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Native Olive (notelaea ligustrina) Guitar

Australian Tonewoods

Just thought I would let you see another guitar I have on the go at the moment. It features

Red Spruce Top
Herringbone
Mulga Bindings
Birdseye Salmon gum bottom v-graft
Native Olive back and sides

Native Olive is a very dense tonewood with similar tonal qualities to Honduran Rosewood without all the dramas associated with bending and stability. The set I have used in this guitar has performed well. It may tend to clog abrasive paper a little if you are trying to remove to much with a fine grade but it does however scrape well. Gluing with Titebond has been good.

Coupled with the Red Spruce or a Lutz top it should be a powerful performer. I have used the Mulga for the binings not only because it is a good contrast but it is also a very hard dense material that should ber very durable.Stocks of Native Olive are rare but the Mulga binding is usually available.

There are a few glitches here and there but I will let you find those. I will make another post when i have put the finish on the body.









Australian Tonewoods

Quite handsome, Tim!
Your olive looks a bit different from the one set I have.
And those Mulga bindings look like yet another Australian timber I'd like to try.

Thanks for the pics,

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

That Olive is really pretty! It should be nice finished.

Long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

Wow, I really like that wood. And if it has a good tap tone - well, one of
these days I might just have to try one.

Peace Out,
Simon

Nice Tim! Your "glitches" aren't screaming out at all. That Olive is going to look striking under finish!

That is amazing wood that you have their. Where is Native Olive grown? Australia?

-Rob

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-Rob Eckert
Ann Arbor, Michigan

I like that!

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Native Olive is from Tasmania. A few logs become available every year or so but most have borer so guitar sets are difficult to recover. If I do have some available I will let you guys have the first option.

regards

Tim

Geez Tim !! Another Beauty ! . You guys have to try these Mulga fretboards .I'm very impressed !

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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when i lived in sa in the 80's the only mulga i saw came from the scrub of eastern sa and western vic, was very twisty and really suitable only for turning or firewood. we used to buy mulga stumps by the truckload.

i had never heard of the native olive. amazing how the market has developed in the past 11 years.

that is stunning tim. will look forward to seeing it under finish.