Oak

[jrplefty]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Custom-Jumbo-Acoustic-Guitar-Gibson-J200-Style-/130618815267?pt=AU_Musical_Instruments_Instruments&hash=item1e697cf323#ht_13727wt_1396

 

This caught my eye as I was trolling for J-200's. I was surprised to read that oak was used for the back and sides. Anybody have any experience with oak as a tonewood? What was your perception?

 

Not interested in buying, just got my curiosity raised a little bit

[Rambler]

Here's a thread from the Mandolin Cafe http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?60233-Oak-as-a-tonewood . Highlights: were used on old Stellas (as was Birch). Thuddy bass-clear top. Porous, when it comes to finishing.

[j45nick]

Here's a thread from the Mandolin Cafe http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?60233-Oak-as-a-tonewood . Highlights: were used on old Stellas (as was Birch). Thuddy bass-clear top. Porous, when it comes to finishing.

 

Agree. It takes a LOT of finish to fill the grain on oak, as the grain is open and the wood porous. It would also result in a heavier guitar as it is about 25 percent more dense than maple or mahogany. In the thicknesses required for a guitar, it is very prone to splitting, as it will shrink as much as 1" per foot of width across the grain with extreme changes in moisture content when plain-sawn. Quarter-sawn shrinks as much as half that. I see no reason to use it.

[fp]

I'm going to argue whether that is oak or not. It doesn't look like any oak I've used in the past 40 years.

I've seen quite a few oak guitars, they are usually made of quarter sawn American white oak. I have four sets of it in my shop waiting for me to get off my *** and build with it. That particular guitar pictured just reminds me of sycamore more then it does oak.

OK after going back and looking at the picture again, I can maybe be convinced it's oak but sure doesn't look like the three species of oak I've used for different projects. I'm familiar with red and white American oaks and Russian oak.

Maybe it's some species indigenous to Australia.

[onewilyfool]

A lot of those turn-of-the-century parlors had that "tiger stripe" oak.....I think it may work better as a tone wood on smaller guitars....

[j45nick]

I'm going to argue whether that is oak or not. It doesn't look like any oak I've used in the past 40 years.

I've seen quite a few oak guitars, they are usually made of quarter sawn American white oak. I have four sets of it in my shop waiting for me to get off my *** and build with it. That particular guitar pictured just reminds me of sycamore more then it does oak.

OK after going back and looking at the picture again, I can maybe be convinced it's oak but sure doesn't look like the three species of oak I've used for different projects. I'm familiar with red and white American oaks and Russian oak.

Maybe it's some species indigenous to Australia.

 

It doesn't look like any of the oak species I've worked with, but there are many, many varieties of oak. Hell, I've got three different species just in my yard in Florida! Quarter-sawn America white oak (Quercas Alba) is a wonderful wood that I've used for decades in boatbuilding and furniture-making. It never occurred to me that it might also be a guitar-building wood. Oak is one of those woods where you can recognize the species just by the smell of it when you saw it or plane it.

 

Woodworkers have a bit of a fetish about woods.

[pfox14]

With all of the choices available for tonewoods for the back & sides of a guitar, I would put oak near the bottom of the list. Not a great tonewood compared to so many other species. The guitar pictured does not appear to be oak or at least not to my eye. Could be quarter-sawn cherry. No pictures of the sides so it's hard to tell for sure.

[57classic]

Not recommended, but doable.

 

http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/archive/older/pallet.html

[onewilyfool]

Not recommended, but doable.

 

http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/archive/older/pallet.html

I'd get board with a pallet guitar....

[ponty]

Fylde do a range of instruments called 'malt'.

Made from reclaimed Scottish oak whiskey barrels.

 

[gibepi]

Hey ponty,

I like the whole idea behind Fylde malt guitars. Any links or other info.

[57classic]

Fylde do a range of instruments called 'malt'.

Made from reclaimed Scottish oak whiskey barrels.

 

 

 

I like that! How do they sound?

[sboiir]

I was going to begin a thread “ Mango as Tone Wood”. Let's see if it get's picked up here 1st? Any opinions on using Mango for Back & Sides ?? Have plenty access to it.

[Tman]

Fylde do a range of instruments called 'malt'.

Made from reclaimed Scottish oak whiskey barrels.

 

 

The aroma of these guitars has to be really something!

