You Just Don't See Wood Like This Anymore...

[Spruce]

Ran into this parlor guitar yesterday....
Yep, they don't make wood like this anymore...

[Glassweb]

Spruce... Dake Traphagen, a luthier here in Bellingham, has some equally remarkable rosewood in his stash. Unbelievable old rosewood from ancient "beam timber"... amazing colors and patterns!

[crazymandolinist]

[Pete Martin]

That instrument is pretty stunning (that's me holding it in the pic).

[boatman]

Better hope that the D.O.J. doesn't come down on you like a thousand bricks for displaying these endangered materials.

[Brent Hutto]

Better hope that the D.O.J. doesn't come down on you like a thousand bricks for displaying these endangered materials.

Nah, they aren't due to make pictures illegal until 2013. As long as that photo doesn't cross the border into Canada he's perfectly safe...

[Markus]

One more example of how amazingly beautiful wood is ... bet it sounds quite fine too.

Guys, let's leave the crazy talk for another board. I''d love to say more, but I need to keep that advice and take such discussions elsewhere.

[Paul Hostetter]

Hi Bruce - are you certain that's actually rosewood, and not a grained (painted) surface?

[Jim Baker]

Nah, they aren't due to make pictures illegal until 2013. As long as that photo doesn't cross the border into Canada he's perfectly safe...

Too late!

[Loudloar]

I have an old Chicago-made guitar that looks exactly like that. It has fake graining that is pretty impressive, but the inside of the back is light colored. So you are absolutely correct to say "They don't make wood like this anymore." I'm betting you already know and want to see if anyone else can spot it.

Steve

[MikeEdgerton]

If it was anybody else I'd be asking the same question Paul is asking. Those Chicago builders got faux rosewood down to a fine science inside and out but shouldn't Bruce know if it was real or not? By the way, I've seen very few of those that were actually real rosewood.

[Spruce]

Hi Bruce - are you certain that's actually rosewood, and not a grained (painted) surface?

We have a winner!!
(And I'm not surprised it's you, Paul)...

I think it's the best faked BR I've ever seen....
Beautiful brushwork, and it had me going for a few minutes...





And Pete taking a better look:



And yep, they don't make wood like this anymore...

[MikeEdgerton]

Perfect. You have to wonder how much time went in to creating the finish.

[Paul Hostetter]

In old San Francisco buildings you still see entire surviving interiors done with graining over (sniff) heart redwood. Whoever did it belonged to a big guild, because it was done a great deal, once upon a time.

We have a winner!!
(And I'm not surprised it's you, Paul)...

Me and my big mouth. So, Bruce...what did I win? The guitar?

[MikeEdgerton]

I wonder if they used some sort of stencil or something. I can't imagine doing large pieces that way.

[Bill Snyder]

Mike, I don't know what faux grain painters used 100 years ago but there are special brushes, rollers and other tools available now for graining at craft and paint stores.

[Vernon Hughes]

All of the pine floors,trim and doors in my circa 1906 house were grained to look like oak..Very realistic I might add..I can't imagine taking the time to do that..

[J.Albert]

"Ran into this parlor guitar yesterday....
Yep, they don't make wood like this anymore..."

I'm not convinced about that.

I sense that there is _still_ wood like that to be had.

The reality is that you're just not allowed to _have_ it.

Just sayin'...

[Bill Snyder]

J. Albert it is very plain wood that has been MADE to look like that.

[nick a]

so what is the make of that guitar? and what companies employed the faux graining?

[Spruce]

"Ran into this parlor guitar yesterday....
Yep, they don't make wood like this anymore..."

I'm not convinced about that.

I sense that there is _still_ wood like that to be had.

The reality is that you're just not allowed to _have_ it.

Just sayin'...

Dude, you just have to not lie about your documentation...

I'm actually a lot more impressed with this paint job than I am with the actual stuff, which always did smell like dealing in jaguar skins to me, even back in the 70's....

I think if a luthier came out with a beautifully-made parlor guitar with painting as artistic as the one we are seeing here, she'd really turn some heads...
It would make a statement on so-ooo many levels...
Fretboard Journal material right there...

so what is the make of that guitar? and what companies employed the faux graining?

I wish I would have taken a pic of the label, but it was a cheapie--Montgomery Ward or the like....
Inlaid star in the peghead...

We were all playing music outside of The Shafer Museum in Winthrop after the North Cascades Fiddle and Large Insect Contest, when they brought out this guitar which was on display...

Pretty cool...

[Audio Artillery]

I wish I would have taken a pic of the label, but it was a cheapie--Montgomery Ward or the like....
Inlaid star in the peghead...

I had something similar for a while with the same star on the headstock, faux rosewood back/sides, cool painted inlay down the back. It was a "Lyra by Bruno", probably ~20's vintage. Made for steel strings. Sadly the rosewood paint had mostly peeled off.

[Paul Hostetter]

Mike, I don't know what faux grain painters used 100 years ago but there are special brushes, rollers and other tools available now for graining at craft and paint stores.

I've seen it demonstrated. They used graining combs, rigid combs of various sorts, where they would drop dabs of dark paint onto a ground of a lighter color, and, using rather precise and nuanced technique, would drag the combs through the dark puddles and create streaks of dark that mimicked the grain of whatever they were after. I've seen oak, walnut and this kind of faux marbled Brazilian.

[Bernie Daniel]

Dude, you just have to not lie about your documentation...
...I think if a luthier came out with a beautifully-made parlor guitar with painting as artistic as the one we are seeing here, she'd really turn some heads...
It would make a statement on so-ooo many levels...
Fretboard Journal material right there......Pretty cool...

And then when someone plays it and declares you just can't beat the sound of those ancient woods...

BTW what kind of wood is this really? Is the entire grain pattern faked or painted on --- or did they figure out a way to highlight existing grain with dyes? I am assuming given the previous statements that it is the former?

If so then somewhere out there are dozens (hundreds?) of other guitars to be found with exactly the same pattern then?

[Paul Hostetter]

BTW what kind of wood is this really? Is the entire grain pattern faked or painted on --- or did they figure out a way to highlight existing grain with dyes? I am assuming given the previous statements that it is the former?

It's a pigmented layer over (usually) birch. Sometimes other hardwoods. You just look inside the guitar.

If so then somewhere out there are dozens (hundreds?) of other guitars to be found with exactly the same pattern then?

No, each one was hand-done and no two are alike.

Ouf, please: let's not make a mountain out of a molehill. There are more important issues in the world.