about it until I saw this thread.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I recall hearing that there is a way to die pear wood so that it almost looks like ebony?
anyone know anything about such a process?

I'd love to do some builds with domestic woods only, including Hickory for fret boards and bridges.

They typically use pear to dye black to look like ebony because it's such a close grained wood. It will have a very even color. Havent done it myself though. I would hate to color pear something different than it is already. I really like the unsteamed stuff if you can find it, very interesting figure.

Pear does make for a good Ebony substitute. Obviously not in terms of wear/hardness though.
Often used by Violin makers for the Black line in their purfling. The traditional dye used was to steep the Pear in logwood chip solution followed by a solution of ferrous sulphate.
Indian ink is a quick way to dye Pear for a surface treatment.

I was ordering some b/m/b purfling a few days ago, and came across some black/pear/black purfling strips that looked like they would work great on a vintage focused build. The are often used on violin builds, and are supposed to look great under varnish. They should be here in the next day or two.

b/m/b strips



b/p/b strips

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Brad

I've used E/P/E purfling exclusively for about 15 years now, on more than 50 guitars. it has long been part of my 'signature' style, along with my wide wood purfling, and is generally recognised as being the way I do it.

It is far less jarring to my mind than B/W/B, but I do build very much in the British style, using more restrained aesthetics. Here's a couple of examples.







Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Vy nice guitar , your uk sycamore is vy similiar to the one grown here called american buttonwood, . We have a different species of ornamental pear called bradford pear, which is close grained , suitable for dyeing and makes nice binding /purfling stock. cheers ernie

Colin, that plane rosette (correct?) let into the cedar top (correct?) really is handsome.
Just imagine how lovely it would have been with some abalone thrown in....

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I think you should call that Pearfling instead

Steve, yes London Plane in a cedar top, it's the top of the London Plane OO-13 in the bottom picture.

As to the abalone, well a saying involving a covering of solidified water and a fiery underworld comes to mind!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Seems like a lovely wood and Colin - very, very nice work. Love the British restrained aesthetic.

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Thank You and Best To All

SK

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Some more 'restrained aesthetics' from Europe, here is the Norwegian kind... This mandola was built exclusively from local materials, and the appointments are pear (the other materials are birch and spruce). Up here I've not come across pear pieces that would be large enough for a two-piece guitar back, at least not quartered ones. The stuff I used for this mandolin came from a tree that a buddy cut down in his garden, which I sliced up. It moved quite a bit while drying, so I don't know its the most stable material around. This tree wasn't the straightest, so maybe not a good example to judge by, but I would prefer quartered.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Lowden made a guitar in 2004 for their 30th Anniversary using rippled pear back and sides - this photo is from Terence Tan's Guitarbech piece about that guitar:



I have got a back and sides set from the same wood supplier and his source is the orchards in Southern Germany. The wood is steamed to give it this colouration I believe. The wood reminds me a lot of Yew and maple in terms of its feel in the hands as it were.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Anthony,
Here is the 000 that I made for my son-in-law a couple years ago still under construction.
Pear works about the same as maple as far as I`m concerned.
The main problem that I ran into was that I tried to use it too soon after resaw.
It curled up like a tater chip, even forcing a split in a couple back braces.
For some reason, I never disposed of it.
This was back in 2005, when I "knew all I needed to know about building guitars".
For some reason, I never disposed of it.
I left it in that condition on a shelf for a few years.
Jump forward to 2010, I decided to try it again.
I used a Redwood top, and although I thought the pear and redwood really clashed as far as appearance goes, the bloodwood bindings really dressed it up!
The main point I mean to make is to make sure it`s stable when you use it.
Coe Franklin

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

The Lowden 30th anniversary guitar is exactly what I was picturing when I thought about using pear for the back and sides. IMO, the look of that kind of pear is incredible. I've made a few small cabinets and boxes using very similar looking pear. Actually I use a 12" bowsaw I've made from curly pear that is surprisingly very strong. Again, I feel un-steamed pear is a bit nicer looking but next to impossible to come by. Thank you for posting the picture of the Lowden guitar, is nice to see my thought come to life. Although I would love to hear what kind of sound it produces.

That mandola is a thing of beauty, Arnt!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

I agree, that mandolin is beautiful. Would love to hear it in action.