get BUTCHER'd

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Fresh Meat

from Guitar Tree Interview

Can you tell us about any current builds? its taken alot of planning but I finally am currently building the 12 string extended Range Bass guitar in the works now. Spelled out, heres the tuning;

12........C#...195

11........F#..165

10........B.. 136

09........E..116

08........A....095

07........D..070

06........G..050

05........C..035

04........F..022

03........Bb..011

02........Eb..008

01........Ab..007 above a guitar highest E string.

Then from my Tweaked Vintage line; a 4 string Jazz Bass , Alder body, Awesome quilt maple top with Orange burst, maple neck, palisander Rosewood, passive electronics with legendary (vintage style) VTV Ultra-Tone Capacitors, bassline antiquity2 Jazz pickups, but then just when you think its all old but typical I added a classic BRASS tremolo bridge. The same one Stanely Clark used in his hay day. all Gold hardware and pickguard. The ultimate punchy growlin funk machine.

What inspires you? Happy customers!

Where do your ideas come from? i try and be as original as I can but everything comes from somthing, so I'd say off the top of my head Ritter Roya, Alembic, Pedulla, Ken bebensee, amazing very original works of Art, and Robert Benedetto; I am trying to study everything he's ever written. In case anyone who reads this does'nt know, He's the world's foremost Archtop builder and holds a place in Guitar history for all time.
I pay close attention to engineering design outside the stringed world as I do on the inside. I have found carbon Fiber to have a few more uses than just extra lite support. I also have found many new ways of finishing and texturing wood that stem from my days at the Accademy of Art College in San Fransisco.

What are your favorite woods?

This reminds me of the question whats my favorite color? From the perspective of sound, there are contrasting tonewoods just as there are contrasting colors on a color wheel. Then each piece of wood from one tree does not sound the same. so, I judge by the sound of each wood first and plan the build by matching different woods to achieve the desired sound. I do not order wood usually, i actually hand pick it out and tap on it-(I get some weird looks sometimes.)

Having said all that I try and lean on whats around me when applicable, Maple, Black Walnut, N.W.Washington Alder, Oregon ash, Redwood(when available-I have some now), Myrtle wood, Apple wood, Mahogany. I use exotics from all around the world too.

What innovations have you brought to guitar building? EXTREME DESIGNS & because several customers were asking for a Bass or Guitar with some Meat to it. Every time I build I try somthing new like a Bridge with more tone from the body,... MEAT!!!

A pickup I am working with Pete Biltoft of "Vintage Vibe Guitars" for extended range instruments with adjustable pole pieces to overcome the distance due to the wide range of string size. They also have graduated distances between the magnets to accomodate the graduated string distance as do my bridges.

Budget instruments; From the U.S.? Using Douglas Fir from my own back yard, carefully selected pieces of this wood are VERY musical and make great bodies, top it with your favorite wood and its as good as any mid range priced instrument on the market & less expensive. American Indians used to make some fine flutes from this wood and still do. The sound has snappy highs and strong mid range frequencies.

What plans do you have for the future? An 11 string Contra Bass guitar, a couple heavy metal style Bass guitars. Then I'm planning a skateboard guitar (sk8ar) you'll be able to watch that build on myspace bulletin and my blog-(should i do a demo- I'd probably fall on my ___), then I'll be finishing the Dragon Bass that breathes fire.

I am interested in hollow body design, and will be making archtop guitars and some bass guitars with the old Gibby ripper sound but with a longer scale and completely different look. They all will have a wide tonal range and optional stereo output.

What advice would you give to someone looking to buy a handmade instrument? Do a criminal backgound check, see if they have any warrants. Seriously, a Luthier with a small shop like mine survives on reputation.

