osage orange

Has anyone used this and any pics of guitars with it on?

Thanks,
Leigh

not for a guitar...but it makes for great traditional hunting bows.

I used to live on Osage Orange Ave!

I was speaking with Susan at Alembic and she said that Phil Lesh's original bass was Osage Orange. They don't use it so much anymore as it is tough to glue.

It is tough to cut too. It is very hard and will wear out sawblades, router bits and drill bits in short order. That said, it is a beautiful wood. It is very yellow when you first cut it, but it changes to an orange color as it is exposed to sunlight and it weathers.

Osage Orange is reputed to be a very good acoustic guitar wood . Should be a good wood for a solid body as well . Check the tonewood dealer sites for examples . Would love to see one . I missed a chance to acquire some of reasonable diameter a few years back . In log form and free . Just failed to go get it . It also burns very well . American midwesterners used to call it " green coal " .

I have tried to use it for a build once..., what a disaster!

I was warned about it from a couple TDPRIer's beforehand, but I went ahead with it anyway. I would say only professionals and highly skilled home brewers would have a chance with this wood.

Oh and by the way! I'm not sure if it's the case with all Osage Orange, but my piece weighed a tonne!!!

I hear it's popular with wood turners (pen casings/ bowls etc).

Ooh, I think I know what wood I'm using for one of my next builds! Here's a cool page I found: http://officialzootman.net/osage_orange.htm

Sam at Cardinal Instruments has built a few of his guitars using osage orange if I recall correctly.

www.cardinalinstruments.com

I think he may have posted some pics of them in his big thread in the manufacturers section over on TGP for what it's worth. And there are some pics in the "For Sale" section of his site too (link at top right corner). Very nice work and beautiful wood.

Thanks for the links, looks like lovely wood. I have a couple of bookmatched sets with nice figure. I suppose that would not have the same weight impact as a whole body made from the stuff.

-There's a guy here in Ohio, Tim McKnight, who builds custom acoustics. One of his options is Osage Orange, or hedge-apple as most of us around here call it.

http://www.mcknightguitars.com/index.html
http://www.mcknightguitars.com/images/Backs/1%20Osage%20Back.JPG

L8R,
Matt

Hi, the only contact I've had with osage orange is digging it up in its infancy as it grows up in nice landscaping bushes. I know it really sets up root-wise and is kinda tough to remove. Being in the Middle TN area, we are swamped with hackberry trees (many here call them "weeds"), which I've read were actually used for Fender Tele bodies for a brief time in the 70's.

IF you have an Osage Orange tree (hedge apple; mock orange) large enough to slab and make guitar bodies out of, you also have a very old tree, and maybe would be better to preserve it standing. That's the tree-hugger in me speaking out - then when you cut it down - don't burn it green in wood stive - or you'll melt the steel. Don't ask how I know - I KNOW. That stuff has barbs an i-1/2 long on the limbs, and the sap is like kerosene. But it is really hard wood when dried properly, and probably denser than most woods out there. I've got a 2'-0' diameter in my neighbor's yard (or he does), that I wish would fall on the golf course. I hate those BALLS every fall. My dad thought that we had a lot of tennis players in Nashville, when he first saw those bright green balls along the roads. TEEHEE :-)

We always called them "green brains " . Farmers all through the midwest used to plant these to use as living fence posts .

O.., I just realized now I've been looking at full-grown osages for years without knowing their real name.

We always called them "green brains " . Farmers all through the midwest used to plant these to use as living fence posts .

Them Green Brains Hurt like Hell when they fall out of a tree on your head, then you have a brused Brain Lol!!:grin:

Happened to my sister years ago when we was kids Almost knocked her out..

O.., I just realized now I've been looking at full-grown osages for years without knowing their real name.
I don't doubt that one bit . There is a South American variety also . RC Tonewoods often has acoustic sets for sale . It is beautiful stuff . Never been beaned by "green brains " . If you ever cut one , please think of me just a little bit . I would love to have some for solid bodies . If it is of sufficient size , you may want to try to market some to the guitar building community .

See Rich Rice's site. He built a tele style for me with an osage orange neck and caps on the front and back. If you look in the Rice guitars gallery, it is #141.

Lots of pics from an Osage/pecan/mesquite/walnut B bender we built for Doc (see above post)


http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/dabluzeguy/141%20Glenn%20Osage%20orange/

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/dabluzeguy/141%20Glenn%20Osage%20orange/141_10.jpg

That is BEAUTIFUL...!

See Rich Rice's site. He built a tele style for me with an osage orange neck and caps on the front and back. If you look in the Rice guitars gallery, it is #141.

Do you have any clips of this one?

Osage Orange telecaster build.

Body is Osage Orange bound with an Ash top. Brass tone bar, maple hand drawn neck, one single pearly Gates Humbucker. Total body weight is 5.5lbs went with the huge pot cavity to reduce weight. New bits were used through out as the wood is REAL hard. Everything turned orange around me as I built it as Osage has tons of oil in it. It will never rot, as that is the nature of this beautiful wood

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/4512/modtelebackside.jpg (http://img33.imageshack.us/i/modtelebackside.jpg/)

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/3743/deluxe.jpg (http://img49.imageshack.us/i/deluxe.jpg/)

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/5664/modt2.jpg (http://img59.imageshack.us/i/modt2.jpg/)

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1783/bindingtapedup.jpg (http://img143.imageshack.us/i/bindingtapedup.jpg/)

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/4707/routerinpickupcavity.jpg (http://img33.imageshack.us/i/routerinpickupcavity.jpg/)

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/1072/modified.jpg (http://img91.imageshack.us/i/modified.jpg/)


http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/7910/controlcavitycoverroute.jpg (http://img33.imageshack.us/i/controlcavitycoverroute.jpg/)

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/7739/20firstcoatofoilside.jpg (http://img200.imageshack.us/i/20firstcoatofoilside.jpg/)

Hedge is tough, very hard and heavy. Shot a target rifle with a hedge stock. It was nice and heavy and made a good platform.

It also makes great fence post.

It also burns very hot. You better have a darn good stove wood burning heater if you are thinking using it as fuel. You will burn your house down.