Apparently your Braz Guitar WILL Crack

[Skipbone]

"Brazilian Rosewood is exceptionally prone to severe warping, cracking, and splitting and at some time over the life of a Brazilian Rosewood guitar, a crack will develop and need to be repaired – something that is costly for both the guitar owner and the luthier"

http://www.woolsonsoundcraft.com/ton...tonewoods.html

[PWoolson]

I sense a bit of sarcasm in this thread title.
But in my experience, it's true. Every, and I mean EVERY old Brazilian I've ever seen has shown signs of cracking. Either repaired cracks or small cracks that are just waiting for the right environment to completely open up. It's the nature of Brazilian.
Even worse are the guitars made of the wild grained stump wood. Yes, it's nice to look at but very unstable.
If you have some different experience, I'm all ears.

[ericcsong]

just wondering what the point of this post is? you just posted a quote from a luthier's site. are you just looking for a response?

[Skipbone]

Originally Posted by PWoolson

I sense a bit of sarcasm in this thread title.
But in my experience, it's true. Every, and I mean EVERY old Brazilian I've ever seen has shown signs of cracking. Either repaired cracks or small cracks that are just waiting for the right environment to completely open up. It's the nature of Brazilian.
Even worse are the guitars made of the wild grained stump wood. Yes, it's nice to look at but very unstable.
If you have some different experience, I'm all ears.

No sarcasm at all my friend. None. I just found your site and quoted the page as you can see. It is a major revelation to me that Braz has such a tendency to crack that it can be asserted that it "will" crack.

No sarcasm intended at all. I'm sorry if it appeared that way. I just wanted to get a reaction from Braz owners out there. This is literally the first I've heard of the tendency of Braz to crack so readily.

Again, respect to you and your knowledge of woods and your skill in building your find instruments. I have contemplated getting an LG myself, by the way. They look like very fine instruments.

[Skipbone]

Originally Posted by ericcsong

just wondering what the point of this post is? you just posted a quote from a luthier's site. are you just looking for a response?

I'm looking for feedback. It strikes me as a controversial statement to make - that your Braz guitar WILL crack during the course of it's life - do you find that statement to be one that you can let go by without commenting on? I can't. Seems to be saying "gee, that incredibly expensive set of woods you paid a premium upcharge for, well, guess what? It's going to crack so how do you like them apples?"

If Braz cracks all that readily it would behoove those in the community to know about it. That was my motivation for posting it.

And yes I'm "looking for a response." Why else would anyone post anything?

[Kevin A]

Originally Posted by Skipbone

...It is a major revelation to me that Braz has such a tendency to crack that it can be asserted that it "will" crack.

...I just wanted to get a reaction from Braz owners out there. This is literally the first I've heard of the tendency of Braz to crack so readily.

Yep, I was aware of the susceptibility of braz towards cracking. I've heard some 'horror' stories of 'exploding " (or "imploding") braz guitars from builders.

Whether there is a possibility of future cracks appearing is really not something that keeps me up at night. And I've one of those "wildly figured" brazilian 'stump' guitars.

IMHO: Life's too short to worry about what may or may not happen to the wood on one of my guitars....

If a customer doesn't wish to pay the extra $$ for braz, more power to 'em. If a builder doesn't want to hassle with the fragility and expense of the braz RW, there are plenty of other wood options.

[rcemech]

I think it is safe to say that ALL wood cracks eventually. It is inevitable, entropy will always win But I have seen some older Brazilian classicals that have had cracks in them, and really so long as you take care of your instrument and don't let them get neglected and get them repaired then they will play for a long time. Yes its gonna cost a few bucks every 20 years or so, but I don't think its a deal breaker.

Paul is doing some terrific things with guitars these days and I'm sure just about any luthier would back up his statements. I can understand why he wouldn't want to use braz. Its expensive to have laying around these days and from a warranty stand point it could be a pain in the butt.

-Rich

[Tim McKnight]

I agree with Paul that Brz has a VERY high probability of cracking at some point in time. Come to think of it every vintage guitar that has come through my shop or hands has had cracks in it.

