View Full Version : Birch top?
John Rosett
Aug-30-2009, 12:42pm
I have a 1944 Epiphone Zenith archtop guitar with a birch top. I've shown it to several luthiers, and that's they think, anyway. It's one of the best sounding guitars I've ever played, and really responsive to where you play it-bright and chunky like an old Gibson if you pick by the bridge, and sweet with sustain like a flat top if played close to the neck.
I was wondering if anybody has tried birch for a carved mandolin top.
D C Blood
Aug-30-2009, 1:29pm
Wasn't birch used as back wood on some of the old F-2s and F-4s? I wouldn't think that a wood good for backs would be good for tops...Of course, I'm not a luthier, so what do I know?;)
Stephen Cagle
Aug-30-2009, 1:44pm
Hey D C Blood I'm with you. I'm no luthier either but you would think that. (By the way still lovin' the calton and gettin' some good use out of it) Stephen
John Rosett
Aug-30-2009, 2:25pm
Wasn't birch used as back wood on some of the old F-2s and F-4s? I wouldn't think that a wood good for backs would be good for tops...Of course, I'm not a luthier, so what do I know?;)
Pretty much all of the teens Gibson mandolins had birch sides and backs.
Also, remember that Gibson used mahogony for tops on some of their WWII era flat tops. I recently played a J-45 from the war era that sounded just as good, and quite similar to a spruce topped one.
Spruce
Aug-31-2009, 11:52am
Yeah, it's amazing that birch was ubiquitous in the world of commercial luthiery during the 20th century, and yet you'd be hard-pressed to find a single instrument made out it today by any manufacturer...
Or even small luthiers...
With the vintage craze and the desire to anally copy every nook-and-cranny of the older instruments, you'd think birch would be highly featured by somebody, with all the hype that would go along with it...
"337,487 Gibson mandolins can't be wrong"....
Hey John...
Is your Epiphone Zenith plywood-topped, or is it a solid birch top??
John Rosett
Aug-31-2009, 12:03pm
Sorry, double post.
John Rosett
Aug-31-2009, 12:07pm
Bruce- It's solid. I'm not sure if it's pressed or carved. You've probably seen it before, if not played it. I've been bringing it to festivals and parties for 15 years or so. Here's a couple of pictures:
Spruce
Aug-31-2009, 2:19pm
Wow, some serious mojo in that puppy...
I do remember wanging on that thing. Hope it wasn't me that did that damage... ;)
Yeah, birch is a heavy hardwood. Think hard maple, and you're in the ballpark weight-wise.
Not your "normal" top wood, but hey, what works works...
Jim MacDaniel
Aug-31-2009, 2:32pm
Larry Stamm (http://www.larrystamm.com/mando.php) and Daunt Lee offer birch as a standard choice for their mandolins' back and sides, as did Garrison before being purchased and shut down by Gibson -- but no birch tops.
BTW, walnut worked as a top-wood for this interesting mandolin just built by Brian Dean (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?p=708365), but nothing about this design qualifies as normal either. ;)
Epiphone had one model, the Ritz, whose top used a wood called primavera; which is supposed to be a kind of 'white mahogany'. Maybe this Zenith somehow ended up with a primavera top?
John Rosett
Aug-31-2009, 3:14pm
Wow, some serious mojo in that puppy...
I do remember wanging on that thing. Hope it wasn't me that did that damage... ;)
Nope, it pretty much looked that that when I got it. Now the Spadafora strat may be a different story...
John Rosett
Aug-31-2009, 3:16pm
Epiphone had one model, the Ritz, whose top used a wood called primavera; which is supposed to be a kind of 'white mahogany'. Maybe this Zenith somehow ended up with a primavera top?
You could very well be right, John. What years did they use "primavera" (sounds like an Italian dish)?
The Ritz was only available from 1940-49, and I believe it was only available as a blonde. The body was slightly larger than the Zenith, but maybe somebody wanted to experiment, or made a goof, or some such. Does your Zenith have a walnut back?
John Rosett
Aug-31-2009, 4:09pm
I'm pretty sure it's walnut.
Of course, it has the gold sparkle heel cap.
Spruce
Aug-31-2009, 4:28pm
"I'm pretty sure it's walnut."
If you really want to know, snap a close-up pic of those chips on the bass-side C-bout and post it...
Walnut is pretty distinctive....
John Rosett
Aug-31-2009, 4:41pm
I can't. Someone (not me!) spilled a cup of coffee onto my camera, and I can't afford a new one right now.