Members stratotak Posted April 15, 2009 Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 Lot of mention about Rondos SX guitars..but havent seen anything in posts about the Douglas brand..I like the look of this one...but never heard of paulownia wood..Just another cheap wood like agathis?I know there used in Deans guitars as a core and then a Mahogony veneer over it..Pretty sure thats what the Douglas is..even though it looks like 2 piece body..http://www.rondomusic.com/si-13hb.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mojito Posted April 15, 2009 Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 Paulownia wood has one of the highest strength to weight ratios of all woods. It has been used for a long time to make furniture in Asia so I guess I can se how it has ended up in guitars from thar area. I have a paulonia tree in my yard that is quite large. There has even been reports of mature paulonia trees being stolen in the mid-Atlanitc area, I guess it is good for something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jds22 Posted April 15, 2009 Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 I'm probably going to pull the trigger on that guitar in about a month. I'm going to mod it a bit. Single hum pickguard, GFS VEH pup, no tone control, set the trem for dive only. I can't answer you question about the wood though. I'm sure it will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prages Posted April 15, 2009 Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 Paulownia is used in furniture and casket making. I don't know what it's like as a tone wood. It is a pretty expensive wood too. It grows in WV and even though it's illegal, some people cut the tree down and take it to North Carolina to sell. They sometimes get several hundred dollars out of a fairly small tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotak Posted April 15, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 Paulownia wood has one of the highest strength to weight ratios of all woods. It has been used for a long time to make furniture in Asia so I guess I can se how it has ended up in guitars from thar area. I have a paulonia tree in my yard that is quite large. There has even been reports of mature paulonia trees being stolen in the mid-Atlanitc area, I guess it is good for something. I guess that would matter if you were building a chair or stairs or something.But like basswood, a soft wood that you can dent with your finger nail..but makes a good tone wood for guitar..It might be a tuff piece of wood..but does it have good tone..?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cBc Posted April 15, 2009 Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 wow, that guitar looks like quite the deal for the $$ I wonder if that's a "photo-finish" on it though, for that price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members benricci Posted April 15, 2009 Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 It might be a tuff piece of wood..but does it have good tone..?? That guitar is $130. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted April 15, 2009 Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 Paulownia has been used as a tonewood in traditional Asian instruments for centuries. Additionally, it's extremely hearty and can be cut almost to the root and regenerate to a harvestable size in as little as 5 years making it a very ecologically responsible wood to use for furniture/instrument making. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotak Posted April 15, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 Paulownia is used in furniture and casket making. I don't know what it's like as a tone wood.It is a pretty expensive wood too. It grows in WV and even though it's illegal, some people cut the tree down and take it to North Carolina to sell. They sometimes get several hundred dollars out of a fairly small tree. Well..apparently there a quite a few different species of the wood..I dont think they wood use a high priced wood on a cheap guitar...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted April 15, 2009 Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 Asian manufacturers like soft woods because they don't dull their CNC router bits as fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alecto Posted April 16, 2009 Members Share Posted April 16, 2009 I read in Guitar Player that paulownia has the same tonal characteristics of swamp ash but is a lot lighter. I know that Douglas and Dean use it for their cheaper guitars but Guitar Mill uses it for their handbuilt featherweight Tele copies. I'm curious to see when Warmoth or Allparts will start stocking paulownia bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ultradust Posted April 16, 2009 Members Share Posted April 16, 2009 The Wiki page describes much of what I had heard from colleagues over here. The Japanese Colonial gov't logged nearly the entire Korean peninsula from 1908-1945 and completely wiped out the ancient pine stock, a situation made even worse by the extensive damage sustained during the Korean war, but the recovery of the ecosystem has been proven by the limited but sustainable stock of paulownia Korea has seen the last several decades, in addition to a decent renewal of pine, chestnut, maple, and even the heartily invasive acacia. And indeed I can confirm that it is very light, very porous, and extremely soft. Korean kayagum instruments have been made with paulownia on the top (chestnut for base/frame board) for at least the past 1200 years. Although remarkably strong and very resonant, the movable bridges can easily dent the paulownia face if care is not taken. Still, I think the grain itself is what makes it so charming, really. Komungo and Kayagum (L->R) with carved/arched paulownia soundboards. Miss Korea 2007 Honey Lee showing what good ol' indigenous paulownia can sound like. nAdptGX1puE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members raviolio Posted April 16, 2009 Members Share Posted April 16, 2009 Asian manufacturers like soft wood... Based on your avatars, I'm guessing that Asian women feel the same way. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members saktr-iyko Posted April 16, 2009 Members Share Posted April 16, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doyo Posted April 17, 2009 Members Share Posted April 17, 2009 The Wiki page describes much of what I had heard from colleagues over here. The Japanese Colonial gov't logged nearly the entire Korean peninsula from 1908-1945 and completely wiped out the ancient pine stock, a situation made even worse by the extensive damage sustained during the Korean war, but the recovery of the ecosystem has been proven by the limited but sustainable stock of paulownia Korea has seen the last several decades, in addition to a decent renewal of pine, chestnut, maple, and even the heartily invasive acacia. And indeed I can confirm that it is very light, very porous, and extremely soft. Korean kayagum instruments have been made with paulownia on the top (chestnut for base/frame board) for at least the past 1200 years. Although remarkably strong and very resonant, the movable bridges can easily dent the paulownia face if care is not taken. Still, I think the grain itself is what makes it so charming, really. How informative! Korea Rawks!!! Your songs are great, Ultradust! I totally dig 'em. Awesome songwriting and producing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members golias Posted April 17, 2009 Members Share Posted April 17, 2009 People buy Agiles if they want great Korean-made LP copies and don't mind spending close to Epiphone prices to get them. People buy SX guitars because they are among the very cheapest of playable guitars. Douglas guitars kind of fall in the middle. I'm not really sure who Rondo is targeting with those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HELSTRUME Posted April 17, 2009 Members Share Posted April 17, 2009 I tried the Douglas guitars, and thought they sounded horrible. Dark and muddy. Went right back to em. But I seem to only get along with Mahogany and Alder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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