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Noone can tell you what it is from a picture. Maybe they cant do so even after touching and smelling it. It can be whatever brownish south american hardwood. Jacaranda can be used for rosewoods and whatever other wood that has looks like this one. You will, of course and as usual get a lot of replies from the wannabee´s that has read a lot of online articles about mystical brown woods.
Why do you want to know? Is the guitar good? The wood is not specially well cut. The grain starts tilting close to the center and ends up being flat sawn
You tell me it's meaningless to ask what type of wood the guitar might be made of? And you think it's more meaningful to ask if a guitar is good?
I say its meaningless to put a photo on a forum and expect to get answer that will tell you anything but speculation and myth. I base this on many years of experience, hundreds of similar photos. They never say anything.
If you want to know, then go to a builder that has worked with a lot of south american hard woods. Then MAYBE there´s a very small chance that this guy will be able to tell you something.
I have seen Indian rosewood with this color on old guitars. I dont think the wood is from the Pau Ferro family. It looks like the wood has pretty big pores.
It can be whatever. Jacaranda is often used for unspecified rosewood or rosewood like wood and also for some members of the Pau Ferro family which on the other hand is sometimes called rosewoods even though its not Dalberghia etc. The south american wood scene is like that. You never really know what you get. There´s another generic name for the same kinds of wood, same zone which I cant remember right now.
A friend of mine bought some Jacaranda. In Bolivia, I think. Very pretty straight grained wood. He sold it in Granada. Its some 9 - 10 years ago, so maybe Bellido bought some of it and used on this guitar. It looks familiar.
It can be whatever. Jacaranda is often used for unspecified rosewood or rosewood like wood and also for some members of the Pau Ferro family which on the other hand is sometimes called rosewoods even though its not Dalberghia etc. The south american wood scene is like that. You never really know what you get. There´s another generic name for the same kinds of wood, same zone which I cant remember right now.
A friend of mine bought some Jacaranda. In Bolivia, I think. Very pretty straight grained wood. He sold it in Granada. Its some 9 - 10 years ago, so maybe Bellido bought some of it and used on this guitar. It looks familiar.
Thanks for the info Anders for the Bellido. Whatever species it is, I like the guitar like I do most of Bellido's I have come across.
Is the other generic name you are thinking of 'Caviuna'? I've seen the term Caviuna used to represent Brazilian, Pau Ferro and Amazon Rosewood.
I'm in agreement the b/s posted above isn't Pau Ferro. I had a Pau Ferro negra which had a very characteristic grain to it.
The red can fade over time, but the dark lines in that wood are too dark. Also, Padauk has interlocking grain, similar to Mahogany. If you turn it different ways in the light, you'll see inch-wide or so strips changing from light to dark up and down the back. Hard to tell from the picture but it looks like Rosewood to me.
A bit confusing now. But the padauk guess was for the Bellido that someone else asked about.
As Anders Eliasson pointed out, the guitar back that I posted could be anything really. Possibly some sort of Wood but it could equally well be a photo wallpaper someone stuck to the back of the guitar, I guess.
Manuel Bellido has built various guitars with Padauk. I´ve tried a few and they were amongst his better guitars. He called the wood 'Coral', which is the most common spanish name for Padauk. In general, he always called the wood by its name... So, I believe that the person that sold him (or one of the sons) the wood has called it Jacaranda. And there´s a fair chance its exactly the wood I mentioned above.
What it is scientifically, I dont think we´ll ever know. There are many species in the Amazon region.
Is the other generic name you are thinking of 'Caviuna'? I've seen the term Caviuna used to represent Brazilian, Pau Ferro and Amazon Rosewood.
Youp, thats the name and it has been used a lot in different "stories" Some years ago, a foro member bought a socalled Braz rosewood Conde Filipe V for a lot of money in a very famous USA west coast shop. When it arrive, the label said 'Caviuna'.
bla bla... top guitar is braziliian, the bellido is cherry. Caviuna, I suspect, started being used as a description of brazilian because new brazilian guitars are totally illegal blackmarket items. I think a fair visual test are with Ramirez III guitars...he certainly knew his D. Nigra from the rest. If that is not the case, I think it is safe to say, D. Nigra throughout history has always been substituted with other south american rosewoods only a botanist would know. So it's moot point, negras are negras.
while identifying wood on line can be a wild goose chase, if i was hard pressed i´d put my money on Brazilian rosewood on this one (colour,pores, dark ink lines). Closest candidate would be madagascar, but i don´t think it was very popular / common during the 60s.
Jacaranda is one of the (many) names for Dalbergia nigra (in fact, it´s the most popular in Brazil) but it was also used since the 60s on some japanese guitars made from some kind of indonesian (? - at least i´m sure it was southeast asian) rosewood.
bla bla... top guitar is braziliian, the bellido is cherry. Caviuna, I suspect, started being used as a description of brazilian because new brazilian guitars are totally illegal blackmarket items. I think a fair visual test are with Ramirez III guitars...he certainly knew his D. Nigra from the rest. If that is not the case, I think it is safe to say, D. Nigra throughout history has always been substituted with other south american rosewoods only a botanist would know. So it's moot point, negras are negras.
Re the Bellido, I notice that a guitar similar to that one is on the famous Bay. The guitar is listed as Palo Escrito back and sides: interestingly the wood is very similar, even though not as reddish.
bla bla... top guitar is braziliian, the bellido is cherry. Caviuna, I suspect, started being used as a description of brazilian because new brazilian guitars are totally illegal blackmarket items. I think a fair visual test are with Ramirez III guitars...he certainly knew his D. Nigra from the rest. If that is not the case, I think it is safe to say, D. Nigra throughout history has always been substituted with other south american rosewoods only a botanist would know. So it's moot point, negras are negras.
I vote for Dalbegia nigra on that photo. Save it for the rich guys, give my the cipres and the common wood. To my mind, that is the essence of flamenco
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