CUSTOM means you get what is best for you. Make sure you're able to communicate your vision.
Know the terms and conditions and use paypal or make sure you have a secure way to pay.
Ask if they will offer a standard rental Instrument to try or buy,
deposit & Insurance is necessary, using paypal (or equivalelent) you're both covered.
Are good trees that the Earth needs sacrificed? Can they provide proof that all there wood sources are NOT clear cutting forests and only thin diseased & fully mature trees and replant for the future. I am also a Tree GROWER myself.
Don't expect the impossible; Is there a Floyd Rose 9 string tremolo bridge ?
Get somthing that sounds like it has some MEAT to it.(o;

entire interview; http://www.guitartree.net/the butchers Remove Formatting from selection

current 2008 projects

From the Tweaked Vintage line, this is the Gold Finger it gets the old p bass sound and jazz and alot more, Lots of growl

The 12 string extended range Bass.

Below a walnut, alder, maple neck tele with tons of inlay, lots different sounds in the electronics too, but it still twangs like a TELE

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Options that are a Professional Musicians Dream

My great great grandpa Frank & Family;

120 years later & we're still JAMMING in the same little town.

The style changes but SPIRIT OF MUSIC never dies." ) was an easy decision with the low overhead in this small town I decided its possible to have an online business & i love my family.

Some Options
this is a basic overview; to get all the options email me and i will send you an order form.

Fanned Fretboards
The scale length is optimized for each string. The fret spacing is adjusted accordingly for each string providing superior intonation and clarity.

Balanced string tension The longer scale length yields a greater tension on the low strings and a correspondingly descreased tension on the high strings for a more even feel across the neck.
Even tonal repsponse along the entire neck Dead spots are minimized and each string speaks with a unique harmonic voice. A low E-string scale length of 35 inches .

Size matters! One extra inch of scale length gives you a better-tensioned low string and clearer harmonics. This scale length allows players the option of B E A D tuninng with solid, well-defined tone. Smaller head stock A smaller head allows your bass to fit into your current case. Graphite reinforcement 2 embedded carbon fiber spars provide stability and strength. Truss rod adjustment at the head for convenience and accuracy .

Wood and tone options
All wood is Stable and free of structural defects. There are many sources of good material that almost anything can be obtained. Most woods are included in the base price. The more exotic woods will be market value at the time of purchase. The following list includes the standard choices of woods:

Body	Top	Neck	Fingerboard
Honduran Mahogany Black Limba Claro Walnut Lacewood Alder Ash Koa Cedar Spruce Spanish Cedar Alder Macassar Ebony Rosewood Etc	Flamed Maple Quilted Maple Claro Walnut Redwood Lacewood Rosewoods Spruce Cedar Etc	Honduran Mahogany Black Limba Flamed Maple Claro Walnut Rosewood Padauk Etc	Ebony Macassar Ebony Indian Rosewood Brazilian Rosewood Madagascar Rosewood Santos Rosewood Bolivian Rosewood Boi D'Rose Rosewood Cocobolo Rosewood Etc

