Ted Davis built a holly guitar. I never got a chance to play it, and I don't know where it is today.
He did give me a back and side set, presumably from the same wood that this dreadnought was made from.
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| Author: | kodac [ Sat May 17, 2014 9:46 am ] |
| Post subject: | Holly |
Has anyone had experience using holly for back, tops, sides, or necks? I saw some Parsons guitars that really piqued my interest but don't recall ever seeing a guitar with holly other than for binding, etc. I guess I'm mostly referring to the species Ilex Opaca, or American Holly. Seems like a cool, unique wood to use but have read that it's pretty dead sounding, and also is really susceptible to temperature and environmental changes. All on top of that I really don't know where to get any that would be of adequate size, which is also the nature of it being a small tree. |
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| Author: | Haans [ Sat May 17, 2014 10:06 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
Holly prices have gone through the roof. I only use it for purfling trim... |
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| Author: | rtpipkin [ Sat May 17, 2014 10:11 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
I think this is holly.http://robinsoninlays.com/Lindisfarne/ |
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| Author: | James Ringelspaugh [ Sat May 17, 2014 10:20 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
Good luck finding a piece big enough that isn't full of knots. It's near impossible to get clear material that large. Plus from what I understand there's pretty much one guy in the US who has cornered the commercial market for holly lately so it has become quite pricey. |
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| Author: | charliewood [ Sat May 17, 2014 11:32 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
^agreed - I have tons of salvaged holly wood from slash piles and my tree service friends - they know I like having lots of hardwood on hand so they call me whenever they have something they think I might like - I am sure the stuff I have curing (stump diameters not much larger than 1') will come in handy for purling, inlay, rosettes, and head plates, things like that - but there are buttloads of pin knots and you have to be judicious in your milling.... cheers charliewood |
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| Author: | John Arnold [ Sat May 17, 2014 4:38 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
Ted Davis built a holly guitar. I never got a chance to play it, and I don't know where it is today. He did give me a back and side set, presumably from the same wood that this dreadnought was made from. |
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| Author: | kencierp [ Sat May 17, 2014 8:18 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
John that is so cool!! Do you recall if the material was 1/4 sawn? I can get some wide Holly but have no idea how it was boarded out. |
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| Author: | Don Williams [ Sat May 17, 2014 8:22 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
If cut right, Holly can look like leather, or even ivory. It can make beautiful bindings on a guitar. |
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| Author: | Bob Shanklin [ Sat May 17, 2014 9:44 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
I have a friend in Hattiesburg who has built great looking and sounding guitars from Holly. He built 3 identical Holly guitars based on a very old plan of a Ditson Grand Concert for 3 of his granddaughters. His nephew has a logging company in southern Mississippi, and frequently cut very big holly trees. He always saved the largest for instruments. Bob |
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| Author: | kodac [ Sat May 17, 2014 11:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
Is there anyway to get any : ) |
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| Author: | Bob Shanklin [ Sat May 17, 2014 11:52 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
Any he has left he plans on using. I have a few smaller pieces for bindings and kerfed linings, as well as bindings and linings he made and sent to me. |
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| Author: | Haans [ Sun May 18, 2014 7:02 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
John Arnold wrote: Ted Davis built a holly guitar. I never got a chance to play it, and I don't know where it is today. He did give me a back and side set, presumably from the same wood that this dreadnought was made from. Very nice. At least he didn't cover it up with two tons of shell... I just bought a 2 X2 X18" chunk for purfling for 65 bucks. Not pleasant, but the price of everything is going through the roof. I bought 3 boxes of Mirka discs and paid over 100 bucks. |
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| Author: | dzsmith [ Sun May 18, 2014 1:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
Not to skew the topic too much, but Hackberry might be used as a Holly substitue. It usually has some spalling, but it is a light cream color and the grain is fairly tight. It does not oxidize and change color. No idea if it would work as sound board, but it may be usefull for color accents. |
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| Author: | kodac [ Sun May 18, 2014 1:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
I guess I should link to the guitars that piqued my interest: Acoustic: http://www.parsonsguitars.com/image-gal ... e-mare.php Electric: http://www.parsonsguitars.com/image-gal ... s-2012.php Thanks for the heads up on Hackberry. I think for the general term "Holly", there are like 400-600 species. |
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| Author: | dzsmith [ Sun May 18, 2014 1:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
kodac wrote: I guess I should link to the guitars that piqued my interest: Acoustic: http://www.parsonsguitars.com/image-gal ... e-mare.php Electric: http://www.parsonsguitars.com/image-gal ... s-2012.php Thanks for the heads up on Hackberry. I think for the general term "Holly", there are like 400-600 species. Holy smokes! Those are beautiful! |
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| Author: | kodac [ Mon May 19, 2014 3:47 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
Not really sure how the neck/fingerboard worked out though. I contacted another luthier who used Holly (on an electric guitar top) and he said to treat it like it's a softwood. |
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| Author: | charliewood [ Tue Jun 17, 2014 11:06 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
softwood>? I could pound a cold chisel with some of the stuff I have - but mine was harvested in the PNW - so I dunno if climate and species flucuate wildly or what.... they must! Its the same thing with laburnum too I guess cause I have some laburnum that could break rock.... but others say they found it medium density. cheers charliewood |
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| Author: | John Arnold [ Wed Jun 18, 2014 10:42 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Holly |
Quote: softwood>? I could pound a cold chisel with some of the stuff I have The holly that grows here in the SE US is pretty hard, too. I would judge its density and hardness between red maple and sugar maple. |
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