Paul and I recently had the pleasure of closely inspecting a 1920 something Martin OM-45. One of the finest vintage guitars I have ever seen. It had a few cracks that were expertly repaired but what a sweet little guitar!

[PWoolson]

Originally Posted by Tim McKnight

Paul and I recently had the pleasure of closely inspecting a 1920 something Martin OM-45. One of the finest vintage guitars I have ever seen. It had a few cracks that were expertly repaired but what a sweet little guitar!

Tim forgot to mention how much that guitar cost the owner. Let's just say it was about twice what I make in a good year (and he got a deal on it). Quite stunning indeed. The owner asked me (maybe Tim too) if I would work on the nut for him. I had to politely decline. (Yiiiiiiikes!)
And as Tim said, it did indeed have cracks. I'll stick to my guns on this topic. I say, "show me a Brazilian guitar that doesn't have any cracks, and I show you a Brazilian guitar that doesn't have any cracks YET".

[songman]

Tim and Paul,

How are your feelings towards African Blackwood? Similar to Brizillian?

[PWoolson]

Originally Posted by Skipbone

Seems to be saying "gee, that incredibly expensive set of woods you paid a premium upcharge for, well, guess what? It's going to crack so how do you like them apples?"

This is exactly my point in not being willing to work with it. I can't in my right mind charge someone a premium ($1000-3000and up) and then tell them upon delivery, "oh, and when this cracks, it won't be a warranty repair because that's the nature of Brazilian. Some people don't have a problem with that. Some are willing to take the risk. That's fine. But for me, there's no debate. Trust me, I've lost several potential clients because I'm simply not willing to work with Brazilian, ever.

Originally Posted by Skipbone

If Braz cracks all that readily it would behoove those in the community to know about it. That was my motivation for posting it.

Good onya! And for anyone in question, I thought I'd post the entire paragraph where this came from.

Brazilian Rosewood
You may have gathered that I do not work with Brazilian Rosewood. There are three basic reasons for this decision. To obtain high-quality Brazilian Rosewood, the cost of the guitar could easily rise by $1,000 to $3,000. Brazilian Rosewood is exceptionally prone to severe warping, cracking, and splitting and at some time over the life of a Brazilian Rosewood guitar, a crack will develop and need to be repaired – something that is costly for both the guitar owner and the luthier. And finally, this wood has been placed on the CITES treaty that restricts any post-ban felling of trees or export of new lumber. While Brazilian Rosewood will make an excellent sounding guitar, I truly believe that there are woods available that are every bit as beautiful, sound every bit as good, and are considerably less expensive. Certainly, East Indian Rosewood will produce an absolutely amazing guitar, but Madagascar Rosewood and Honduran Rosewood are both very suitable alternatives that will produce much of the same look and sound as Brazilian if that is what you are seeking.

[PWoolson]

Originally Posted by songman

Tim and Paul,

How are your feelings towards African Blackwood? Similar to Brizillian?

Are you asking similar in sound qualities, as in, "is it a good alternative?" or similar in behavior, as in, "will this wood crack too?"
Assuming you are asking about sound qualities, sure, it's a good alternative. The way I build, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between any two "rosewood-sounding" guitars. My feeling, in the way I build anyway, is that back/sides only account for ~20% of the overall sound of the guitar. So if you get two woods that are of similar densities (Brazilian vs Blackwood), they will sound quite similar.
As to the "will it crack too" issue: as said above, all wood wants to crack. But I think Blackwood is much more stable than Brazilian in this aspect.

[Brent Nelson]

Paul.
Good that you posted the entire paragraph to provide context. I think sniping and posting small pieces from a website is pretty unuseful.

Thanks for that context. I think your stance admirable.

Brent

[jtaylor]

Every Guitar wood will crack if you do not take proper care of it. Also let's not forget every Martin Guitar or any Guitar that does not have a bolt on neck will have a MAJOR Neck reset at some time for sure. BIG bucks to repair. But we all still spend big money to buy them. Thanks

[Alan Porton]

If you play/ hear Paul's latest double top "LG" (Cedar/ Lutz w/ Cocobolo b/s) you'll agree that Paul doesn't need to use Braz.........