As it becomes more apparent that the use of tropical hardwoods for musical instruments is unsustainable, the use of our local woods will be more frequently seen. Start making a stock of them now before they get priced out of the market. Walnut is a good place to start and here's why:
Does walnut work well for complete instrument bodies, or is it better to pair with a different wood for the soundboard?
Does walnut work well for complete instrument bodies, or is it better to pair with a different wood for the soundboard?
Oh gosh! PETE! Are you forgetting that when I came to you asking to commission a uke built of all UK woods in 2011, you said No?
I had to go to 2 other builders - one in Sweden/Sven and one in the UK/Rob and I ended up getting ukes from each.
I think you are right that wood choice is changing but there are European builders who've been using alternatives for the last 5-10 years.
I like the way they're also all helping each other.
I think the future is varied and hopeful.
mx
My guess is that over the years Pete has built many Ukes in many different materials, and that his use of alternative materials and body shapes has evolved during that time as his confidence, capability and experience increased. If your aim is to build the best instrument possible for a commissioning customer then surely you will restrict yourself to the materials and methods that you, at that point in time, have confidence in - a safe and perfectly practical course of action. Of course a Luthier might specutively build other Ukes as experiments to offer for sale or scrap dependant on the quality of the build or outcome.
That Pete is now saying something different to the past suggests to me that he’s ‘big enough’ to change his mind and that he now has the additional information to justify it. Surely that can but be applauded.
I haven't seen any use of persimmon for fret boards or bridges. My father had a set of 1 - 4 drivers in his golf bag with persimmon heads. It is certainly dense enough.
I guess I have to store some billets for 5 years or find an aged stash.Persimmon wood is heavy, hard, and strong for a temperate species. It has excellent shock and wear resistance, but has a very high shrinkage rate, and may experience significant movement in service.
I haven't seen any use of persimmon for fret boards or bridges. My father had a set of 1 - 4 drivers in his golf bag with persimmon heads. It is certainly dense enough.
My last two tenors were Black Walnut and Spruce (Sitka) and I plan on doing Black Walnut & Engelmann soon.....I absolutely love the combo as the sound is very full and rich, highly recommended...and they are locals that were sustainably harvested (the black walnut not sitka).
Funny thing is that this is locally harvested wood (New Mexico) and the grain pattern in these particular boards are strikingly similar to your OM...I did not get pictures of the other but this one is close as well....View attachment 105454View attachment 105455