Q & A

Can you explain to me exactly what Maple sounds like compared to Mahogany, or Purpleheart, or Ebony compared to Rosewood etc. etc.? I get asked many questions about wood and it's relation to tone... People most often want to know what a particular wood species sounds like. Unfortunately these types of questions are very difficult to answer. I mean it requires a vocabulary similar to that used in wine tasting, just to describe it! I.E. warmth, snap, muddy, brite, thin, presence, woody, airy, etc. etc...
So what does any piece of wood sound like? To answer this, we need to ask each piece of wood! Seriously; every piece of wood I decide to use for an instrument, is first tested for tone response, by placing tuning fork to all sides and ends of the wood along with tapping the wood, and listening to it's tone. I listen to each piece of wood, and I decide which side will carry tone better. This sounds a bit odd, but some cuts of wood will actually carry tone better on one side compared to the other side. So, if one side sounds better, then if it's a body blank the "sweet side" becomes the top, or if it's going to be neck wood, then the fingerboard is placed on the "sweet side". Some wood sounds the same on both sides, so it all depends on the piece. These "tone tests" MUST be done on each piece used for an instrument, because even in the same species of wood, the tone will vary greatly.
Some Mahogany's, will be "brighter" (more highs) with a bit more "snap" (upper mid's) then others... For example: light colored and light weight piece of the same size Mahogany will be warmer (lower mids) and often more resonant (louder) then a darker heavier piece of Mahogany. However, these are just generalized guidelines to go by; as each piece (in ALL species of wood) has it's own unique tone,. So because of this, when I compose an instrument, I start by considering the wood tones first, then I build an instrument based on the tone the individual wood components will have as a whole.
Each piece not only is examined for tonal superiority but the grain, stability, and moisture content are also carefully examined before any specimen gets cut out into a neck, body, top, and finger board blanks...
Pickups;
Personally I find it difficult to blow $200 to $300 on any so called "hand made" pickup. I mean please understand, that no one really holds the bobbin in their hands while hand wrapping 65,000 turns in some sort magic pattern. You might get "lucky" and find the pups that you love within one or two trials, or you may even live a costly cursed search of one pickup after another , and yet never find the "holy grail of all pickups!!".... At that point I would suggest that you might want to look into trying a different instrument.
And that's where I come in! Mainly, because my focus has always been to -first- make the instrument sound as best as it can sound with out any pickups on it. So a pickup combination that you really like on another instrument, will sound even better in the Butchers!
Butcher's pickups come in single, humbucking for guitar and bass. The overall sound is meant to be clear and clean with even response across the frequency spectrum. They do not suit all needs like vintage sound for instance so I also use pickups from many sources and even pickups you already own which can reduce the overall price of the instrument.

WOOD SAMPLES: The ONLY way you will get an EXACT idea of the look, feel, and color of the wood you choose, is if you order samples of the woods you would most like to be placed on your instrument... These samples are actually quite nice! I do the same quality of workmanship on the samples, as I do on the actual instruments. So all samples come with a fully polished Tru-color finish. (a variety of stains may also be available at an additional cost).

A customer wanted to know what a piece of Quilt maple, looks like as a top on an Ash body, he was also wanting a sample of Birdseye maple with an Ebony pinstripe and even a few inlay material samples as well... The samples can range from $5.00 plus shipping (for 1 piece of sanded non exotic tonewood), on up to probably $30. plus shipping (a sample like this could probably have up to 6 or more wood pieces, and maybe even some different stained samples and even a few inlay material samples as well) These samples also make a nice souvenir to go with your instrument! If you need to keep the price lower: I can also make samples where just the tops of the wood samples are sanded and Tru-color and none of the pieces are glued together. This will save quite a bit on labor, and is recommended if you need quite a few samples to make up your mind.
Why do I need to have an instrument "reserved for construction" before I can further discuss the project with you? First of all, I want to say that I'm really sorry about this rather strict rule. However, my main reason for this rule is because I just can't afford the great amounts of time it often takes to discuss custom built instruments. Please understand, that there can be extreme complexities involved in discussing custom instruments by way of Email. Often even a simple electronics question can take well over an hour of time and research just to answer. So, in order to continue offering custom instruments at a fair price, I really need to make sure that all major custom instrument inquiries are serious, before I can dedicate a substantial amount of time into the project.
Do you prefer Email or phone calls? If it's going to be some complicated questions, then definitely a phone call is best for me....
One of the main reasons is: I get bored and my butt hurts typing long emails and sitting at the computer for long periods of time

Delivery time (completion time), shipping, and pickup, questions: Can you please tell me how long it will take to build my Custom Butcher Shop instrument? Believe me I can totally relate to the tormenting anxiety involved in waiting and waiting for a custom instrument to be built ( I go through this every time I build one for my self!) However, this is always such a very difficult question to answer because there are always a million factors involved.

If I have little else going on at all, then I could finish most instruments in under 2 months. However that is often not the case. I really wish I could give you a better time estimate then this, but I just can't, so I just have to ask you to trust that I will do everything in my power to make sure your instrument is finished in a timely manner. Average time is 3-4 months, but thats getting shorter now.

* I also sell some guitar parts for Do it your-selfers.

