Members totamus Posted November 22, 2012 Members Share Posted November 22, 2012 Incredible Rick! What an credible skill you have - your dentistry work must be outstanding. Hats off - You da man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted November 23, 2012 Members Share Posted November 23, 2012 I seem to remember LMI selling African blackwood sets for a drednaught guitar at $750 for "2 piece back" and $500 for a "3 piece back". Probably more of course for jumbo and them doing the bending. I remember from their catalog that they said only one log in 1,000 was large enough to make a drednaught guitar these days. About 8 years ago I bought some African blackwood seeds from a guy on Ebay for $10. I was disappointed when they arrived. There were only 5 in the bag. But I took them and folded them into a wet paper towel. After about 5 days, two of the 5 seeds germinated. I live on the southern tip of Florida and I figured that if African blackwood could possibly live in the continental United States, this would be the place. I planted them by the side of a small lake in my parents golf course community house ....and NOW they are about 15 feet tall! One has a trunk about 18" in diameter and the other is more of a bush with lots of smaller trunks. I have to prune them constantly to make them "trees" They really would rather be bushes. They survive the winters down here great. The only problem I had was that recently the high winds from Sandy blew the larger tree over. But I was able to right it after some heavy pruning and they're both doing fine. My parents have recently moved into an assisted living facility so they are selling the place. I'm hoping that whoever the new owners are will keep the trees after I tell them how rare they are. They're pretty from a distance but VERY THORNY. THORNS EVERYWHERE. I've gotten bitten a few times pruning the tree. The branches like to twist on themselves making it a pruning nightmare. Seriously these trees are dangerous to approach, covered in tiny spikes with long springy branches waving in the wind, snapping back in places from unreleased tension when you cut. I wear safety goggles and thick clothes. My wife never really liked the trees. She seemed to think it another one of my silly projects. But I considered it a bit of research to see if they can propagate here in America. Neither tree has made flowers or seeds yet. Since the house is for sale it's out of my hands. BUT...... I just received recently from Brazil a tiny packet of BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD. EBAY! How is this legal? I don't care. All I know is that there were about 30 seeds in the packet and so far about SIX have germinated. I have this little spot behind my house that's next to a retention pond that might work for these......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted November 23, 2012 Members Share Posted November 23, 2012 ^ wow - you have SAS (Seed Acquisition Syndrome) on top of WAS (Wood Acquisiiton Syndrome) and TAS (Tool Acquisition Syndrome). As if GAS (Gear or Gas Acquisition Syndrome) wasn't bad enough. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Greymuzzle Posted November 23, 2012 Members Share Posted November 23, 2012 Imported trees brought a fungal die back into the UK and Ireland. It now appears all too possible that both countries will lose up to 60 per cent of their tree population.The introduction of non native species is frequently unexpectedly fraught with risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted November 24, 2012 Members Share Posted November 24, 2012 Imported trees brought a fungal die back into the UK and Ireland. It now appears all too possible that both countries will lose up to 60 per cent of their tree population. The introduction of non native species is frequently unexpectedly fraught with risk. Yes - our beautiful Ash tree population (Fraxinus excelsior: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraxinus_excelsior) - over a third of our trees, some of them 100's of years old - are under attack from a fungus carried by imported saplings. Not good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted November 24, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 24, 2012 I agree completely with Garthy and Grey here, it is very sad that such beautiful trees are under threat.I however, using crafty genetic modification, poteen and a dash of Old Bushmills Irish, will be revolutionising the world of luthiery with my "guitar tree seeds". Witness how I actually created this guitar :I'm taking calls from anyone interested in investing in "Ricks Grow Your Own Guitars" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted November 24, 2012 Members Share Posted November 24, 2012 Actually that brings up a funny story. When I planted the trees in my parent's back yard, their next-door neighbor didn't like it. She asked me about the trees and I tolf her the story. She called the home-owner's association wanting to look into whether they should be removed as an environmental threat. They called me asking for the scientific name of the tree, which I gave them (dalbergia melanoxylon) Nothing ever came of it.Update: Of the 30 Brazilian rosewood seeds, about 6 or so are growing in tiny seedling pots.Holy {censored} I'm in wikipedia:Small growers in Naples, Florida have been successful in growing African blackwood there. Growth habit in Florida yields taller, larger trees, and the rich soil combined with ample nutrients and long growing season yields timber of superior quality at more sustainable rates. Hopefully ventures like this will be able to take strain off of African reserves and allow this timber to be used in the futurehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalbergia_melanoxylon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members masterbuilt Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 Beautiful work, Rick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 I did have my suspicions about this Zuri . I'm afraid therefore I'll have to let your secret out and share the recent photographs of your shop that you sent me : That guitar and all the Astley appointments were commissioned by Greymuzzle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 How do you do a graphic like that? BTW here's what I have in the garage today: four Brazilian rosewood rims in the raw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KarenA Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 Holy cow, that is some serious talent, I am hugely impressed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted November 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 Holy cow, that is some serious talent, I am hugely impressed!Thanks Karen , I've still a long way to go though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Greymuzzle Posted November 28, 2012 Members Share Posted November 28, 2012 OK yez fekkers, enuff's enuff!Rick Fekkin' Astley?You fellas know how to hurt a guy. Yer pecker explodin' would be bad enough, but to have it shrivel up, succumb to fungal mould and drop off to even partially Astleyify ye is just too, too much.Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. Beware I tells ya. Beware.Buggers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted November 28, 2012 Members Share Posted November 28, 2012 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted November 28, 2012 Members Share Posted November 28, 2012 its true, Grey does bear a striking resemblance to Lord Astley. Worrying. its complicated .... Photoshop, selection tools, resizing, curves, quickmasks and white to black gradients to fade the image into the background at the edges . Nice looking rims too : I mean is it an ink jet printed decal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted November 28, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 28, 2012 haha Grey - be afraid, be very afraid Thanks Terry, and GC ... its an image manipulated in Photoshop overlaid onto a photo Knock sent me, its not actually on the guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted November 28, 2012 Members Share Posted November 28, 2012 I thought it was a joke project. I was thinking maybe a huge waterside decal made on clear paper with an ink jet finished over....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jags Posted November 29, 2012 Members Share Posted November 29, 2012 wow stunning build really fantastic.don't suppose you have it on itunes just to hear that beauty.well done incredible workmanship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted November 29, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 29, 2012 thanks jags, the owner has reliably informed me he's going to be doing a video of it so as soon as he does I'll post it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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