luthier advice

I have a sycamore tree at the front of my house which has to come down, they grow like weeds round here. Could the wood be used on a uke?

I have heard of guitar necks being made from them, but could you make a whole uke from one?

Anyone ever heard or seen one?

Mya-Moe uses sycamore:

http://www.myamoeukuleles.com/woodDetails.php?woodName=Sycamore

Here's a few photos of my Mya-Moe all sycamore concert ukulele:


Mitch

what kind of sound does that sycamore have? Warm? Bright???

Well it COULD be but it's a heck of a long and winding road from tree to blanks suitable for instrument construction. Dimensioning, drying, grain selection, resawing, more drying, etc..... Years.

Kayak Jim said:

Well it COULD be but it's a heck of a long and winding road from tree to blanks suitable for instrument construction. Dimensioning, drying, grain selection, resawing, more drying, etc..... Years.

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Sorry, I wasn't thinking of making a uke from the tree that is coming down myself. It's just that the sycamore does really grow like a weed around my part of the world yet I never really see sycamore products, except for some outside decking. I was just curious as to the uses of it when it comes to ukuleles.

rem50 said:

what kind of sound does that sycamore have? Warm? Bright???

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According to the Mya-Moe website, sycamore falls right in the middle of the acoustic spectrum. I find mine to be warm with good balance and attack.

Mitch

Leodhas said:

I have a sycamore tree at the front of my house which has to come down, they grow like weeds round here. Could the wood be used on a uke?

I have heard of guitar necks being made from them, but could you make a whole uke from one?

Anyone ever heard or seen one?

Click to expand...

Hang on a sec- Leodhas is in Scotland-

Sycamore in the British Isles can refer to Maple which is an Acer species.
The sycamore in the US are the Platanus species, which in the British Isles tends to be referred to as London Plane or Plane trees.

But,both are suitable for musical instruments!

Terence

Bill1 said:

This is a link to the website of the Association of Scottish Sawmillers and includes information about the sycamore tree. Note that it mentions the wood is used in musical instruments. Also note the comments on when you should fell a sycamore if you want to make use of the wood.

http://www.ashs.co.uk/content/blogcategory/54/78/

I am not sure how you plan to fell the tree, but perhaps there is a sawmiller who would help you if you look at the site.

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Thank you man, that info is genuinely fantastic. The only reason i stuck the post up is because the tree has to come down (it's leaning out of my garden over the public pavement at the front of my house and the council says it's a health issue and has to come down). This just got me to thinking, for as I said in the initial post, they really do grow like weeds round her and annoy the hell out of a lot of folk as they spring up so easily everywhere and there are laws about chopping any tree down in Scotland, so once a tree is established it becomes a gray area when it comes to felling it. These sycamores really do grow like wildfire, but you hardly ever see sycamore products. A lot of pine/oak/ash/elm but the only time I've heard about sycamore being used is outside decking?

Due to the info received I may see if there is a local timber merchant who'll take the tree, see if I can get a board out of it? Once again, cheers to all for input.

Rick Turner has made some beautiful ukes out of (American) sycamore. The grain looks almost reptilian.

http://www.gryphonstrings.com/instpix/39665/index.php