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Hi all, and thanks for reading. I´m musing with the idea of getting some Guatemalan RW (BTW, is it tucUrensis or tucArensis?) for my 3rd guitar effort (1st is a EIRW classical, 2nd will be a cypress flamenco), mainly because i love the looks of it and there is some available ATM, but i wonder how easy it will be to work with (as in glueing, thicknessing, bending)? would you say it´s not recommended for a novice (like, say, cocobolo or african RW)? any info is appreciated, as i´ve never been close to a set of tucurensis.

and now, since i´m at it, for the can-of-worms: what´s your opinion on Guat RW tone-wise? how does it relate to EIRW?

thanks in advance,
miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I don't recall reading anything about it yet but I have been close to ordering a set a couple times. Affordable and quartered. I am sure it sounds and works fine.

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Build log

Hi there Alex! I am also very close to order a set, it´s inexpensive at the source, i just hope it doesn´t go sky high with shipping and customs... the only thing i know about it is that it´s on the lighter side of the rosewood spectrum. Another reason i´m interested in it is that it´s another rosewood to join the "library".

BTW, i managed to take some pics of my Honduran set (cell phone pics...) but i´m unable to connect the phone to a computer with internet access. When i´ll do it, i´ll give you a call.

cheers,
miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Dalbergia tucarensis, aka. Panama RW or Honduran RW (stevensonii is also called Honduran RW).
It works very well, is not very much oily and bends at least as easy as EIR. It is the lightest (as in least dense) rosewood I've worked with. Great tonewood.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Thanks Laurent! All i wanted to know. (So i take it´s TucArensis)

cheers,
miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I think either 'tucUrensis' or 'tucArensis' is acceptable, although I believe 'tucUrensis' is the official spelling. I had the same question a while back and did some research, but I don't recall how I came to my conclusion as there appear to be many seemingly reliable sources on both sides. Both Wikipedia and Wikispecies use the tucurensis spelling.

I have not built with it yet but I do have several sets, one of which I have thicknessed by hand and I thought it worked very easily. As Laurent said, it is not oily and is quite light compared to most rosewoods. It has a very impressive ring when tapped. It's not the prettiest rosewood around, though.

Thanks for the input. I like the looks of it myself, but it´s not close what most people would expect from a rosewood guitar, at least in the classical world. maybe i´ll save it for a portuguese guitarra.

cheers,
miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

It's one of Bruce Sexauer's favorite woods for steel string guitars. It has a wonderful tap tone and I'm sure would be fine for classical guitars. I recently built a dreadnought with it and it is a very powerful instrument. It's not that beautiful though. Fairly plain looking.

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

Got photos?

Even better, got any sound clips?

I'm not Ken, but I've built 3, 2 dreads and a 000-12 fret with what I call Panamanian Rosewood. Pores are a little bigger than most woods, but nothing like Wenge. One set was a little splintery........ but nothing like Wenge.

Sound clip. http://brackettinstruments.com/adiprwdread.mp3
Picture

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I lucked into some stump sections and purchased a good amount. I was able to cut some perfect quartered sets off of the top portion and some "prettier" sets from the lower parts. as others have said, it is very lightweight. The stumps were a beautiful brown at the lot but when cut lightened up a ton and have not fully gotten back their deep color. In the deep parts of the stump you could see the potential for what it "could" look like but most of it is plain. I love it as a tonewood. I'll take some pictures of the pieces I have tucked away this weekend.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

I don't have any photos or sound clips of the finished guitar but here is a shot of the side wood. As you can see the pores are rather large, but the wood was easy to bend and work. Not at all oily. Again, the tap tone is wonderful.

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

Thanks for the photo Ken. Looks just like the stuff I have. Here's a shot of one of my sets. It's pretty light in color once the sealer coat is removed.

Woody, that tucurensis has a lot more character than what I've seen but the sound is very similar. What kind of top did you use with it?

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

Thanks for the info and photos! much appreciated.

i´m intrigued by that panamian RW (is that the same gilmer sells?) just from the photos, it looks similar to Guatemalan RW... do you find a big difference between the two? and, to be honest, i´m a bit surprised that a species was waiting for a tonewood dealer to find it, having eluded botanists for a couple of centuries... still, you never know.

and, as a side note, have you tried panga-panga (also called djambir)? it is very similar to wenge, but comes from the African east coast and i was said it had a "finer" structure than wenge... never used it, though. just word of mouth.

cheers,
miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

It's an Adi top. That guitar was part of a 4 guitar build I done a couple years back, with 4 different Rosewoods. I learned alot from those builds........including I'll never build 4 guitars at once again



I got 8 sets years ago from Cook Woods. I'm pretty sure Gilmer's "Guatemalan RW" is Dalbergia tucerensis. I suck at geography, is Guatemala close to Panama? I guess Tucerensis, (or however it's spelled) is kinda like Picea Abies. (European Spruce)

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Gilmer has sets of what they call 'Panamanian' rosewood and 'Guatamalan' rosewood, both of which I believe are tucurensis. The Panamanian sets are a bit redder in color than the Guatemalan ones, but they both share the same relatively low density and long lasting ring when thumped. Gilmer used to have some reasonably well quartered sets, of which I was lucky enough to grab a few, but everything they have now has rift to flat sawn backs, and quartered to rift sides.

Woody - thanks for posting the photo and sound sample. I'd forgotten that one of your Rosewood Project guitars was tucurensis, so thanks for the reminder. Anyone who would like to hear a comparison of 4 different varieties of rosewood should check out Woody's Rosewood Project. It's the best comparison I'm aware of because Woody build the 4 guitars simultateously, used the same top wood (red spruce) and tried to keep them as close to identical as possible except for the backs and sides. Here's a link: http://69.41.173.82/forums/showthread.php?t=169788

It's a favored wood at our shop, possessing a fine tap and a sweet spicy fragrance when worked. We've got it in that paler version you picture, as well as some darker pieces.
When paired together, they make a fine--if subtle--contrast:




Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Steve - that contrast is beautiful! What top woods have you paired it with?

Thanks Charlie--we've used it, so far, for steel strings.
Sitka for the top wood.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

It could be, but I have seen too much of a consistent difference in the two woods to be convinced. Different color, different smell, and markings that are distinct.
This is not just with the Gilmer wood, either. I have examples from other sources that also exhibit the same distinct characteristics. Some of those other sellers call their Panamanian tucurensis, but Gilmer has continued to call it an unidentified Dalbergia.
With all that said, I do believe the two woods are functionally identical.

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John

I was hoping you would weigh in, John. I'll defer to you on this, as I really don't have anything on which to base what I said other than the similarity in density, which seams somewhat unique among Central and South American rosewoods AFAIK. But my knowledge is pretty limited on the subject.

I got 1 set of Hounduran Rosewood. When you tap it, the whole piece of wood flops around, and sounds like nothing else I have heard. Not even close to indian rosewood. I can't wait to use it.

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

How heavy is your Honduran? D Stevensonii, which is most commonly referred to as Honduran rosewood, is pretty heavy (similar to cocobolo in that respect), while the rosewoods discussed in this thread are relatively light (both ring like a gong). That said, I think Bruce Sexauer does refer to his tucurensis as Honduran rosewood. The common names really do confuse things.

I am not sure if there is really a difference between Panama and Guatamala Rosewood, I only know Guatamala Rosewood, which I call Dalbergia tucArensis. Some are darker and a bit heavier, but in general quite light in weight. Haven't built with it yet.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1157931855 ... directlink