Electronics; a pair of pickups comes standard with basic volume and tone controls. Additional pickups and controls can be added to the design for a wiring system that is flexible and complete for your needs. In addition to magnetic pickups there are a piezo systems that can be used to add a nice tonal option. Piezos can be wired to blend into the magnetic signal and also have separate outputs for sending a signal to a separate amplifier. Control cavity layouts are customized to the specific instrument due to the wide array of switching options available. Prices are based on the number of controls and the complexity of the design. Top quality components are used throughout.

Tuning Machines Bridges Tremolos
Waverly,Sperzel,Schaller,Grover,TonePros,Hipshot,Stetsbar,Hipshot,Skyway,Wilkinson,Etc...

and Butchers custom bridges.

Inlay

Inlays and embellishments can give a guitar your own personal touch and because of this I welcome any designs and ideas that you may have. Available materials include shell, bone, wood, metals, you name it. Anything that has aesthetic value can be used in an inlay or as a decorative piece to personalize and instrument. Included in the base price of an instrument are fret side markers, fret top markers, and a headstock logo. All of this can be customized. I do not have a problem redesigning my logo to tie into an inlay design as long as it still retains the general readability of the ligature. Truss rod covers are also a place to add detail. A truss rod cover matching the fingerboard is standard but this can also be customized.

Binding

On electric guitars faux maple binding is the standard option. Solid wood binding on the body, fingerboard, or headstock is also an available option on all instruments. Many purfling styles are available as well. The standard is to use the same material as the fingerboard. Different woods can be substituted as well.

Musical Tonewood overview:

