[Jamiejoon]

Hi Everyone, for my first build thread on the AGF I thought I would chronicle a new guitar I am very excited about, because of the builder (John Kinnaird) and the unconventional back and sides wood (Pau Santo). John has just gotten started on the guitar in the last week or two since Woodstock, and it is starting to take shape. Since this is my first build thread, I'll be learning how to post pictures as John sends them, so I appreciate your patience as I figure that out.

First, the wood. Pau Santo is a very hard wood in the Fabaceae family, which of course includes all of the rosewoods, African blackwood, Koa and Australian blackwood, Wenge, and a bunch of other great guitar woods. The species is Zollernia paraensis, if you're curious. Within the Fabaceae family, it seems to be a closer botanical relation to the rosewoods (Dalbergia) than to Koa (Acacia). The gentleman from whom I sourced it told me that it has been used quite a bit for guitars in Brazil, where it is native, and also used a bit in Portugal and Spain. I was not able to find much of anything on its use for guitars, but I don't speak Portuguese and very little Spanish. Pau Santo means "Holy Wood" in Portuguese, which you find when you start digging is a name applied to a number of species in South America. Palo Santo in Peru, for example, is a totally different species, used mostly as incense in sacred tribal ceremonies but not suitable for instruments. I must say I like having a guitar built from holy wood!

At any rate, my source tells me that Pau Santo is a very good tone wood, with a sound that lands between rosewood and ebony. We shall see! Given its density and the thickness of the set, I was a little nervous...the tap tone was more of a thud than the ring of a bell. It took me a while to settle on a builder for this. I knew I needed someone confident and curious.

As many of you know, John Kinnaird and his brother Stephen have outstanding reputations as luthiers, and John came highly recommended by a very happy repeat customer who is way more knowledgeable than me. John has been successfully building with "weird" woods for a long time, and I was delighted that he was game to try Pau Santo. He is also a super nice guy, which matters to me.

Next post: the guitar.