Different Kinds of Wood

[Sue Rieter]

My husband has been cutting down some trees around the property, and yesterday we were splitting and stacking. Talking about the different kinds of trees (oak, hickory, ash, maple, one that my husband calls "ironwood" - very heavy) got me thinking about kinds of wood mandolins are made of.

I like the idea of local. I see that Big Muddy has a mandolin with a hickory fretboard and another one with local walnut back and sides.

Has anybody ever seen a mandolin made of hickory (I mean more than the fretboard)? How about chestnut (I'm thinking about old barn boards)? How do you builders know what kind of wood is good for mandolins?

Inquiring minds want to know!

take it easy,
Sue

[sblock]

Different tonewoods have very different properties of density, stiffness, durability, and workability. They also have very different availability, which not only addresses the growing regions, but also the age of the growth, the amount of the growth, the accessibility of the growth, etc. Finally, there may be laws protecting certain species, particularly rare hardwoods. Acoustical instruments can be made from a great many different types of wood, and ALL the qualities listed above factor into the choice of wood. Mandolins, like violins, typically employ a light, stiff wood for the top. Popular choices are spruce (many kinds exist, including Adirondack/red, Engelmann, Sitka, etc.) and cedar (again, several kinds), also redwood. The back and sides are usually made from a hardwood. The traditional choice is maple (again, several species). But other hardwoods can also be used, including mahogany, one of the rosewoods, koa wood, walnut, and so on. Even hickory, or rare woods like zircote and zebrawood have been tried, And lots more I won't bother to enumerate. For fretboards, the traditional choice has been some type of ebony (again, there are several species). But one of the rosewoods can also be used, and so can maple.

The choice of woods definitely affects the sound of the instrument, and so both luthiers and players tend to play close attention to these choices. Builders "know" from both their own experience (and experimentation) and long tradition what tonewoods work well. That said, opinions do differ about the best choices. Hickory and walnut are not very popular for mandolin backs (but maple certainly is), but you might find some folks who recommend these.

I would not be too enamored of the word "local" when choosing a tonewood, if I were you. Choosing a tonewood is not really analogous to choosing foods to eat. However, the idea choosing a "renewable resource" of tonewoods is a good one. After all, we don't want to deplete the planet of rare and exotic hardwoods that take a long time to replenish, and we certainly don't want these species to go extinct by our over-harvesting. For that reason (among others!), both maple and spruce are good choices, because we aren't currently at risk of running out of either of these species. Ebony is another story, however, and so is rosewood.

[Marty Jacobson]

Bill Bussman has use ironwood for fretboards, for sure.. maybe more.

I wouldn't hesitate to use chestnut, hickory, or anything for a mandolin or guitar as long as it seems like it would be stable. Then it's a matter of adjusting the structure to match the properties of the wood.

You know, tonewood is just... wood.

[Charles E.]

Didn't some budget guitar and mandolin makers use Oak for the sides and backs in the 1930's or there abouts? Seems as tho I remember seeing them at flea markets and such.

Ok, I will answer my own question, yes they did...

https://www.creamcitymusic.com/vinta...oustic-guitar/

[Nevin]

As mentioned above plenty of people have experimented with different woods. There is a lot of interest in different fretboard woods as good quality ebony is becoming scarce and many rosewood species have been banned due to over logging. Two native American species I have heard good things about are Osage Orange and Persimmon. I would be cautious with chestnut for back and sides as it isn't very stiff or hard and is heavy.

[Charles E.]

An old thread from Jake Wildwood about an Oak bodied mandolin...

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...ersawn-Oak-B-S

I miss Jake's input here.

[Sue Rieter]

Really interesting information. I agree with sblock above about renewable. I don't think alot of rainforest wood is super renewable because the trees are really old, and I think harvesting can easily destroy the local ecosystem. The world has already lost too much rainforest.

And I never knew that chestnut wasn't very hard. I always thought it was a super durable kind of wood, you know, they used it for fence posts and maybe tool handles (but then I'm not too knowledgeable about wood except burning it for heat).

I think that oak mandolin sounds awesome. I've seen Jake Wildwood's website and he's got some pretty interesting instruments on there. He's about two hours from me, and I was thinking about taking a drive up there one of these days as COVID retreats.