Whether you believe in its strength in tone or not, wood is the beginning and driving force of any instrument and the realm in which the tone is held. Different woods bring different tones to any and all instruments, the same way that every instrument is different, is the same way that every piece of wood (even the same type) is too.
The Elements
The properties and sound characteristics of woods can be described in several different ways. One way to explain the different tone qualities of different types of wood is to rate them in terms of hardness. Hard woods tend to have a clearer, brighter, more articulate sound, while soft woods are more sensitive, allowing you to hear the swelling of the overtones as a note sustains.
The second way to rate woods are by its color. Light colored woods are generally brighter than dark woods.
The third factor is the density, or simply the weight of the wood. Lightweight wood is brighter than heavy wood.
The overall tone characters of a piece of wood is a combination of these elements. For example, a very hard wood (like bubinga) does not have a brighter tone than maple, which is not that hard, because it's very dense.
So, after understanding the major elements that bring the tonal characteristics to a piece of wood, I'd like to give a short overview on various woods used for building an instrument.
Neck Woods
There are several different woods used for a guitar or bass neck. I've tried to collect complete information on this, so here they are:
Maple (Accer Saccharum): The all-fabulous maple has been honored in almost every instrument ever built. In general, maple produces a bright and high midrange tone that projects. There are several types of maple which are:
Hard Maple: This is the traditional neck wood. Dense, hard and strong, offering great sustain and stability. The tone is bright. Maple must be finished to protect from warping.
Flame Maple: While there are several maple species that show the flame figure, the only one hard enough for making necks is Acer Saccarum. Identical to plain maple above, except for the highly prized flame figuring.
Birdseye Maple: Birdseye is another type of figure found in hard maple. It shows best in flatsawn wood. There is a wide variety of size and shapes in the "eyes" to keep them interesting. There seems to be a recurring rumor that Birdseye maple is unstable and not suited to guitar necks. Having made tens of thousands of Birdseye necks, luthiers can assure you that it is no different in stability than plain maple. AAA grade denotes very heavy figuring.
Maple is generally used for both necks and fingerboards.
Rosewood (Dalbergia): The source from the beginning in fretboards has over the years evolved into a wood that is used any many other aspects then just fretboards. Rosewood comes in many types and each produces different types of qualities in tones. Rosewood produces a warmer tone then its counter part ebony. There are several types of rosewood:
Indian rosewood (Dalbergia Latifolia): This is the most popular fingerboard wood. It has a warm "rock'n roll" tonality. Colors range from dark purple to lighter purple with yellows and orange. It's usually used for fingerboards.
Brazilian Rosewood (Dalbergia Nigra): A very hard and dense wood. Great clarity and articulation in tone. Very smooth feeling. Color varies a great deal from piece to piece, all gorgeous. It's a very high class fingerboard wood.
Palisander Rosewood (Dalbergia Baroni): This is the wood of choice for making solid rosewood necks and bodies. The color varies from light violet to darker purples, sometimes with darker stripes. The best smelling wood around. Very hard and heavy with somewhat open cell structure. It's used for both necks and fingerboards.
Pau Ferro (Machaerium Villosum): Relatively new as a fingerboard wood but very well suited to this purpose. Very smooth texture similar to ebony. Tonally brighter than rosewood but not as bright as ebony. Color varies from light tan to a darker coffee color. Usually quartersawn to show nice striping. Primarily a fingerboard wood though occasionally available for necks as well.
Wenge (Millettia Laurentii): A black hard wood with chocolate brown stripes. Very hard, coarser textured wood with open grain. This wood makes awesome bass necks with strong midrange tones and warm lows. Combine it with an ebony fretboard for more brightness. Used primarily as neck shafts but may also be used as a coarse fretboard. This wood is usually played raw. No finish required.
Bubinga (Guibourtia Demeusei): A very strong stiff wood used primarily for bass necks and in laminations. Used by Rickenbacker for fretboards. As a bass neck, it brings bright midrange and a thick well defined bottom.
Ebony (Dispyrus Melanoxylon): It's very hard, smooth and fast feeling that has a bright, long sustaining tone. Chocolate brown or dark gray streaks are not uncommon. Available primarily as fingerboards and occasionally for full neck construction
Macassar Ebony (Dispyrus Macassar): Stripped ebony, black with with heavy striping, chocolate brown to gray. A beautiful wood for those wanting the feel and tone of ebony but a more exciting look. Primarily for fingerboard wood but sometimes available for solid necks. No finish required.
