Wood
The timber used for building my instruments originates exclusively from my region. I buy from local timber dealers and sawmills. The only exceptions are red acacia and olive tree, bought in southern Europe, as well as nut tree which I obtain from Canada. Timber referred to as tonewood has outstanding vibrational properties and is thus a good choice for building string, as well as other instruments. Regarding this the length of the fibre, pliability and hardness play a decisive role, while optical properties are obviously important as well. The particularly beautiful and sought after flamed maple is born when a tree is exposed to a lot of wind during growth. That happens especially when trees stand solitarily. The tree then forms a kind of hard wedge diagonally to the direction of growth, with soft phases in between. That helps it with staying stable while still remaining elastic and protects the tree from wind break. So called cloudy or quilted wood is formed by the same process. Flamed wood is found especially in maple, ash, birch or pear trees, but nut, cherry, alder and oak can form flamed wood as well.
Maple (Acer pseudoplatanus und Acer platanoides)
Density roughly: ca. 530-790 kg/m³
Sycamore and Norway maple have a bright, finely pored and homogeneously structured wood.
It is hard and oscillates very well. Therefor they are a classic for building
necks. Norway maple forms a somewhat darker late wood und thus features a
stronger grain than sycamore maple. The flamed maple
is a particularly beautiful but pricy timber for tops and necks.
Birch (Betula pendula und Betula pubescens)
Density roughly: 650-800kg/m³
Our domestic kind of birches have a finely pored wood with a smooth, silkily shining surface. The colour is yellowish to white, thick trunks can have a light to dark brown core. I use birch wood mainly for building guitar and bass bodies.
It has a very quick articulation regarding the resonance and produces a loud and raunchy tone. My lapsteel guitars are built exclusively from one pieced birch wood.
Pear tree (Pyrus communis)
Density roughly: 650-800 kg/m³
The wood from a pear tree has a light rose to reddish colour. It is very homogenous, annual rings are usually hardly visible. In a dry state outer part and core are not distinguishable by colour, older trees however can form a brownish to purplish core. Pear wood is very hard and has similar tonal properties to maple.
i mainly use it for producing fingerboards and necks.
From the very rare flamed and quilted pear tree I produce tops of electric guitars. It is also used for backs and sides of acoustic instruments.
Oak (Quercus rubor und Quercus petraea)
Density: ca. 650-760 kg/m³
I exclusively use wood from the the in Europe indigenous English oak and sessile oak. Timber from such is mainly used for fingerboards. By vaporizing it with ammonia, I get the wood to colour to a heavy dark brown and increase in hardness. This process is confusingly referred to as “smoking”. The heartwood has similar properties compared to Brazilian rosewood. It would be possible to build necks and bodies out of oak wood, because of the association with German rustic wardrobes and commodedans though, this is rather frowned upon.
Alder (Alnus glutinosa)
Density roughly: 420-520 kg/m³
Alder wood is predominantly faintly yellowish to reddish-brown coloured. The timber from the English or common alder may actually exhibit a more ruddy colour than that of a red alder. Annual rings are merely visible, which is why I call the wood from the regional common alder “Göttingen mahogany”. Alder wood is relatively light and soft, with the Central European common alder being a bit harder and heavier than the North American red alder. The wood is a classic for building bodies. It produces a warm and balanced sound with a profound bass response. Especially when the body is made from one piece, the guitar or bass will have a remarkable sound.
Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)
Density roughly: 650-840 kg/m³
The wood of ash trees is of very long fiber. It is very hard, heavy and elastic. Therfor it is used for the handle of spades and other tools. Sometimes it has a dark brown or reddish core .
B ecause of its noticable grain I use the wood for bodies, tops, sides an necks. Especially the wood of the very rare flamed ash is suitable for this purpose
Spruce (Picea abies)
Density: ca. 430-480 kg/m³
Spruce has straight-grained, yellowish-white and faintly glossy wood that darkens to yellowish-brown under the influence of light. Spruce wood is outstanding for making acoustic instrument tops. For this purpose, slow-growing spruce trees from the high Alpine regions are used, whose wood has particularly good vibration properties with its narrow annual rings.
Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
Density: ca. 800-860 kg/m³
Next to the plum, the wood of the hornbeam is the second heaviest and hardest wood that occurs naturally in Europe. Because of this, it is also called ironwood or stone beech. The wood is yellowish-white to light gray across the entire cross-section, annual rings are only weakly developed and often slightly wavy. The wood of the hornbeam is suitable for the manufacture of fingerboards and bridges.
Black elder (Sambucus nigra)
Density: 700-850 kg/m³
The wood of black elder is realy hard and fine-pored. It is hard to find a trunk of more than 15 cm diameter. Therfore only fretboards can be made of it.
Kirschbaum (Prunus avium)
Density: ca. 600-700 kg/m³
The wood of the european cherry tree is fine-pored and has an has a reddish brown or yellowish brown color. It has very good vibration properties and is used fore the construction of necks, bodies and for sides and backs of acoustic instruments.
Walnut (Juglans regia und Juglans negra)
Density: 590-660 kg/m³
The walnut is native to Europe and North America. The heartwood of the walnut tree is brown to reddish-brown in color with varying degrees of almost black stripes, with the wood of the American walnut being somewhat darker and more evenly colored than its European relatives. Walnut has good tonal properties and is suitable for the construction of tops, bodies and necks. Ribs and bases for acoustic instruments can also be made from walnut. In my opinion, the wood is a bit too soft for the production of fretboards.
Red Cedar, Riesenlebensbaum (Thuja plicata)
Density: 380-460 kg/m³
The giant arborvitae originally comes from northern North America, Canada and Alaska. But it has also been planted here for more than 150 years as a forest and park tree. The wood is traded under the name redcedar. This name probably derives from the intense smell of the fresh wood, which is strongly reminiscent of the smell of cedar wood. The heartwood is yellowish brown to reddish brown in color and darkens intensely in the light. The annual rings are clearly recognizable by the pronounced contrast between the lighter early wood and the darker late wood. The light wood of the giant arborvitae is very well suited for the construction of acoustic instrument tops.
Robinia (Robinia pseudoacacia)
Density: 760-830 kg/m³
The Robinia originates from North America but it is planted a lot in many parts of Europe. The yellowish green wood is extreamly haevy and hard an it has a silky gloss.
For this reason it is suitable for the construction of fretboards.
Rote Akazie (Sesbania punicea)
Density: 750-850 kg/m³
the red acacia originally comes from South America but it is planted since hundrets of years in the South of Europe.
The wood is hard and reddish as some kinds of rosewood. I use it for the construction of bridges an fretboards.
Plum tree
Density: 700-890 kg/m³
The wood of plum tree is reddish brown to violet and darkens with age. The narrow sapwood is light yellow. Unfortunately, trunks with a diameter of more than 20 cm are rarely available. The wood is extremely hard and fine-pored. It is especially suitable for making fretboards and bridges.
