Ipe

[D Clarke]

Has anyone ever heard of Ipe as a top? i recently aquired some, it rings like a bell and has a pretty good sustain.

[leftybanjo]

I have used quite a bit of Ipe for construction, and some for outdoor furniture. It is very heavy, hard and full of resin. It dulls tools quickly and needs to be predrilled. It does have a good ring but turns a muddy color when it oxidizes. I would be very interested in your experiences with it as a tonewood.

[gitnoob]

I have some leftover from a deck project. I plan to use it someday.

[D Clarke]

Originally Posted by leftybanjo

I have used quite a bit of Ipe for construction, and some for outdoor furniture. It is very heavy, hard and full of resin. It dulls tools quickly and needs to be predrilled. It does have a good ring but turns a muddy color when it oxidizes. I would be very interested in your experiences with it as a tonewood.

Ill keep you posted lefty, it might be a while before i can attach the soundbaord to the body because im up to me eyeballs in cabinetry work, but ill get there as soon as i can.

[nacluth]

Well I've used Ipe several times for fretboards and peghead overlays, and I've seen it used for back and sides. It was nice looking each time, however, because of the reasons Lefty mentioned, I would think it wouldn't be the optimum topwood. I would take it as thin as possible. I would assume you'll end up with something that sounds like a mahogany topped guitar.