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Old poi dog
Aloha
USA
16 Posts |
 Posted - 12/07/2004 : 8:39:35 PM
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Assuming that the top of the guitar is spruce,what are the merits of Mahogany, Rosewood, and Koa as body woods for playing slack key? In days past, what were the prevalent woods used on the guitars that made the tones of Ki Ho'alu?
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 05:54:37 AM
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hi val,
good question on the historical aspect! i have a book which shows lots of guitars from the early part of the 1900s, and it looks like mahogany/spruce was common, but it's hard to tell in black and white and these are mainland guitars. did the early players use locally-made guitars? would that imply koa and milo?
on which wood is better, um, one can generate a lot of heat with little light here. do you get over to oahu? you could go visit john kitakis at ko`olau ukuleles and try out all of his combos to see how their sounds differ. if you were over here, i'd take you to buffalo brothers and have you try out all of the goodall guitars they have. i hear a lot of differences (i like rosewood), but you might like walnut.
aloha,
keith
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wdf
Ha`aha`a
USA
1153 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 06:57:49 AM
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I kinda like graphite "wood"  |
Dusty |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1021 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 08:09:38 AM
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| I find rosewood/spruce to be what I call "punchy"; how much of that is the back and side material I don't know. I like it though. I have two of these. If you want to hear some sound that really jumps out at you, listen to the new Paul Togioka CD. He plays Taylor Maple 600 series (they are Doyle Dykes model and are expensive). I played a maple Goodall at Buffalo Bros that was amazing. I couldn't bring myself to spend more for a guitar than I did for my truck. |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 08:38:03 AM
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Well, Sarah and I, between us, have guitars with bodies made from:
mahogany
East Indian rosewood
Cocobolo (a true rosewood)
Claro walnut
Pau Ferro
koa
They all sound great playing slack key -
It is not the wood, it is the maker and the player that makes it sound good. In any event, my luthier friends tell me that a guitar's body contributes only about 20% to the character of the sound of the guitar (more a "coloration"); the majority of the sound quality comes from the top.
It is also true that I know some luthiers who can make any body wood sound like any other body wood.
As for historically used woods in the islands: it was mostly whatever the companies like Martin and Gibson, etc. and luthiers like the Larson brothers (Prairie State, etc.) were putting out in those days. I'll bet that the range was very similar to the Mainland. However, Ozzie's book does have historical pix from the Bishop Museum that shows a local Hawaiian luthier (however, undated and the clothing looks relatively modern). In one of Oz's pix, the guitar certainly looks like a Martin 0 size (headstock/fretboard end/shape) other guitars in those pix look like "gut" stringed guitars and because of the shapes and fretboards and rosettes, could have come from anywhere, including Europe, and made out of nearly anything.
...Reid
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Sarah
`Olu`olu
571 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 11:22:17 AM
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...and then there's the *age* of the wood. Some woods change the sound over time, and some are pretty much right there right out of the box - like walnut. Whereas the rosewood changes over the year(s). It also depends on the sound you want for slack key.
Someone more knowledgable than I am can elaborate on all that.
aloha,
Sarah |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 4:06:06 PM
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a problem i have is a lack of vocabulary. it's like describing the different tastes of wine; how do you describe "foxy" without saying something like "that component common to labrusca grapes that make you think of grape bubblegum"?
anyway, here's a thougtful discussion by a luthier: http://www.pantheonguitars.com/tonewoods.htm
aloha,
keith
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