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Wellingtonia


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I'm thinking of buying some as its going cheap. I've had a search on google but apart from details on the actual tree i'm struggling in finding anything about its use in guitar making.

It's a hardwood - that I know, and its from the species as other sequoia tree's. Has anyone had any experience of using this wood, or have any information that I could use?

Cheers!

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I'm thinking of buying some as its going cheap. I've had a search on google but apart from details on the actual tree i'm struggling in finding anything about its use in guitar making.

It's a hardwood - that I know, and its from the species as other sequoia tree's. Has anyone had any experience of using this wood, or have any information that I could use?

Cheers!

Never 'eard of it, but...sequoia's are redwoods. Softwoods. Big 'ol giant trees on the West Coast of the US? Used for soundboards on acoustic guitars once in a while, tone's similar to western red cedar, little bit harder, but more fragile/brittle than most spruces. This said, just because it's in the same family doesn't mean it's got the same properties, per se.

EDIT: a quick look at Wikipedia reveals that 'Wellingtonia Gigantea' is giant sequoia (incorrectly named; invalid nomenclature), so a redwood as far as I can tell, and probably illegal to log, so probably windfall. It's NOT a hardwood, its a softwood. And kind of a brittle softwood at that. Not really something I'd use for electric guitars. Acoustic tops, keeping it's fragility in mind, yes.

Edited by mattia
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I'm thinking of buying some as its going cheap. I've had a search on google but apart from details on the actual tree i'm struggling in finding anything about its use in guitar making.

It's a hardwood - that I know, and its from the species as other sequoia tree's. Has anyone had any experience of using this wood, or have any information that I could use?

Cheers!

Never 'eard of it, but...sequoia's are redwoods. Softwoods. Big 'ol giant trees on the West Coast of the US? Used for soundboards on acoustic guitars once in a while, tone's similar to western red cedar, little bit harder, but more fragile/brittle than most spruces. This said, just because it's in the same family doesn't mean it's got the same properties, per se.

EDIT: a quick look at Wikipedia reveals that 'Wellingtonia Gigantea' is giant sequoia (incorrectly named; invalid nomenclature), so a redwood as far as I can tell, and probably illegal to log, so probably windfall. It's NOT a hardwood, its a softwood. And kind of a brittle softwood at that. Not really something I'd use for electric guitars. Acoustic tops, keeping it's fragility in mind, yes.

Great info, thanks Mattia, once again you have provided with me some excellent information. I think i'll buy it anyway and make some marquetry boxes - be a fun project.

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Great info, thanks Mattia, once again you have provided with me some excellent information. I think i'll buy it anyway and make some marquetry boxes - be a fun project.

Heh. I'd say evaulate the chunk of wood when you get it, see what you think. And for reference, Wikipedia is a fantastic resource for looking up stuff on very specific things. Often more useful than google alone.

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EDIT: a quick look at Wikipedia reveals that 'Wellingtonia Gigantea' is giant sequoia (incorrectly named; invalid nomenclature), so a redwood as far as I can tell, and probably illegal to log, so probably windfall.

Yup, Wellingtonia is the exact same thing as the giant redwood.

In this site:

http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/T42285.HTM

Sequoiadendron giganteum - the latin name currently accepted by botanists

(Lindley) - author who first described it in scientific literature

Buchholz (Wellingtonia) - Bucholz probably described it around the same time as Lindley but under the genus Wellingtonia...

I knew college would pay off someday...

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