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I didn't want to add this to another thread as a post don't wanna hijack or upset anyone. I've just thinking of buying the woods for my second and would like to use something a little different to what you could buy in the shops.

I like the deep tone of a good mnartin dreadnought spruce rosewood, but am sure a hand built could be even better. I only have a hot pipe and the mahogany I had bent like rubber over it, so thats a consideration too so wenge which I'd like to have a go with is out.

Thanks Guys

John

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

John my friend Walnut is an easy bender, perhaps the easiest that I ever bent and I used a pipe too.

Wenge can be tough to bend I hear but have no first hand experience with it.

Generally speaking highly figured woods can be more difficult to bend.

I think a well quartered set of E.I. Rosewood sides at around .080" (2mm) is hard to beat in terms of ease of bending, and most importantly, staying bent. Once bent on a hot pipe and cooled it is exceptionally stable where some other woods (maple for instance) want to creep back toward their unbent state.
Hard to beat for tone as well when coupled with a good spruce (take your pick on the species) top.

I was thinking of more unusual woods not avalible in ordinary manufactured guitars, thinks like wenge, bubinga, black limba, cocobolo, paduk, ovangkol, imbuya, even oak, beech, ash, fruit woods, purpleheart, yew just stuff a little different. That's relatively easy to bend over a hot pipe and gives a good sound. I don't want say rosewood, mahogany, walnut or maple as they are common and ovangkol ans walnut are getting that was too though I might consider those

Cheers guys

_________________
Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

You might want to give Oregon Myrtle a try.It`s easy to bend and easy to work with.It looks crazy too.I`ve got a Myrtle SJ Jumbo hanging from the ceiling curing that I really like.

James W B

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

I'm with David-
Indian is great to work with!

Imbuia is also great-holds a bend like NO other wood I've used!!!

Believe it or not Coco bends easily because it's so oily -as the oils heat up it helps heat the interior of the piece !


Mike

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Mike Collins

I've never used wenge myself, but some of the folks I know that have, have had very bad experiences with the backs cracking. Maybe it's just because we're in New England; guitar hell. Still, since I've used a lot of other woods with less difficulty, I'd stay away from it.

Quartered oak bends great. So, I understand, does ash. Persimmon and Osage Orange both bend well, but require some muscle. Ditto Macassar ebony. Quartered morado is good to work with. Cherry, walnut and maple bend fine, although they're harder to deal with when figured, of course. Oregon Myrtle/California Bay is also a good bending wood that looks and sounds nice, although, again, figure requires some care. I've had more trouble with mahogany than you seem to have: sometimes it bends fine and other times it just doesn't. You got lucky. Well quartered old growth Brazilian rosewood is really nice, but I don't guess you're looking at that for your second guitar.

Thanks guys just what I'm after if I want that sort of Martin dreadnought bass sound (preferably not boomey) what combinations would you suggest? I seem to prefer spruce to cedar but could be easily converted

_________________
Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes