TASMANIAN BLACKWOOD - Acacia melanoxylon - Better than KOA??? Acoustic guitar tonewood comparison.
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- čas přidán 22. 03. 2021
- Acacia melanoxylon from South Eastern Australia, a close relative of Koa and quite difficult to distinguish between the two. This week is all about woods from Australia!
- Hudba
Bunya pine top and Tas blackwood back and sides...a beautiful balanced combination with a magic sound and great all round playability.
keep up the great videos :) great content
Appreciate it!
Great tap-tone from that TB. Love it! Lots of character with a nicely balanced tonal range and response. I have a 12 Fret Grand Concert Taylor guitar, Limited Edition, with Lutz Spruce over Tasmanian Blackwood... and it’s a real beauty. Lovely to play, nicely balanced tonal range, great projection with a pleasant sustain. It has everything... and, of course, it smells awesome! Genuinely! And the interesting thing is the weight... it’s paper light - surprisingly so. You should consider a Lutz Spruce top for this one Tom - the sound and character will be a joy to experience. K.
I can't wait for the episode when Tom Sands the tonewood
What a crazy episode that would be!
OMG I was just looking at Tasmanian Blackwood, Queensland Maple, and Blackheart Sassafras last night! Can't wait to watch all your reviews! ❤
It’s a big week!
@@TomSandsGuitars is Tasmanian blackwood as durable as basswood for weather resistence?
Haven't played a Taz Blackwood guitar that I didn't like yet. Very round, pure tone.
Yep, that’s the stuff!
My favourite guitar hasTazzy blackwood top back and sides. I had it at Springhill Tom but I'm not sure whether you clocked it? Built by now deceased German luthier Heiner Dreizehnter. I had him make me a matching mandolin a few years later, which I loved but eventually sold back to him as it turned out that I'm not a mandolin guy. I'm a fan of the old blackwood for sure!
Beautiful wood. Very very similar to koa in every aspect, but without the huge price tags associated to koa
Yes , koa Is More rare tonewood
Sides and backs are often overlooked on Acoustics, but I refer to them as the EQ to the top wood.
Imo- Rosewood has the most volume. TB the most balanced (plush), but rewards dynamics. Koa a bit more punch in the lower mids than the TB. Mahogany, biggest low end.
I have built several Taz Blackwood / Lutz Spruce guitars and they had fabulous tone.....very resonant, sensitive, vibrant guitars....and beautiful as well.
I really need to get some lutz
@@TomSandsGuitars First let me say I love your approach to building, and noticed you have found your own path (after Ervin) which is great. I attended one of Ervin's earlier luthier "voicing/building" classes in Oakland, slept in his shop for a week, it was a blast.....I bought a bunch of Lutz Spruce billets 15+ years ago before it was popular, turned out to be a lucky gamble. Resawed 100+ sets sitting in my wood storage for future use as I stopped building ~10 years ago due to family responsibilities (retirement is close and I will build again). The Lutz I have is spectacular material, better than any other tops I have handled. I am sure that tops like Moon Spruce are great stuff, but doubt it is any better than the Lutz. Anyway, love watching your vids and your guitars sound awesome.
@@ggergg6423 ah amazing! Ervin is an incredible teacher. I’m going to buy some lutz right now!
@@TomSandsGuitars Yeah, he was awesome, loved seeing his jigs too! hope you get some good sets sir!
@@ggergg6423 yes there were definitely some masterful jigs in the shop. Very clever indeed
What sort of price are those pieces of Blackwood.
Blackwood Is a very impressive tonewood for solid bodies with a sound near honduran mahogany.
I imagine so
Makes me think if there will ever be a "Mercury pt 2" but with all Malnoxylon varities:
Acacia melanoxylon
Dalbergia melanoxylon
Now that’s an idea!!
What’s a fully grown tree worth?
What would be a TS OM guitar with blackwood back and sides w/ adirondack top run???? Ballpark estimate?
Hey John, drop me an email via the website. I can send over an options list 🙌
I have a guitar with Australian Blackwood top, back, and sides. I sounds great.
Interesting!
Why is it called blackwood?
Maybe that's why it's been hidden till recently!
No, it has been known and used for fine furniture and many other things 200 years. Working with it gives you black hands, hence the name.
It burns very easily and turns black. Routing, power sanding etc, it burns, especially the end grain. I dont know if thats where it got its name.
Your "Tasmanian Blackwood" is likely "Victorian Blackwood" and more accurately "Otway Blackwood" if Pete Curley got it. But let's not get all possessive over it, it's all Australian Blackwood....... you can't go wrong with Acacia melanoxylon.
If James Kidman is related to Murray Kidman….he knows exactly what he is talking about. I love both Otways and Tassie Blackwood, the Otways stuff always seems a little more richer in the orange/gold hues and the stuff from Tassie has a moreso darker, greyer colouring. Gosh I love them both!!
I've always known it as Blackwood wattle. His piece may well have come from the Otways as you say. I wonder if the countries where it has become invasive are also selling the timber on the global market?
I have heard and "opinion" that African Blackwood is far superior to Ausz/Tas, would you think this might be true? Maybe just more expensive?
Completely different species, not directly comparable in any way. African Blackwood is a true rosewood, Tasmanian Blackwood is an acacia.
@@TomSandsGuitars Both a dense wood, and similar response?
@@danherrick5785 dense in comparison to?
Is taz blackwood as dense as African. Meaning will it have a similar reflection properties? Or is taz an inferior tone wood?
@@danherrick5785 According to "the wood database" African blackwood is very hard and dense, showing little grain. Its very similar to ebony. Also rare, expensive and restricted. Australian blackwood is half the weight/density of African. They are completely different timbers. By reflection I assume you mean for sides or maybe back. Tone wood? Do you mean tone as reflection or tone as generation? For a top I imagine Australian would be way better as its half the weight. So unless you have a specific reason a top is generally desirable to be light, stiff and strong along the grain. So Sitka Spruce is about 30% lighter than Australian blackwood and Koa. Sitka Spruce as a top should in theory generate more volume as its lighter but still pretty stiff. Heavier timbers should in theory require more energy to vibrate.
Norwegian Wood
Ware buy the wood
Is Taylor really selling Tasmanian Koa guitars or is this just marketing smoke and mirrors for Tasmanian Blackwood. I thought Koa was only found in Hawaii.
I hadn’t heard of that but it sounds like a slightly spurious claim.
I have both, (as well as many others) but IMO nothing is better than Koa when it has a maple top! Taz Blackwood RULES for blues tones, BUT it also needs a harder top wood to sound its best! Koa is for sweet high gain saturated distorted rock tones, and Blackwood absolutely rules for Blues and blues Rock tones!! But then I'm not talking about acoustic guitars either strictly chambered and solid body electrics! For acoustics I much prefer aged Mahogany, Sipo, and Spanish Cedar bodies!
Are you talking about electric guitars?
I never ever buy or build a guitar for how it looks, I buy/build a guitar strictly for tone and tone alone!