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I bought this billet a several years ago. Some nicely figure claro walnut and sliced it up into three sets and now I'm not so sure I want to use it as it is pretty wildly crazy where the lower bout will fall I'm I am unsure about how stable it will be. What do you think, would you use on a guitar to be sold

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Build it, it's beautiful! If you don't trust it sell it to me (please...)
Mike

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The Biggest Little City, Nevada
www.hammondguitars.com
I love building guitars!

Hi John, I don't think I would build a guitar for sale with that figure but I might use it for one for myself. I would probably turn the boards around if I wanted to build a guitar for sale but then it wouldn't be quite so pretty. Here's what I did with something similar. If you do use it that way I would make it a little thicker than your normal.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Pretty, but I wouldn't use it. If it were a little less curvy, I would use the outsides as the glue joint, but that's too much for me.

John, I would listen to my gut, and since you're having questions about it I wouldn't use it. To me, fancy grain is not what a John How guitar is about, it's a player's guitar, doesn't need wild grain.

Joe

It doesn't seem that much wilder than any number of Claro guitars you would see. I'd hate to mess up the face of the grinning troll at the bottom, though.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

john, i'm with the guys that say 'don't use it.' but . . . if you do, leave it a little thicker than usual.

i have exactly one guitar's experience with wild claro, and i'm pretty sure i'll be removing the back in spring. it's partly my fault because i brought the back down too thin. but based on how much it moves and how visible the bulges are when the humidity goes up, i think i could use that guitar as a hygrometer.

pretty cool wood though. how about drop tops for solid bodies?

John:

I have a black walnut parlor that looks very similar to the figure you have shown. You may have actually played that one in El Dorado Hills. It's been around for 7 years with no signs of instability. I'd be more concerned if the sides had such figure...but the back should be good to go.

Check it out:

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

There is a lot of grain going all over the place. I built one with wood like that , and it just was a disaster . I learned a lot from that and this is what I would suggest . If you have a question , you know there is something up ( GUT ALERT ) ( Joe also points that out ) so glue it up on a low RH say around 35% . That may at least , help to avoid dryness cracking . It is the back not the top so you won't have to worry about sinking tops . Then just let it hang around for a while and see what happens .
If it works and stays reasonably stable use it , if not well at least you have a pretty something to hang on the wall .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Hi John....
Here's one I built last century and it's been fine for more than a decade...and it travels and plays out. Has a redwood top to boot.

Go for it!

Hank

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Hank Mauel

I think I am going to proceed and just see what happens. I figure I should have a pretty good idea if it will work by the time I am ready to attach it to a set of sides. The sides that go with this back is figured but not as crazy as the back. I'll let ya know how it turns out. Thanks for all the advice!!

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

John,
Go for it... It is the back. Not a ton of stress.
Here is a guitar (advertising cocobolo but it is walnut) on ebay that is similar and 20 years old now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270685455765

Good luck!

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Chris Oliver
Infinity Luthiers
...in the shop.

live every minute...

What a beauty Hank! Looks like an old man with a Fu Manchu or an animal or something in that figure.

The only way I would use it is by joining the other edge.

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John

John, this might be a bit modern for your esthetic but I have put lattice braces on some backs I was concerned about. Helps with the stiffness (I bet that piece is pretty floppy) and seems to help with stability.

Ken, love that body shape. The wood's too shabby either......

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

I have built several (5) with wild grain on the back. I have had no ill effects from it at all. The key is to read the wood - if it is twisting and acting unstable before bracing, it will not behave when braced. If it seems stable enough before bracing, I have had no problems with it at all. You will be rewarded with a stunning piece of wood under finish. I did do an x-brace on the backs of these however.

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John Ressler

You might think on flooding the back with thin CYA also. I've had good results with some 70 year old cracky BRW. Flood it, let it cure without accelerator, and sand it back down to wood. Fills the grain too...

John, DO NOT USE IT! Send it to Tony Flippo, Kennesaw, GA 30152 for proper disposal!!!!

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Tony Flippo

Hi John, I'd use it.
I did one with a back almost as wild as the one Hank pictured and several years in it's in fine shape.
I did like the bracing that John pictured above. You might consider something along those lines.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Here's my crazy Walnut back. This one's a demo; been on the road with me for about a year with no problems. Including in and out of humidity changes from OR to FL and back.
-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

Charles, that ^ is as cool as usual.
Do you have molds for each side of that assymetrical shape?
Or do you just figure, "What the heck...who'll know if I'm off a wee bit?"

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I have bending forms for the full sized version of this model, but I never bothered for this parlor model.

I bend by hand and use the full size building mold with a "sleeve" made from bending plywood to reduce the body size. I build true to my forms. As unconventional as they are, my guitars shape is a carefully worked out plan.

-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

That "size reducer" is a clever idea.
And, it keeps the smaller guitars true to their bigger brothers.
I like that. Just might have to steal the idea!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com