[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by Richard Mott

Bob, great looking guitar but I have to disagree that the Brazilian isn’t dramatic looking! It has a fascinating texture and the colorful banding on the back is beautiful, all the drama anyone could ask for.

Richard, I agree and also find it to be beautiful!

We just see so many examples of stump wood with dramatic crotch figure or even sometimes some beautiful landscape figure as well and I was making a visual comparison regarding its dark, subtle pigmentation.





This is a straight grained, quartersawn set from a cocoa plantation in Brazil. A friend who is a well established expert on Brazilian Rosewood recognized the types of parasitic holes in the raw set that are associated with cocoa. While it was certainly an "old growth" tree (A 9"set containing no sapwood reflective of a large tree) that was left to provide shade for the cocoa when the forest was cleared. So during some of its later life before the parasites killed it, it did not need to struggle for light through the canopy. Hence some of the wider grain that can be seen in it. Since Brazilian is a glassy wood that can be prone to cracking, I am happy that it is well seasoned and dried (been in Mark's shop 10-15 years) and is well quartered.

What is most important is that the guitar sounds EXCELLENT...