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Hi there, folks.....was just given a beautiful looking back and sides set of Tamarind and have never worked with it. Anything I should know before I give it a try.Anyone know where it falls tonally?. I'll do my research as well but I thought I'd get the info firsthand from someone who has built with it. Thanks in advance. Al

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

Can't say what its properties are... but, I'd love to see what the set looks like...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/publishI ... 2~~129.jpg
http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/publishI ... 2~~128.jpg

I built this guitar from a set of spalted tamarind. My customer bought it from the zootman and sent it to me to build his guitar.
The set had really dull, unappealing taptone when I first had the set in hand, and I was skeptical to use it, but the guitar actually turned out to be one of the best sounding ones I have built.
The top had more to do with the tone than the back and sides, of course, but overall I was really pleased with the tamarind.

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Guitar Maker and Purveyor of the World's Finest Tonewoods
http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/A-Hix-Tonewood-a ... r-Supplies

Aaron, Those photos are way too small to see...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Sorry, see if these are better.

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Guitar Maker and Purveyor of the World's Finest Tonewoods
http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/A-Hix-Tonewood-a ... r-Supplies

Thanks for that, Aaron....my reaction was the same to the taptone on the set I got as well...think I'll brace it as a reflective back rather than a responsive. Beautiful guitar you built out of it. My set is not spalted but is perfectly bookmatched and patterned. Any problems with the dust from your wood? I'll try and get some pics of the set on when I have time, Steve. Al

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

I have a lot of tamarind , which is used for building ukes. IMHO it is a way underrated hdwd similiar in taptone to EIR. When I saw your adr on cobble hill , it brought back many fond years of living in victoria and travelling the island. One potential problem is filling the grain , mine has a lot of open pores . I use a water base pore filler, or behlens oil based pore filler , epoxies also work well.

I just finished one this fall and really liked the sound and look of it once complete. I will say that I wasn't impressed with the tap tone of the raw wood, but when paired with a nice yellow cedar top it made a winning combination. I did have some trouble with the sides rippling during the bending so don't use too much water when bending.

If I can find more similar sets I will certainly buy some more. I really like that the look of the wood was so unique.

Thanks for the bending info....the set you used for you guitar is very similar to the set I have.

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

I have purchased a nice stock of spalted tamarind, so I will be resawing sets soon, and will let everyone know when sets are available in my store. After I had good results with it, I decided to stock some to sale.

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Guitar Maker and Purveyor of the World's Finest Tonewoods
http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/A-Hix-Tonewood-a ... r-Supplies

The tamarind (non spalted) was a pita to bend . was so hard .Had to thin to.065 for tenor uke and bent on watlow heating blanket

Thanks for the heads up on the bending, Ernie. I use the LMI bender so I'll soften it before I bend. It will be a GA body I think so it will have a deep waist.

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

Alan don/t know if you use double sides but the tamarind is a good candidate for it. Thinning to .070 on the tamarind and then addding 2 .022 veneers creates a vy stiff side or 1 veneer at .045. See youtube google bob desmond and others have videos explaining their techniques .It seems that the stiff sides make for easier assembly as well as adding mass to the sides.If the tamarind was spalted I would use super thin ca to saturate those areas that were soft/punky first.

I've never done double sides, Ernie....my guitars are very lightly built, seems to be what my customers are looking for. I just got another commission yesterday and so I'll be building with the tamarind alongside that build, (all mahogany), and building it for me. I figure a 12 fret slope dred will be in the works.Tamarind b & s, bearclaw Englemann top , Zebrawood fretboard and bridge ( if Aaron still has some in his stock). Time for an experiment Here is a pic of the set.

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

The tamarind I have is bland in comparison . no worries am sure yours will look great when completed . Try the double sides out on scrap wood first to get the hang of it like western maple with yellow cedar veneer on the inside would make a vy light sides. cheers ernie