The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > General Acoustic Guitar Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #31  
Old 02-20-2018, 12:33 PM
Alan Carruth Alan Carruth is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 4,180
Default

I always get white oak and red oak mixed up. White oak has more tannin in it, and will darken up when fumed. It also has tight pores, which is why they use it for whiskey barrels: the red oak would leak. They char the inside of the barrels just before putting in the whiskey, and the activated charcoal absorbs a lot of the impurities that would make the liquor bitter. Also, the tannin in the oak converts to vanillin over time which helps give it a smooth flavor. According to Consumer Reports, you can up the apparent quality of cheap Scotch by adding a half teaspoon of vanilla to a bottle.

I had a Red oak Dread at the last Woodstock; my first Dread in about 40 years. Since it was red oak, I could not fume it as I had planned on doing, so it was light colored. It got a lot of play, and people liked it, but it didn't sell....
Reply With Quote
  #32  
Old 02-20-2018, 04:50 PM
bitraker bitraker is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: California
Posts: 1,804
Default

Quote:
It's needed for whiskey barrels, please, priorities ....
and kitchen cabinets and flooring...
Reply With Quote
  #33  
Old 02-20-2018, 07:17 PM
pickitluther pickitluther is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Rancho Cucamonga, C.A.
Posts: 417
Default

I built a white oak dreadnought a few years ago. Sitka top,scalloped forward braces, the back was braced ala vintage Martin with the two lower bout wide braces. It was a light weight guitar and if I do say so myself was fantastic sounding. I have a matching set that is a figured as you’ve ever seen.
Reply With Quote
  #34  
Old 02-20-2018, 07:45 PM
ruby50 ruby50 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Eastern Shore MD
Posts: 579
Default

Hans Brentrup has made some of the most beautiful Larson copies in oak for the last 30 years.

http://www.brentrup.com/page2/page2.html

I made a J-185 with Scottish white oak b+s, and a white oak neck from a centuries old plantation in the Spessart forest in central Germany. I had an 8" wide board with sap on one side and pith on the other and it had 40 grain lines per inch at some points - the neck was planted around 1755. I was inspired by the Gibson Florentine treatment and glitter purfling of the 30's:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby16...7649776959267/

scroll to the right and wording below

Ed
Reply With Quote
  #35  
Old 02-20-2018, 08:07 PM
JSDenvir JSDenvir is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: ‘Bout an hour outside of Toronto
Posts: 368
Default

I built a quarter-sawn white oak guitar a couple of years back and loved it. And more importantly, the client did.

I love the medullary rays, and in an acknowledgement of the arts and crafts furniture history with white oak, used 3 ebony “bow ties” to bind the two sides of the back.

If I get an opening, I’m definitely gonna do another one. Bright, articulate, and loud.

Maybe I need to do a Greene and Greene version :-)

Steve
__________________
www.denvirguitars.com

Last edited by JSDenvir; 02-20-2018 at 08:10 PM. Reason: General typing incompetence.
Reply With Quote
  #36  
Old 02-20-2018, 11:15 PM
dv5140ca dv5140ca is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Here and there...
Posts: 35
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rchtop View Post
Don't you love the way they talk up the Bog oak and don't show the back in any of the photos? I played a guitar with white oak back and sides at the Woodstock Luthier's Show last fall - it was stellar! It had lots of power and great balanced tone.
I was in the UK at xmas and played/saw a couple of these ones...it was stellar looking and sounding...though I don't have the skillset to describe exactly in comparison to other woods. The back and sides themselves were very dark, I thought it looked awesome. You can see pics here:

https://downhomeguitars.com/instrume...lutz-spruce-4/
__________________
--------------------------------------------------------------
Matin D-18 -Dad's newest toy
Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood Concert Hall-Daddy's Toy Part II
Martin Dreadnaught Jr-E Sapele - Daughter's Toy
Yamaha FG JR2S - Son's Toy
Gretsch Jim Dandy - Seafoam Green - Everybody's Toy
Reply With Quote
  #37  
Old 02-21-2018, 03:24 AM
rpnfan rpnfan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 69
Default

I played a Stevens OM with Oak and did not like it at all. I also do not like the looks. _If_ it would sound great to my ears I might consider Oak, but in that case this is a wood I am not interested at all.

Others reported they like the Lakewood guitars with Oak.
Reply With Quote
  #38  
Old 02-21-2018, 05:28 AM
Picker2 Picker2 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Belluno, Italy
Posts: 1,414
Default

Here is an interesting read. It clearly reveals that most of the ‘tonewood’ perceptions are more between the ears of the listener than going through the ears of the listener. Makes perfect sense to me. Back and side wood species has little effect on the tone of a guitar anyway.

https://hazeguitars.com/blog/listening-tests-tone-woods
__________________
Reply With Quote
  #39  
Old 02-21-2018, 06:39 AM
rct rct is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southern New Jersey
Posts: 1,020
Default

Not for acoustics but not for nothing, when Leo and Paul Bigsby were figuring out this whole solid body electric guitar that could be maintained easily by the owner, oak was tried a few times but just too dang heavy at the thicknesses they needed.

Not Leo and Paul Bigsby together, but the two of them around the same times, late 40's ish.

rct
Reply With Quote
  #40  
Old 02-21-2018, 07:37 AM
zombywoof zombywoof is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 9,356
Default

Builders have used Oak, Hickory, and others for decades. It was just probably a bit more common pre-WWII. I once owned a spruce top, Oak body Scmidt and it was a very nice sounding guitar. I even owned a guitar and a fiddle with a sycamore body.
__________________
"You start off playing guitars to get girls & end up talking with middle-aged men about your fingernails" - Ed Gerhard
Reply With Quote
  #41  
Old 02-21-2018, 08:36 AM
westman westman is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,056
Default

hu ?
oak =
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=UgHZTlb3gEA
__________________
I play an 'evolved' (modified) Cowboy guitar
Not sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reply With Quote
  #42  
Old 02-21-2018, 08:52 AM
redir redir is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Mountains of Virginia
Posts: 7,657
Default

You can also stain oak with an iron rich solution. I've tried fuming it with ammonia but the store bought stuff is just not strong enough. But steel wool in vinegar makes a stain that reacts with the tannin in white oak and you can get some really cool effects with it.

Reply With Quote
  #43  
Old 02-21-2018, 09:00 AM
Mr Fingers Mr Fingers is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 1,007
Default

I think Alan Carruth's first post pretty much says it all. I think oak's relative absence from the acoustic world is easily explained by that combination of factors. It's hard to get excited about a wood that is a close second in so many respects but not exemplary in any. Why choose "good" when it is easy to select "better?" I don't see this as knee-jerk bias or empty tradition -- I see it as good thinking. Of course some great luthiers make wonderful guitars out of oak, but for most makers and buyers, it's simply not advantageous, at least until the better alternatives are exhausted.
Reply With Quote
  #44  
Old 02-21-2018, 08:55 PM
Shadowfox Shadowfox is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 1,891
Default

There is this beautiful oak guitar for sale: Brand New Avalon A1-Oak Cara Series with Cedar / Ancient Bog Oakhttps://applink.reverb.com/item/9428705-brand-new-avalon-a1-oak-cara-series-with-cedar-ancient-bog-oak
Reply With Quote
  #45  
Old 02-21-2018, 09:29 PM
Otterhound Otterhound is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 4,411
Default

Biased perceptions .
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > General Acoustic Guitar Discussion

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:22 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=