MAPLES
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● We no longer carry maples, except for those found on our weekly special
Above , Tom Ribbecke: Bigleaf quilted maple, Sitka spruce top.
Above: flamed and quilted maple blocks ready to be shipped, JAS Tonewoods
Left, Blue Guitar by Tom Ribbecke, part of the Chinery Collection. Note ebony soundport.
Right, Linda Manzer and Mark Blanchard take a break from building to strum. Quickly tiring of strumming they decided there were better off playing guitars. Linda and Tom Ribbecke taught an archtop building class together, filmed it and put it on DVD.
Bigleaf maple is a western states maple and grows in California on up the coast to Canada. Not too long ago it was considered a "weed tree" and was priced accordingly. Of course, being a weed tree meant that it wasn't sought out in a big way, either, so that costs as a function of supply and demand weren't all that appealing. But for a wood as striking as this maple can be, the costs are very fair.
Maple's taptone is rarely a ringing one, but it can't be denied that plenty of wonderful sounding guitars have been made from it, and even a few violins! In fact, many choose the wood as a first choice for creating the sound they seek. John Greven, who's steel string guitars have a very big sound, and who counts many "stars" as clients prefers the maple sound.
Bigleaf maple usually displays a wider curl than the European or hard maples do. It is also the only maple in which the quilted figure is found, although it is rare, averaging about one tree in a thousand.
Maple billets, above. Below, Bigleaf maple.
European maple (which covers Balkan maple, Italian maple, and German maple of the same species but with some differences) is a fine textured, creamy, lustrous maple that carves well (compared to the American maples), takes a stain very well, but bends like the other maples, which is to say that care must be taken. If wet bending, when soaking use tepid water; it tends to fall apart in hot water. If you use the Fox bender, place parchment paper (used in cooking) between the maple and the stainless steel slats to prevent staining the wood.
European maple guitar by Francisco Gonzalez, repaired by Eugene Clark.
Guitar of European maple by Jeff Elliott.
Guitar of Bigleaf maple by Howell & Forsyth.
Address General Information Sales/support Telephone:
707-431-3760 POB 217, 101 C Grant Avenue, Healdsburg, Ca. 95448 USA [email protected] [email protected] Fax:
707-431-3762
