Myrtle v Tiger Myrtle

[James Mc]

I've been getting the timbers together to build 3 guitars, the first two are good to go but I wanted to make number 3 a classical using only Australian timbers. After much searching I finally found a lovely well quarter piece of pepperwood (brown beech) for the top, but now I have to figure out what to use for the back and sides.

I found a guy getting rid of a stockpile of old cabinet timbers a little while ago, he had Tas myrtle and some beautifully flamed blackwood at the right price so I grabbed some. All up I got a billet of Tas myrtle 210 x 50 x 900, 1 blackwood 155 x 50 x 900. I also got 3 ivorywood and 3 Qld maple planks for necks 25 x 100 x 700 (all this for the princely sum of $70).

I was going to use the blackwood and do a three piece back, but I keep thinking I could save it for a size 5 and instead use the myrtle for the classical. I've never used myrtle before and as far as I can tell tiger myrtle is just myrtle with fungus staining, so it should be the same as a tonewood.

So my questions are, does tiger myrtle and tas myrtle come from the same tree?

A few of you guys have been using tiger myrtle, any thoughts or issues with using it and how do you think it would go as a classical.

Which traditional timber is it most like in tone?

Cheers, looking forward to your thoughts.

James

[TimS]

Hi James,

Tiger Myrtle and Myrtle come from the same tree. The tiger pattern occurs in a very small fraction of Myrtle trees with the colouring/figure starting at the base and working its way up the trunk. Working properties for both should be very similar. The only confounding variable in Myrtle the presence of spiral grain or fiddlebck/flame which can produce an unstable drying rate through the timber. Myrtle in general is fine grained and a pleasure to work with. Luthiers experience regarding Tiger Myrtle can be found at http://www.luthiersforum.com/ in the archive section. Steve Roberson has a good write up about its tone on his web site Colonialtonewoods.com


regards

Tim

[Craig]

G'day James ,

Myrtle is indeed a beautiful wood to work with.

Here's a set of Tiger Myrtle I got from Tim ( Australian Tonewoods ). This project coming up !




James , if you haven't dealt with Tim before , I can genuinely advise you that his service, advice and tips are nothing short of brilliant . He's a fantastic guy with the patience of a saint.

My Tiger Myrtle project has been in the pipeline for quite some time . I want this guitar to be very special and ensure I do justice to this magnificent set. There are several features I want to include . A Tiger Myrtle neck was in my plans, although I had serious doubts about the availability in the required dimensions. After all , this wood is very rare. I spoke to Tim , and you guessed it , he came up with the goods. I have the scarf cut and glued . It looks MIGHTY fine.

Check out his site James. His wood is very hard to resist.


Cheers , Craig

[Kim]

Everything Craig just said.

Tim is not only a good bloke to deal with as far as stock and service goes, but he has an understanding of how to convert a billet of first class wood into instrument quality stock. From my dealings with many wood hocks over the years, this understanding would appear to be the exceptional rather than the rule.

Cheers

Kim

[Bob Connor]

James

I've used both Tiger and normal Myrtle. Beautiful timber to work with and it doesn't need pore filling.

As far as it's suitability for a classical most serious clasical players will demand Rosewood back and sides and either a Euro Spruce or Cedar top.
And these blokes are very demanding in what they will accept.

Depends on what you you want from it.

Is it for yourself?

I'm not a classical builder but from what I understand the combination of the Euro Spruce combined with the glassy top end that the Rosewoods give is one of the traits that is desirable for the classical guitarist.

I have a feeling that the Myrtle will warm up the top end rather than giving extra attack.

It should still produce a fine sounding instrument but I don't know anything about Pepperwood which is probably going to contribute 80% of your tone.

If it were me I'd be throwing a King Billy top at it if you want to use Australian timbers. It won't give the crisp top end that you'll get from Euro but it is similar to Cedar in sound.

Bob

[James Mc]

Tim, thanks for the tip, wow that archive goes on forever, I’ve read so much my eyes feel like they’re bleeding. Looks like the myrtle will be worth giving a go on a classical and as they say, ya never know until ya try. I've looked at sassafras and king billy on your site and thought... Aussie Flamenco, a Flayobo? Maybe will be my next project once I get the current crop out of the way. Keep up the good work, as you can tell from the other posts you are greatly appreciated.

Hey Bob, great to hear it doesn't need pore filling, makes life so much easier.

Yep, it is for me, it will be my personal guitar and is also a bit of an experiment. I made a steel string with a pepperwood top when I was just a lad and it sounded very nice, very much like german spruce but a little more pronounced on the treble. It came from a recycled cupboard door from a yacht and was almost perfectly quartered. There was only just enough to recover one top, but the luthier who was teaching me liked the sound. After playing around with my off-cuts he was convinced it would take being thinned down further and would make a good classical top. Unfortunately his use by date expired before he got the chance to try, so I thought I’d follow it through and see how it goes.

Pepperwood has a density of about 450 to 470 kg/m3 so is maybe a little heavier than sitka. It isn’t as stiff across the grain as sitka but it is firmer than WRC. It was a popular timber of yesteryear with boat builders for internal fit-outs because it was light, attractive and very stable once seasoned. If you can find it quartered it has a nice uniform straight grain (but not easy to find, as my poor little brother found out on my behalf). I have set little bro the task of picking up a chunk of African blackwood I have stashed at my Mum’s place so he can send it up with the pepperwood. I’ll post some pics when it gets here, I think pepperwood has a lot of potential as a tonewood, it’s also one of the species they are using in new northern timber plantations (so maybe our kids will be using it in the future).

I’ve looked at Tim’s sets many times and thought about it, but for now I’m happy using the budget option for timber while experimenting and getting my skill level up. Also, I like cutting my own sets; it’s good for getting a feel for the timber again after too long not working with it, all part of the learning. But once I’m confident that I won’t waste it I’ll be investing in some of Tim’s gorgeous timbers and picking his brain for all he is worth. I’m sure once the few I’m working on now are done the addiction will be well entrenched and I’ll be much happier spending my time building rather than cutting.

[Hesh1956]

Tiger Myrtle from Tim is the finest wood that I have ever had the sincere pleasure of being afforded the opportunity to remove the excess and let the tone and beauty within come out.

It works like a dream, bends like butter and with NO spring back, is not brittle, as Bob said has no pores worth filling, sands like a dream and is not oily and will not clog paper. And that is only half the story. Besides it very distinctive appearance - much like snake skin to me - it's tonal properties are in IMHO superior to BRW........ I am aware that is is quite claim to make too.

The Tiger L-OO that I built over a year ago was recently voted the loudest guitar at our gathering here in Ann Arbor that attracted about 20 builders. It was up against BRW guitars, dreads, adi topped guitars and surprising enough it was the only OO sized guitar so it was/is smaller then all of it's competition.

In addition, tiger binding is an excellent sub for snake wood and almost indistinguishable except it bends much easier then snake wood, has no splinters, pores, and sands and planes better.

In addition to having explosive projection and incredible volume it sounds very much like a contemporary styled guitar with an abundance of overtones, warm and sweet and sustains forever. IMHO it is the 59-60 Les Paul burst of the contemporary acoustic guitar world.

If I had to build on a desert island and could only have an unlimited supply of one wood my choice would be Tiger Myrtle.







I wanted to mention too that this guitar is topped in Shane's superb Lutz spruce and this combination, Luts and tiger - I would recommend to anyone.