Paulownia Research

[otaypanky]

Originally Posted by Lilly

Does anyone else think that Pawlonia has a loack of bottom end?

Nope. Mine has a full warm round sound to it.

[iansmitchell]

This guy has a sweet story for paulo:
http://ngohguitars.blogspot.com/sear...&max-results=9

[DMichel123]

Originally Posted by kp8

I know it isn't your main point and you likely have no reason to be sensitive to this but there are like 5 levels of "ugh" in that sentence above.

Both the Chinese guzheng and the Korean Kayagum (which are "older brothers" to the koto) are zithers also made with Paulownia wood. So I don't get why you say "mainly Japanese" as zithers made with various types of Paulownia wood are found all over Asia and ironically you ascribe to the koto "fullness of tone" when the koto features a tone dramatically less "full" than nearly any other zither found in East Asia. The koto and koto music is wonderful indeed, but saying that amongst East Asian zither traditions one should look to koto music for fullness of tone is like telling your friend to skip France and Italy and head right to England for the best eats and fashion in Europe. Or that Debra Messing is more "fully figured" than, say Angelina Jolie.

Both of these instruments sound "fuller" (I AM NOT SAYING THEY ARE BETTER! Just fuller spectrally) than the koto to me. Particularly the Kayagum which uses strings of raw twisted silk and wood bridges and is played directly with the fingers, where the koto has plastic bridges, plastic strings, and is played with picks.

A friend of mine introduced me to the zheng a few years back. They are very cool instruments. He had a few, all tuned IIRC to D Maj pentatonic. I messed around with it for a while, and was playing blues on it. D Maj pent.=B min pent.='Thrill Is Gone'....

[kp8]

I'd love a Paulownia wood guitar.

[ironweed]

Not a tone question: Because of the low body weight, are your assembled P-wood guitars neck-heavy when you hang them off your shoulder with a strap?

[iansmitchell]

Originally Posted by kp8

I'd love a Paulownia wood guitar.

store.guitarfetish.com

[lidesnowi]

Originally Posted by ehawley

Yup...Paulownia is a great wood! Give it the tap test and it rings like a bell!
Here is a blank for a Jazzcaster and a finished tele body both one piece...



The tele body should be built up in the next week or so. It's weight is a little over 3 lbs. It will be blonde...(who would have thought!!?)



My wife says I have to start throwing out stuff!!!



The Paulownia is a real pleasure to work! No chipping or splitting. Easy on tools. ( well, the cnc doesn't care)
Thanks Gil for starting this thread! It brings a great wood to the front!
Cheers
ED

Why not throw out the wife instead?

[Ormond]

Forrest Lee Jr. made my Double bender out of this wood. When you have all the metal of a double bender the lightweight wood is must. The guitar sounds great. Photos and review are on the B Bender section of the TDPRI.

[Davecam48]

Hi All,
Just looking at Lidesnowi's photos of the Paulonia blank and body,to me it looks more like pine. I have a friend here who used to manage a paulonia plantation here in Aus and he gave me some fairly thick branches to play with. When cut it is almost pure white with a pipe down the middle, a very hairy,hard to sand smooth timber, but as light as balsa, and very stiff. I would imagine that a tele body made of this stuff would weigh probably no more than 1lb in your money! Question :- Is there more than one timber called Paulonia? or is it really something else called that because of its density?

My friend told me their plant stock came from China originally so I'm thinking there may be more than one strain of it.

I await your educated replies, as I'd like to play with the little bit I have but didn't want to waste it if not suitable for an instrument.

Regards Dave C.

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by Davecam48

Hi All,
Just looking at Lidesnowi's photos of the Paulonia blank and body,to me it looks more like pine.

Most of the stuff grown in Australia is a bit below the 300kg/m3 mark. This makes it not much lighter than plantation radiata pine. There are a few species of it ... not sure if ours is different.

That said, you can find it more in the "hard balsa" weight, 200kg/m3 or even under - this is what the surfboard makers look for.

[tangelolemon]

I wonder what amp cabinets made out of Paulownia would sound like?

I would LOVE to have an amp with a resonant cabinet that weighed almost nothing. Pair that with a neodymium speaker and a toroidal PT and you have lightweight gigging amp paradise.