Tasmanian Myrtle

[Peter Crossley]

while waiting for the lacquer to fully harden on the OM Florentine...

been three and a half weeks now and still not quite ready...

I kept a bit busy..

This is a piece of Tassie myrtle that is at least 80 years, but probably older.
I got it when AFT closed down and Lloyd (the owner) let me into his grandads shed, his grandfather started the business back in the very early 1900's..

I have had it sitting for a while, so time to cut up the plank..

Plank cut

Sides and back resawed

Panel joining jig made

Back being joined

Sides in the form with headblock and splints

Back

inside of the back....

Rosette.. the top is Englemann spruce..

Rosette close up

top is cross braced, tomorrows job is to shape the braces..

 

[jeremy]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

love the figure on that myrtle! how does it typically sound?

 

[Discharged]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Peter, I love the fact that you use mostly local woods and, like in this specific case, a lesser known species. I can't wait to her perform!

The best of luck in all your endeavors!

Yours very truly,

/Peter

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Wow....just, WOW.
I am in awe of what you do. That will be an absolutely gorgeous guitar.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Hey maybe you'd know....why DO builders choose a softwood for acoustic tops? Why not maple or something?

 

[Peter Crossley]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Hey maybe you'd know....why DO builders choose a softwood for acoustic tops? Why not maple or something?

Resonance mainly, archtop builders quite often do use maple for their tops, and Martin make a range of all mahogany guitars..

Spruce has a great sound transmission factor.. it works for violins, and pretty much all stringed instruments.

 

[Peter Crossley]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

top bracing shaped and cross patch on X brace

Note the added DNA factor......Luthiers blood.... hehehe....

 

[Peter Crossley]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

love the figure on that myrtle! how does it typically sound?

it has almost the identical specific density that American Maple has.. so the sound is bright, maybe the myrtle has a touch of glassiness about it, its old growth, so the grain is tight.

 

[Artie]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Amazing skills! So, how do you cut wood in half along its "thin" side like that? What kind of saw would that be?

 

[Peter Crossley]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Amazing skills! So, how do you cut wood in half along its "thin" side like that? What kind of saw would that be?

with one of these, a re-saw bandsaw with a 6" riser block

 

[elelpe]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Note the added DNA factor......Luthiers blood.... hehehe....

Wow, it reminds me of "The Red Violin" movie.

Cool project!

 

[AlexR]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Hey maybe you'd know....why DO builders choose a softwood for acoustic tops? Why not maple or something?

Because softwood doesn't mean a soft wood. Its one of the benefits of actually knowing horticultural terms.

 

[Artie]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

with one of these, a re-saw bandsaw with a 6" riser block

That still would require some skill. I have a small bandsaw, and there's no way I could cut that, that straight.

Because softwood doesn't mean a soft wood.

Doesn't "softwood" simply means that it has needles rather than leaves? I think I read that somewhere.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

There are a lot of interesting colors in that wood. I don't know much about it, but it sure is pretty. I also dig using locally sourced woods.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Doesn't "softwood" simply means that it has needles rather than leaves? I think I read that somewhere.

Yep, Softwood = Conifer
Hardwood = Flowering plant

So you get some incredibly stiff softwoods with tight grain......which is why they are used for acoustic instrument tops as they maintain a good deal of strength/projection ability despite the thin cut.
Amongst the 'hardwoods' you have Paulownia, Basswood, Poplar and of course, Balsa

 

[Adieu]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Why just the top though, then? Why don't we see these in elecrics?

And wouldn't hard maple still be stiffer?

Also, why isn't the same wood used for the back good for the top?

 

[Peter Crossley]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Why just the top though, then? Why don't we see these in elecrics?

And wouldn't hard maple still be stiffer?

Also, why isn't the same wood used for the back good for the top?

to be honest, it doesn't matter too much on an electric... but don't open that can of worms.

with an acoustic the different types of wood between the back and the top, open the range of tone available to the instrument as a whole..

I try to get 4 semitones of difference between the top and the back, with the back being the higher in register..

this gives acoustics their lovely warm and rich sound.. properly built ones that is.. mass produced is another matter..

so thats why different timbers, if the top is the same as the back, then the tonal difference is negligible, only changed by the bracing structure, so you would have a "thinner" tone band to work with...


Hope that helps....

 

[AlexR]

Re: Tasmanian Myrtle

Why just the top though, then? Why don't we see these in elecrics?

And wouldn't hard maple still be stiffer?

Also, why isn't the same wood used for the back good for the top?

Acoustics really straddle the divide between projection (from flexibility) and the strength required to tune to tension (from bulk) hence the bracing for the tops. The conifers really seem to have the best qualities for this, with tight even grain that makes for the best results without lamination - something that was not possible back in the day.
Now with archtops and semihollows that were made much more recently you do see lamination, but you are not going for ultimate projection.

As said, it matters way less in an electric - as the slabs are 1 3/4" so any stiff wood of a similar density will sound ballpark the same. I do have an electric or two made from spruce and cedar, so they are about as wood blanks if not finished guitars.