Mahogany (Swietenia Macrophylla): Commonly called Honduran Mahogany. This is the wood most associated with Gibson guitars. Not as dense or strong as maple. Good for warmer, fatter guitar tone. An open grain wood requiring more work in finishing to fill the open pores. Must be hard finished. It's ususally used for necks.
Walnut (Juglans Nigra): Walnut is the only North American dark wood. It is somewhat softer than maple though stiffer than mahogany. Looks and sounds good when combined with ebony fingerboards. This wood must be hard finished. Used for necks.
Koa (Acacia Koa): Koa comes from the Hawaiian Islands. It is the premiere ukulele wood. It is fairly similar to mahogany in strength and weight though generally better looking. Sometimes available with flame figuring. Koa sounds best when combined with a pau ferro or ebony fingerboard. Koa must be hard finished. Used for necks.
Limba (Terminalia Superba): Korina is the name guitarists recognize for this wood. Its light yellow-green color is unique and looks aged even though new. In both tone and texture limba is very similar to mahogany. Limba is only suitable for neck stock, not fretboards. It must be finished. Availability is limited or sporadic.
Padouk, African (Pterocarpus Soyauxii): Bright vivid red color which oxidizes to a warm brown with use. This waxy feeling wood has an open grain texture similar to rosewood and a tone similar to maple. It is very stable in use and requires no finish. Feels great to play on. Used for necks.
Goncalo Alves (Astronium Fraxini Folium): Very dense smooth texture with a waxy fast feel - no finish required. Color is tan with darker chocolate stripes (used by Smith & Wesson for pistol grips). Articulate clean warm tone. Primarily used as a neck wood and mates well with Pau Ferro or ebony fingerboards.
Purpleheart (Peltogyne Pubesens): Generally this wood is used as an accent line in laminated necks. The purple like color is striking. A very hard dense wood. Similar to bubinga in its good bass tone. A specialty wood that can be used for necks and fingerboards.
Satine (Brosimum Paraense): It's known as bloodwood because of its dark red color. A very dense hard tropical wood with a waxy smooth feel. No finish is required and may be used as neck or fingerboard wood.
Body Woods
Alder (Alnus Rubra): Alder is used extensively for bodies because of its lighter weight (about four pounds for a Strat body) and its full sound. It's closed grain makes this wood easy to finish. Alder's natural color is a light tan with little or no distinct grain lines. Alder has been the mainstay for Fender bodies for many years. It looks good with a sunburst or a solid color finish, because of its fine characteristics .
Ash (Fraxinus Americana): There are two very different types of Ash: Northern Hard Ash and Swamp Ash (Southern Soft Ash). Northern Hard Ash is very hard, heavy and dense. A Strat body will normally weigh 5 lbs. and up. It's density contributes to a bright tone and a long sustain which makes it very popular. It's color is creamy, but it also tends to have heartwood featuring pink to brown tints. The grain pores are open and it takes a lot of finish to fill them up. Swamp Ash is a prized wood for many reasons. It is a very musical wood offering a very nice balance of brightness and warmth with a lot of "pop". It is a fairly light weight wood which makes it easily distinguishable from Hard Ash. A Strat body will normally weigh under 5 lbs. Many of the 50's Fenders were made of Swamp Ash. The grain is open and the color is creamy. This wood is a very nice choice for clear finishes.
Basswood (Tilia Americana): This is a lighter weight wood normally producing Strat bodies under 4 lbs. The color is white, but often has nasty green mineral streaks in it. This is a closed-grain wood, but it can absorb a lot of finish. This is not a good wood for clear finishes; it is quite soft, and does not take abuse well. Soundwise, Basswood has a nice, warm tone.
Koa (Acacia Koa): This very beautiful wood comes exclusively from Hawaii making supply very limited. It's weight varies somewhat from medium to heavy and is an excellent tone wood for bass guitar bodies. Koa has a warm sound similar to mahogany, but with a little more brightness. Like walnut, this wood may be oiled, but generally will look its best sprayed clear. Koa is sometimes available in flame figure.
Figured Koa (Acacia Koa): Koa is exceptionally beautiful when it develops the flame figure. Usually used in thin laminate tops and sometimes available in higher grades.
Korina Black (Terminalia Superba): It's true name is Limba from Africa. Black Korina is usually a medium weight wood, but occasionally in light weight pieces. The tone is very similar to Mahogany. It features a very handsome olive color with black streaking. This is a great wood for bass guitars. Korina has a naturally waxy feel to it. Oil finishes work well on this wood.
Korina White (Terminalia Superba): It's true name is Limba from Africa. White Korina is a medium to heavy weight wood. The tone is very similar to Mahogany. It features a light yellow/green color which looks great with a yellow tinted finish. This is a great wood for bass guitars. Korina has a naturally waxy feel to it. Oil finished work well on this wood.
