Giant Sequoia Falls
 

You may have seen that the Pioneer Cabin Tree in California fell in a recent storm.

http://www.today.com/money/pioneer-c...fornia-t106860

I wonder how many guitar tops there might be in there.

I'm not aware if sequoia is used for tops? It's not the same species as redwood. I wouldn't mind getting a few chunks and trying it out.... Anybody have any experience building with it?

here's a link with a little more info on the tree.

news story link

I carved an archtop sound board out of an old stump cut piece (supposedly from a tree that was logged in the early 20th century) about 10 years ago, my particular piece carved somewhere between hard cedar and soft spruce. I do remember it was a pleasing experience working with it but to aggressive an attack with the finger plane tended to tear the wood instead of cutting. The guitar makes warm buttery notes but not a lot of distinction between notes. I've still got half the piece left that would do another archtop or several flat tops with.

Tom

I bought a billet of Sequoia from a tree that had blown down in the Sierras that was said to be about 2500 years old. It was very pink at first, darkening up as it oxidized, and was no where stiff enough for guitar making.

Was anyone there to know if it made noise ?

I'll bet that was a tremendous noise.

Speaking as an acoustical engineer, the official answer is "yes". ;)
The tree fell and disturbed the air around it, thus creating sound waves. Whether anyone was nearby to hear it is a different issue.

Do you still have it and is it for sale?

The sequoia I've handled was softer and lighter than cedar, with color similar to redwood but a bit more pink. Very interesting wood.

According to Bishop Berkeley, God was.

I don't have any left.

The reporter said, "we don't know why the tree fell down" only 20 seconds after mentioning the very large hollowing out that occurred over 100 years ago. Hmmm.... I bet that that large hollow section right at it's base had something to do with it.