Padauk is an interesting wood for guitars. The first time I tried to bend it for sides, it cracked, and those had to be discarded. 🙁
But it is used for bridges by some luthiers. It has a good resonating quality, and is a good weight – not too heavy or light. I found out that my first experience with bending was a bit of a fluke. It bends beautifully and works well! I’ll get a sound sample together to post on the blog soon.
The wood is remarkable for it’s color… reddish/orange. Over time (years) it will change color to a brown color especially if exposed to unfiltered light.
Jacek Kado plays the uplifting Here Comes the Sun… From 2011, when his friend was being treated for a serious disease. Thanks Jacek. For me, this is an important role of music.
A longtime customer called me this morning, and due to a combination of medical, family, and financial concerns, he is considering selling his Ganz guitar. The guitar has had plek job, and has an internal passive pickup. 640 scale length. Spuce top, Macassar ebony back and sides. Here is a recent recording that the owner, Rich Rorex made recently. Rich has loved this guitar and used it in lots of gigs.
When I started building in 1970, all tie blocks that I ever saw on classical guitars had 1 hole per string. It dawned on me then that there were other other options. For instance, pegs could hold down the strings, like on steel strings (or like many early 19th century guitars). Another idea occurred to me back then (1970, not the early 19th century): there could be more than one hole per string.
Now it’s very common for tie-blocks to have multiple holes (2 or 3) per string. The first guitar I saw with 2 holes was one played by Marc Teicholz I believe in the early 1990s. So many builders have been using the two hole tie block for the last 30 years, I don’t know who gets credit for using it first. But I like how it looks (below).
Or 18 holes!
Perhaps one asks, why not just 6 holes? Well, there can be a downside to the 6 hole bridge. Mainly that the way the string wraps around itself can cause it to lower the angle that the string takes over the saddle (than piece of bone).
Six Holes Revisited
Over the years I have found that there are also problems associated with the 12 and 18 hole tie-block bridges. The problems can be avoided, but sometimes are no fun. Also, more holes to drill means more work. (OK. I’m not lazy, just efficient. 🙂 So nowadays mostly do 6 hole tie-blocks. I think it’s easy to make for me, and easy for players to use. So that is why I made this video. It shows how to securely tie the strings on a 6 hole tie-block.
Not too long ago, a guitar I built in 2002 came up for sale in a shop: Gruhn Guitars, in Nashville. This cat, Dave Richman picked it up, bought it, and started picking it. A transcription by Chet Atkins.
Wood for the back and sides. It has to be long enough for the increased length of the body. The sides have to a little longer as well. The pics below can be enlarged by clicking…
First, I’ve had this set for a few years. Tamarind, with spalting. It’s interesting and engaging. It’s not lightweight though, and I think that was something mentioned as important.
Tamarind, with spalting
The next wood to consider is Spanish Cypress. This is probably the wood that your nylon string guitar was made with. It is sort of yellowish/wheat colored, without much grain feature. It would be a good choice for a baritone. I have many sets of this wood, so here are just a couple of samples.
Next is another blonde wood, Movingui. Lively and interesting grain and figure. Here are two different grain figures.
More options: Below left: Palo Escrito. Right: Birdseye maple
There are more options. We could explore the Brazilian Rosewood options. There is an necessary upcharge, and the options are limited.
