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RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to Ahmed Flamenco)
I think tone wise it may fit, but its a heavy wood, stiff but porous...hard to work with. I know it's used in some ouds, but I've never seen an acoustic guitar made with one.
RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to Ahmed Flamenco)
Hi, I used it in the past for a classical and happy with the results. It's tonally good, but quite heavy: you could have nice results for something like a heavy flamenco guitar like a Sanchis Carpio Bulerias for instance. If your goal is a light and responsive one I'd go for other medium density stuff. Difficult wood to work anyway , it will make your tools dull very soon - particularly the scrapers. Again I suggest you to wear gloves when you handle it as the long pores make easy sudden splinters raise up.
Posts: 1108
Joined: Sep. 29 2009
From: Back in Boston
RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to Ahmed Flamenco)
I googled wenge guitars and found some acoustic guitars made from it but have no idea about the sound. the weight of wenge is in the ballpark of indian rosewood (wood database) but I am not sure if one can go as thin as indian rosewood. wenge easily splinters and the splinters are nasty and can cause infections. it is pretty bland looking and is often used as an ebony substitute.
RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to keith)
I've played about 5 or 6 high end steel string guitars with Wenge back and sides and they were excellent. I'd say in some ways it was closer to Brazilian Rosewood than Indian RW.
As for weight, it's close to BRW. Wenge has an average dried weight of 870kg per cubed metre and BRW has 835kg per cubed metre. Wenge is lighter than Madagascar, Amazon, Honduran Rosewoods, and also Pau Ferro, so I can't see it's weight being an issue. I've even seen a few Ziricote flamencos which were the heaviest guitars I've come across in the steel string side of things.
What is supposed to be an issue with Wenge are the splinters! I've heard they are brutal and horrible for workability.
RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to Ahmed Flamenco)
we used Wenge when I was an apprentice for a small bodied flamenco. The guitar turned out very nicely. I haven't used it again only because Indian Rosewood is cheaper and easier to sell.
I didn't find it particually hard to work although using a sander thicknesser kinda takes the stress out of using a lot of the difficult woods.
Again the splinters are horrific. I was making something completely unrelated to guitars with it many years ago, I was just sanding the edges when the paper managed to get underneath the grain and sent a huge splinter right through my finger! I still use it for bindings today but am a lot more careful about how I sand it, I still get little splinters though and remove them instantly with a scaple.
Posts: 1108
Joined: Sep. 29 2009
From: Back in Boston
RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to Ahmed Flamenco)
Ahmed, if you want a Dalbergia substitute with a dangerous story to it use Metopium browneii, AKA, Chechen, Caribbean Rosewood, Poisonwood. The wood has a rosewood look to it. The wood itself is not harmful but debarking the wood is nasty as the tree contains a sap akin to poison ivy, etc. Interestingly, the gumbo-limbo tree grows near Chechen and is antidote to the sap.
The wood database is a great resource--I use all the time. Here is a link to an article about wood toxicity.
RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to keith)
quote:
ORIGINAL: keith
Ahmed, if you want a Dalbergia substitute with a dangerous story to it use Metopium browneii, AKA, Chechen, Caribbean Rosewood, Poisonwood.
I've been intrigued by Chechen for guitar, it seems to be cheap and available when a lot of Dalbergias are expensive and ethically unsound. I post on an acoustic guitar forum and a user there Bruce Sexauer (who is a luthier) said a few of his Chechen guitars were up there with the best Dalbergia guitars he's made.
Here is the Chechen guitar he made.
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RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to Ahmed Flamenco)
nice to hear other experiences with wenge, and cool to know that someone built a flamenco with it.
my experience with it was as a chambered solid body electric... i didnt build the body, but got it raw and did the finishing of it. in that context, it was heavy, but i liked the tone of it a lot. i think it woud be somewhat brighter and and more responsive than rosewoods.
i disagree that its bland looking, lol... just look at the post above. Mine had great grain to it as well:
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RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to Ahmed Flamenco)
You can use whatever wood that doesnt fall apart or split for the back and sides of a flamenco guitar. Just do it. And choose a good piece of spruce or cedar for the soundboard and prefereably a nice piece of Honduran Cedar for the neck. If you want a cheap medium density wood for the back and sides, that sounds good, is relatively light, easy to work etc. try African Mahogany also called Kaya (or khaya) You can use it for the neck as well. I personally wouldnt use Wenge because I cant see any reason to do so, but you may be in another situation than me.
RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)
I've bought African mahogany neck blanks, some are lighter than others... hahaha(nature of wood) I will also buy sycamore for a blanca , wenge for negra and black walnut for classical , then finally I'll buy spruce and cedar tops . unfortunately I can't find traditional woods like cypress Indian rosewood or spanish cedar for the neck, and I don't want to ship anything as this will cost more than the wood price itself.
RE: Can wenge be used as a tonewood ... (in reply to Ahmed Flamenco)
Remember that the cypress is called mediterranean cypres and grows all around the Mediterranean sea. Its the same tree, just in different countrys and trees dont care about that. What we buy now in Spain, comes from Turqyey or Tunesia.
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