Lacewood (Cardwellia Sublimis): Lacewood is imported from Australia. It's a medium weight wood. The grain design ranges from very small spots to very large spots which create a it's signature reptilian appearance. Lacewood looks best in the form of a bookmatched laminate top, The tone is similar to Alder.
Mahogany (Khaya Ivorensis): It is a medium to heavy weight wood with a Strat body averaging 5 lbs or more. Mahogany is a fine grained wood with good musical properties. The tone is warm and full with good sustain. The grain is easy to fill, although, it does not tend to look good with clear finishes. It does look great with a transparent red finish.
Maple (Acer Saccharum-Hard Maple, Acer Macrophyllum-Pacific Maple): There are two types of Maple: Eastern Hard Maple (hard rock maple) and Western Soft Maple (big leaf maple). Hard Maple is a very hard, heavy and dense wood. This is the same wood that is use on necks. The grain is closed and very easy to finish. The tone is very bright with long sustain and a lot of bite. This wood cannot be dyed. It looks great with clear or transparent color finishes. Western Maple grows all over Washington state. It is usually much lighter weight than Hard Maple but it features the same white color. It has bright tone with good bite and attack, but is not brittle like the harder woods can be. Our flame ( fiddleback) and quilted bodies are Western Maple. This type of maple works great with dye finishes.
Flame Maple (Acer Macrophyllum-Pacific Maple): Flame, Fiddle-Back or Tiger maple all generally refer to curls (or stripes). Flame can be tight, wide, straight or crooked. This wood is most beautiful in the form of a bookmatched laminate top.
Quilted Maple (Acer Macrophyllum-Pacific Maple): Quilted maple is a more rare form of figure occuring mostly in western maple. It is distinguished by its billowing, cloud or even popcorn appearence. This figure can vary from large, wide billows to tight small blisters. As with flame, quilted maple is most often used as a bookmatched top, but can be used as 1-piece or 2-piece solid bodies.
Spalted Maple (Acer Macrophyllum-Pacific Maple): This wood is actually the product of a dead or decaying tree. The dark lines are created by fungal attack. This wood is soft and punky and is only used as a laminate bookmatched top on flat top bodies with binding. Spalt is difficult to finish as it soaks up a lot of finish. Don't even think about doing a "do it yourself" finish on this stuff. Each piece of Spalted maple is quite unique. It looks awesome with a tobacco burst finish.
Birdseye Maple (Acer Saccharum-Hard Maple): This figure is only found in the Eastern hard maple trees. Birdseye does not usually run deep in the boards, so solid bodies are not available. As a bookmatched top it can be quite striking.
Burl Maple (Acer Macrophyllum-Pacific Maple): This is a very busy looking wood usually with a lot of pourosity and bark inclusions. it's usually used for bookmatched tops. Epoxy is used to fill all voids. Burl looks best finished in a natural clear gloss.
Poplar (Liriodendron Tulipifera): This is another standard body wood having been used by many companies over the years. Due to the grey/green color, this wood is used only when solid color finishes are to be applied. It's weight generally runs about a half-pound more than alder. Tonally it is similar to alder as well.
Poplar is a closed grain wood that accepts finish well.
Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens): It is available as thin bookmatched laminate tops on flat top solid bodies. While the figure is intense and reflective, the depth isn't as dramatic as figured maple. It is not suitable for hollow bodies.
Rosewood (Dalbergia Baroni): This is the heaviest wood with Strat bodies always weighing in at well over 6 lbs. The tone is warmer than maple, but the highs seem to be dampened somewhat by the oily nature of the wood. Finishes can be a little difficult to apply.
Brazilian Rosewood (Dalbergia Nigra): This is "beautiful" wood with a wide range of colors, grain and patterns available in thin bookmatched laminate tops only. We have a very limited supply and it is very expensive.
Walnut (Juglans Nigra): Walnut is a heavy weight wood but not quite as heavy as hard maple. It has a similar sound to hard maple but it tends to not be as bright. Walnut is very beautiful with open grain. Oil finishes work great on Walnut.
Figured Walnut (Juglans Nigra): The figure is predominantly flame. It is usually used as a bookmatched laminate top. This is very handsome wood.
Wenge (Millettia Laurentii): Wenge features black and chocolate brown stripes. It is usually quatersawn to yield straight grain similar to zebrawood, but black. Usually as laminate tops.
Zebrawood (Microberlinia Brazzavillensis): This is another heavy weight wood with very open grain. It has a distinctive look with light and dark brown stripes. Zebrawood is more commonly used as a laminate top. It's weight and sound are similar to hard maple.
Laminating different woods certainly can make instruments more beautiful. By carefully combining woods, it's possible to focus on particular tone qualities. For example, a maple neck with a maple fingerboard is generally brighter than a maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. When making a body, if you put a hard top on a soft back, you can make the low end clearer and more articulate but still retain the desired qualities of the softer wood for the high end and midrange

