Silver Maple?

[IWishICouldShred]

there's a HUGE silver maple tree being cut down in my back yard- should I get my hands on a chunk of it? i dunno if silver maple is any good for building guitars.

if its not good for a neck, is there a way i could get a piece and spalt it myself?

[thegarehanman]

I suppose you could spalt it if you could find the fungus that causes spalt, and introduce it to the wood. However, I'm 99% certain the fungi isn't going to eat at the wood if it's not alive.

peace,

russ

[ginner]

Yeah, you should totally get a peice. Godin guitars build their LGXT's and most of their "preformance" seriese guitars out of silver leaf maple. Godin is also a really good company so I would trust in their choises.

[duo2]

Yeah. If you have got access to it why not? It's worth a shot. Worst case scenario you get a body or a neck you don't like and you get to make another one.

[Daniel Sorbera]

My Godin SD is made out of silver leaf maple and it sounds great.

[unclej]

i almost never correct anyone on the board but in the interest of accuracy spalting is actually a bacterial/fungal rotting that takes place in dead wood. you can encourage spalting by keeping a piece of dead wood moist but you can't control it. since it's a part of the rotting process if you wait just a little too long to slab out a log it will be too soft to do you any good.

here's a webb page full of guys asking similar questions.

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Inte...l_Spalting.html

[erikbojerik]

See if the timber guys will strip the bark off the trunk; if you see any wavy areas under the bark, that's flame. Usually you'll get it near big crotches and often on the main trunk if you're in an exposed windy area. If you find it, have the guys chain-saw you some boards along the length of that section.

Then wax the end grain and give it 1-2 years per inch of thickness. Or have it kiln dried.

[IWishICouldShred]

Thanks for the help, everyone! I didn't realize I could get a flamed piece!

Also, pardon my ignorance about the spalt, but thanks for setting me straight.