Official Luthiers Forum!

A while back the Zootman had wood for sale called Hormigo. It's scientific name is Platymiscium Dimorpandrun. It appealed to me and I've wanted to get a set but it's difficult to find.

I recently bought a set of "Hormigo" through an e-bay auction. It turns out that it is Platymiscium Yukatanum (not Dimorpandrun). The Zootman also sells another tonewood under the name "Macacuba" which also appears to be in the Platymiscium family but I'm unsure which species it is.

What are your thoughts about wood in this family as a tonewood? How do the different species in that family compare?

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Darryl,

About 15 month ago I finished a guitar for a customer using the Hormigo sold by Zootman. It was paired with a Carpathian Spruce top and the sound was LOVELY. Full, rich and articulate.

Try this ULR for photos. http://burnerguitars.smugmug.com/Builds ... 09-Hormigo

Sorry but I don't know anything about the other wood species.

All the best!

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

I love those woods.
Great for guitars.
My avatar pic is Hormigo from the Zootman.

works & bends great.
sands & looks great
Mike

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Mike Collins

I made one from hormigo too. Love it, want more...

I haven't built with this wood, but I have a Collings custom DS1 (12 fret, slot head) with hormigo back and sides and it's one of my favorite guitars.

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Registered Architect (Texas, New York)
LEED AP

Anyone know which species of "Hormigo" that Collins uses?

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Collings, not Collins.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Darryl - I don't know which Platymiscium Collings uses, but I believe they get at least some of it from Old Standard. Check out the link below. You might be able to call Old Standard and find out for sure.

http://adirondackspruce.com/instrumentsforsale2.htm

Hello,

I have no experience with Hormigo, but I can show you pictures of my Platymiscium Yucatanum sets I have in stock. Did not yet built with it. It is quite heavy and hard, bell tap tone...perhaps a bit like Honduras Rosewood / Dalbergia Stevensonii.
The pores are way smaller than in the Dalbergia Familiy. It is quite reddish and it seems to stay also like this quite good.
My stock is really old, I have only about 5 or 6 sets, found them at a valid company, never had the possibility to buy something comparable like this before or later.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1157931855 ... ranadillo#

cheers, Alex

I only have one sample of Hormigo, but I have cut quite a bit of Macacauba (Platymiscium pinnatum), and I really like it. The tap tone is as good as most any rosewood, including Brazilian. Density varies, but on average, it is about 52 lbs per cubic foot. Stability is almost as good as Indian rosewood. Some boards I have resawn have beautiful striping.
Macacauba is frequently sold as Amazon rosewood on Ebay, probably due to the flooring industry.
Other names are Coyote, Maca wood, and Curatinga rosewood.
This is a set I sold on Ebay a while back:

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John

John that's a beautiful set. For some reason hormigo has been very difficult to find. Macacuaba is a very close stand in. Both in characteristics and color. As John has stated it is a great tone wood.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Bob, which species are you calling "hormigo"? Seems more than one species is called by that name (but all are closely related).

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......