[onewilyfool]

Oak is just fine if you are trying to play acorny song....

[ponty]

Hey ponty,

I like the whole idea behind Fylde malt guitars. Any links or other info.

 

Here it is...

 

http://www.fyldeguitars.com/

 

Fylde are nice guitars, though I have never owned one.

[ponty]

The aroma of these guitars has to be really something!

 

I understand that is exactly so!

[fumblefinger]

The type of oak in this guitar is likely Southern Silky Oak or Australian Silver Oak (Grevillea Robusta). There is

much older fine furniture here made from this timber.

[j45nick]

The type of oak in this guitar is likely Southern Silky Oak or Australian Silver Oak (Grevillea Robusta). There is

much older fine furniture here made from this timber.

 

After a bit of research, I suspect you are right. Grevillia Robusta isn't a true oak, but it's a beautiful timber. Much like a lot of today's "rosewood","mahogany", or "ebony", it may lack the genes of its namesake timber, but shares a lot of its physical characteristics.

[onewilyfool]

Maybe it's Oak-ie from Muskokie???

[zombywoof]

I have owned a Schmidt concert from the 1920s with oak back and sides. To my ears the other Schmidt I owned made with the more commonly used birch was the better sounding guitar. I have also seen parlors made with oak so it obviously was not all that rare back then, those guys used any kinda wood they could get their hands on.

[ponty]

The type of oak in this guitar is likely Southern Silky Oak or Australian Silver Oak (Grevillea Robusta). There is

much older fine furniture here made from this timber.

 

European oak (Quercus robur) or English Oak

This type of oak has traditionally been used to mature whisky in Scotland and Ireland for nearly two centuries. The first casks were made from English or Scottish oak but these species of tree were slow growing with twisted trucks and grain and this made the casks prone to leaking. Later Russian oak was imported as this gave more consistent wood structure due to the trees being fast growing with straight trunks.

 

In the 1860s, the importing of sherry from Spain to the UK started. The casks used to mature and transport the sherry were made from Spanish oak and had similar properties to Russian oak but were much cheaper. This oak is traditionally grown in the Galicia region of northern Spain and although the sherry industry has declined since the 1970s, Spanish oak is still commonly used and sought after. This is despite the price of a sherry cask costing nearly 10 times as much as a bourbon cask.

 

The other type of European oak commonly used in modern whisky maturation is French oak. This is traditionally made into casks for the wine industry and these are mostly used by distilleries to give a different ‘finish’ to their whiskies.

 

Flavour key words - sherry, dried fruits - sultanas, raisins, candied peel, spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, wood, caramel, orange, Christmas cake.

[j45nick]

European oak (Quercus robur) or English Oak

This type of oak has traditionally been used to mature whisky in Scotland and Ireland for nearly two centuries. The first casks were made from English or Scottish oak but these species of tree were slow growing with twisted trucks and grain and this made the casks prone to leaking. Later Russian oak was imported as this gave more consistent wood structure due to the trees being fast growing with straight trunks.

 

In the 1860s, the importing of sherry from Spain to the UK started. The casks used to mature and transport the sherry were made from Spanish oak and had similar properties to Russian oak but were much cheaper. This oak is traditionally grown in the Galicia region of northern Spain and although the sherry industry has declined since the 1970s, Spanish oak is still commonly used and sought after. This is despite the price of a sherry cask costing nearly 10 times as much as a bourbon cask.

 

The other type of European oak commonly used in modern whisky maturation is French oak. This is traditionally made into casks for the wine industry and these are mostly used by distilleries to give a different ‘finish’ to their whiskies.

 

Flavour key words - sherry, dried fruits - sultanas, raisins, candied peel, spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, wood, caramel, orange, Christmas cake.

 

Ponty, I think he was referring to the original oak guitar that was posted, not the whiskey cask one. Quercus is the genus of the true oaks, but English-speaking folks have the habit of naming timbers they find in "new" worlds after the old familiar ones from home. The result is a bunch of totally unrelated timbers going by familiar names. If it's a quercus, it's an oak. Otherwise, it ain't.

[ponty]

Oh..I see. I get it now!

[jrplefty]

Honestly, I'm quite surprised by the number of responses and the fact that oak is not as rare as I thought as a tone wood. I'm kind of curious to see where the spin off thread "Mango as a tone wood" goes. Thanks for all of the responses and insights.

 

Jeremy