M_A_T_T Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 Okay, this came up on a violin making forum about some guy who made these hidious looking violins out of balsa wood as an experitment. It got discussed and someone mentioned how Gibson used Balsa as a core material in on of there electric guitars, and the guy says how Balsa is a great tonewood for electrics....... I just posted that it ISN'T a great tonewood for ANY instrument, and that I've never heard of it being used....or am I wrong??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 gibson used them for the cores of the studio light series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 (edited) Let's remember that just because someone makes guitars from it(ie gibson) does't mean it's a good tonewood. We all know what a plywood strat sounds like. Edited December 17, 2005 by thegarehanman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 I dont see how it could be used other than as a "filler" to stop feedback in hollow or semi-hollow guitars. It'd just fall apart if stressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 that's all they do jammy, gibson used it as the block material on the es-137's, except they called it something different...i forget what it was called, but i looked it up, and it meant balsa wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 I believe they called it 'chromite'. Not sure of the spelling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 maybe it's a good thing to use if you want something that acts like a combination of wood and air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 I think I heard someone mention over on MIMF.com that Gibson used balsa in their lower-end guitars years ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 i wonder how many people know that balsa is actually a hardwood (no relevance to the post, just stating facts) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 Yeah, balsa is pretty strong wood for as light as it is. It's used in all sorts of things--real airplanes, floorpanels in the Corvette Z06, and scale mockups of all sorts of products. There's probably worse wood you can build an instrument with. Like "alder/mahogany" plywood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiggz Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 i wonder how many people know that balsa is actually a hardwood (no relevance to the post, just stating facts) ← i knew that , the classification of woods has very little to do with their hardness but rather their growth patterns, and growth time, ie. softwoods are entirely useable, whereas hardwoods have sapwood and heartwood, which is not entirely useable. a friend of mine is building a 30 foot catamaran (sp??) outta balsa, he glued three layers of the stuff together for the hulls, apparently is used quite alot in the wooden cat industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted December 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 i wonder how many people know that balsa is actually a hardwood (no relevance to the post, just stating facts) ← Yup, it's a 'soft hardwood' . Softwoods are Pine, Fir, Spruce, etc - the ones that don't actually have leaves, but needles or scaley looking 'leaves' and produce cones. Hardwoods have leaves, which they loose in winter, and produce nuts, fruits, or seeds of some kind. ....I think..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 Hardwoods produce seeds with some for of covering wether it be a fruit or some kind of hard shell. Softwoods allow their seeds "loose" as-is with no covering. Anything that makes a cone like a fir tree also comes in this catagory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester700 Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 I don't understand why people dismiss balsa out of hand. I mean, OK, it's very light and very soft. Some people dismiss basswood for the same reasons, though balsa goes even further in those respects. But since many of the most prized woods are fairly light, and many prized pieces are among the lightest cuts (I'm thinking light swamp ash strats & teles here), why the comments about "wood & air"? I'd rather have the "wood & air" light ash tele than the solid maple one. Anyway, why CAN'T balsa be used as a core, or other use in which its weight is an advantage and its weakness and porosity are non-issues? What do the studio light Pauls sound like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 And what is wrong with the "wood and air" comment ? Did that comment go on to say that it would be a bad thing ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickmangumby Posted December 18, 2005 Report Share Posted December 18, 2005 Heh, I'd like to see someone make a body out of balsa wood... with a FR trem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester700 Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 And what is wrong with the "wood and air" comment ? Did that comment go on to say that it would be a bad thing ? ← No, I guess it didn't! It just came off that way to me, because it sounded like it implied even the lightest ash, basswood, whatever is still "wood" whereas balsa isn't, and usually "different from the accepted" = "bad" in guitar wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 So what does a Balsa tree look like? :? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted December 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 http://www.piedrablanca.org/Images/balsa-trees-b.JPG I've read they grow quite fast, don't live very long, and rot real quick after they die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 So this balsa wood has an awful lot in common with musicians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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