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View Full Version : Figured wood vs. Plain wood



ShaneJ
Feb-22-2004, 2:52pm
I was talking to a builder who said he prefers "commercial" grade wood for mandolins since it is closer to what was used on many Loars. I didn't think to ask if his preference was for the appearance or if he thought that the tone or possibly the stability of the wood is better on plain wood than on highly-figured wood.

Spruce, any thoughts? f5journal? Charlie? anyone?

sunburst
Feb-22-2004, 3:16pm
There's not much difference until you get into wildly figured wood. When the curl or figure gets extreem, there almost gets to be no real grain direction and the wood starts to act differently. It looses stiffness and stability. I learned this lesson the hard way. I still haven't replaced that neck, but I'll never use maple THAT curly again.

Another problem you can run into in wildly curly maple is: #
If your sides are...say, 2.5mm thick and the curl in the grain waves up and down 2.8mm, it gets hard to bend a side without breaking it because the grain runs all the way through on each curl. It's also not as strong or as stable if you mannage to get it bent. Same goes for the thin parts of the back. An impact can actually "split" the wood through a curl giving you a break across the direction of the back. Been there/done that too.

I don't really know why the builder you talked to likes "commercial" wood, but these are the reasons I select wood with moderate yet attractive figure.

Chris Baird
Feb-22-2004, 3:32pm
Wild figure and other irregularites can make it hard to get a top or back with consistant flex. #Knots #and knot shadows can be especially troublesome and create a localized area that is usually very stiff. #The curls in maple also act like hinges between areas of stiffness. #I've noticed some mode shape shifting as a result of a back with a particularly big deep curl in it. #According to some experienced builders I've talked with plain wood is superior tonally. #But, obviously lots of figure doesn't disqualify great tone as there are many great sounding highly figured instruments.

Spruce
Feb-22-2004, 4:02pm
"I was talking to a builder who said he prefers "commercial" grade wood for mandolins since it is closer to what was used on many Loars."

Most Loars have very nice figure in the woods used...
Even the ones that are considered to be less figured (usually European cut on the quarter to my eye) display some figure...

Most maple ("commercial grade"?) is unfigured, without even a hint of fiddleback...

Unfigured maple would produce a fine tone in a mandolin, but is not a whole lot of fun to look at....

ShaneJ
Feb-22-2004, 7:40pm
Thanks guys! That's pretty much what I figured (no pun intended!), but what do I know?