Sycamore as a back/side wood?

[brandywine]

I have Washburn electric HB 35 (a Gibson ES335 clone) that has a beautiful flamed sycamore body. Because it is a semi-hollowbody electric, I do not believe the sycamore has much effect on the sound of the guitar, but it sure lends a beautiful look to it.

[Rejoice Music]

I used to own a Yahama APX-20 with sycamore back and sides. I am ashamed to admit that I'm not sure if it was solid wood or laminate. My guess is solid wood.

I agree with Tim here, that it resembles a soft maple in tone. However, the guitar body was too thin to really assess tone quality in comparison to a full-bodied acoustic. It was very pretty though!

P.S. You can't go wrong with mahogany - it would most likely yield a better tone.

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by Brock Poling

Certainly I am in the minority amongst my guitar building buddies.... but I think big leaf maple is a great tonewood. I have had very good success with it.

I like the way mine sounds, that's for sure.

[manonash]

This is an old thread, but for the record for any who stumble upon it, there are apparently several very different woods, with very different characteristics, that get referred to as "sycamore". Google "sycamore tonewood". E.g., this from http://www.guitarbench.com/2009/04/1...wood-database/

Sycamore is a term used differently in Europe and America. In the UK, Sycamore is actually the European Maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), whereas in the US, Sycamore refers to Platanus occidentalis/Platanus racemosa. To confuse the matter further, American Sycamores are referred to as Planes. Hence London Plane is Platanus × hispanica. There is a third sycamore, and it is Ficus sycomorus which is the african/middle eastern species mentioned in the Bible and if my memory serves me correctly, Quran. It’s a fig tree so contains latex and although it’s used in the Caskets of some egyptian mummies, I think it is rather inferior from a tonal stand point.

[Buck62]

Yamaha FG750S with sycamore back n' sides...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0l7MXeGq1I

People who own them seem to love the tone...

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...a/FG-750S/10/1

[johninmass]

My first guitar was a Yamaha FG-750S and it was really pretty, loved the looks. Didn't care to much for the sound, but it sure was pretty. I bought it on looks, it being my first guitar. This being your first build, looks may be more important, sort of like a throphy. You may want to hang it it on the wall like art for people to admire and that isn't a bad thing. BUT, if sound is what your after, go with the mahogany, it will sound better and looks pretty good also.

[Glennwillow]

Very interesting... Thanks to the luthiers for the great comments here!

- Glenn

[D.Kwasnycia]

Originally Posted by Brock Poling

Certainly I am in the minority amongst my guitar building buddies.... but I think big leaf maple is a great tonewood. I have had very good success with it.

I’m with Brock on this, I have built with sycamore a number of times and found compared to maple to be as good or better. I’m not sure where it came from but it was paper white and had flame or curl as nice as some of the finessed maple. It had to be stained darker or bursted to look right with even sitka. To bend, well it didn't like to be bent very well with the figure that it had, like trying to bend a potato chip. It in my opinion is a fine wood to make a guitar out of if you want that maple sound.
Again it may not have been the same breed as some other sycamore boards that have been offered or talked about.

[jsorell]

I have a custom made archtop by Harvey Leach. At his advice I chose Sycamore over maple for the back and sides because of its warmer sound. I'm quite happy with the sound. It has a sweet flattop quality with the archtop punch. I'd upload a picture but I don't know how to do it on this forum.

John Sorell
Bellevue WA

[pakhan]

Here's an article I prepared on American Sycamore:

http://www.guitarbench.com/2009/04/1...wood-database/

Thanks to manonash for a quote, I hope you find it useful!

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by drcmusic7

NK Forster builds with sycamore...here's a link. http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/ check out the model A. There's sound clips too.

The wood called "sycamore" in the United Kingdom is actually a species of European maple, and is not the same species as the wood we call "sycamore" in North America. They have considerably different qualities from one another, from what I've been told.


whm