Reputation; my name means somthing to me and i am proud to put it on your Baby. ( Your Instrument that is, -cuz if i really put it on your Baby your spouse might not be happy.)
A very nice Customer left a comment for me on myspace recently & said, "this man is an ARTIST, and he cares about what you want, he even took the time to call me !!! he wanted to know my musical influences, and what sort of tones i liked and This is because he wants to Tailor your instument to you PERSONALY. I'm surprised he didnt want my arm length,and my blood type.LOL but im just saying, if you want a Fine Instrument Give Butch a call, he is a dying breed of True Craftsmen and will produce an instrument that you will most certainly be able to pass on for generations to come."

& that is my Goal.

TAP TONE

"Take an old a violin top between two
fingers and tap it, and one or more distinct pitches, or ‘tap-tones’,
can be heard. No one knows whether the
old Italian makers tuned their plates in
any systematic way, yet the tap-tones of
their instruments have interested makers
and researchers since at least the early
1800s. In the 1960s Carleen Hutchins
measured a Stradivari top, found an octave relationship between the tap-tones known as mode 2 and mode 5, and later developed an influential method for plate tuning. Since then, there has been much debate over the meaning and relevance of tap-tones – at least among researchers.
In mainstream violin-making literature,
they are politely ignored.
Also ignored is weight.
a particular relationship
between density and stiffness that is
important – a relationship that the Bell Labs
researcher John Schelleng captured in
the term ‘radiation ratio’. Radiation ratio
is an expression of something like the
‘stiffness-per-unit-mass’ of a material.
The higher the radiation ratio, the stiffer
the material is for its weight. Radiation
ratio is most conveniently measured in
the workshop by dividing the speed of
sound through the wood (as measured by
a Lucchi Elasticity Tester) by the density
of the wood. It can be measured in any
direction, but readings across and along
the grain are sufficient for dealing with
modes 2 and 5. Values along the grain for
new European spruce range from 12 and
below to as high as 16 and beyond –
though this is rare. There is a statistical
correlation between low density and high
radiation ratio, so if no LucchiMeter is
available, choosing the least dense woods
tends to yield those with the highest
values. Note that run-out (when the wood
is cut so that the long-grain is not parallel
with the surface) lowers radiation ratio
along the grain, and off-quarter grain
orientation dramatically reduces it across
the grain. In any given direction, radiation
ratio varies somewhat throughout a piece
of wood, so a perfect match between any
two pieces is unlikely. But in principle,
if the radiation ratio of the new wood
matches that of the old plate both across
and along the grain, then a new plate can
be made that matches the old in terms of
both tap-tones and weight. If the densities
of the woods also match, then so can
the plate thicknesses.
Although radiation ratio is straightforward
to measure in a wedge of wood, it is
not with a finished top. Density is hard
to get at without knowing the volume
of the top, and the speed of sound,
as measured over the arching, tends to be lower than when measured directly
through the wood. From practical experience in trying to copy some of the Italian tops listed, and by using some seat-of-the pants calculations (which there is not space here to explain), I have estimated the radiation
ratio along the grain for the Italian
tops listed in Table 2. Though these
estimates, shown above in Table 3, should not be taken too seriously, they correlate well enough with my own workshop -experience that I think they give at least a first approximation of the range of material properties found in old Italian tops.
Finding wood to match the lowest value
of 13.9 is not difficult. Finding wood to match the ‘Booth’ or the Testore, however,is a very different matter.
In concluding, let me stress that a copy
that is faithful in terms of geometry,
tap-tones and weight is not necessarily an acoustically perfect match. There remains the question of damping – of how quickly vibrations tend to die away due to internal losses in the wood. Damping strongly affects quality, response and power, but unlike tap-tones and weight it is difficult to measure in accurate, meaningful ways,especially at higher frequencies. Research will hopefully yield useful guidelines in
the not-too-distant future. In the meantime I believe there is much to be learnt by recording and sharing data on the tap-tones and weights of a wide variety of instruments – both old and new." -Joseph Curtin (Violin Builder)
See link below for entire document including graphics

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Saturday, April 19, 2008

current 2008 projects

The 12 string extended range Bass.

Below a walnut, alder, maple neck tele with tons of inlay, lots different sounds in the electronics too, but it still twangs like a TELE

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