Timeless Timber... hot or not?

[LtKojak]

At the Sugi Guitars site I've found a very interesting explanaion of what is known as "Timeless Timber". Here's the link to the article:

http://www.sugiguitars.com/english/timelesstimber.html

When something sounds too good to be true it usually is, so I thought why not hear your opinios about it?

Are you instruments makers are using it? What's your take on it?

I'm all ears!

[dai h.]

haven't you ever read about that wood(that sunk to the bottom while logging) before?

http://www.timelesstimber.com/

http://www.fujigen.co.jp/feature/tim...er_gallery.asp

[eggle]

kiln vs dried

well personally i find no difference tone wise in air dried to kiln dried wood,older wood or younger wood. for me the tone of the wood has more to do on how it was cut from a particular log. certian woods need to be cut differntly for the grain obviously,quarter sawn,run out etc.. having an older air dried piece of timber does not neccesarly mean is going to respond better than a kiln dried younger wood, in my experiance anyway.
its always up for debate anyhow

[David Schwab]

There are a couple of builders over at mimf.com that have used Ancient Kauri for solid bodies.

They said it didn't sound any different from newer woods, but it was very nice looking, and there's that whole mojo of it being thousands of years old. But that's just a conversation item. I guess it's kind of cool, but it's just wood.

[Mark Hammer]

There was an article in Scientific American some 25 years back or so that did some electron-microscope examination of woods used in Stradivarious and other Cremona-made instruments. I have a vague recollection that they showed signs of being soaked in some manner that caused something to be eliminated from the basic cellular structure. It was a very long time ago, though, so don't rely on my memory.

That being said, there is one helluva difference in the practical of softwoods being "treated" in such a manner for acoustic instruments, and hardwoods being dredged up and properly dried for solid-body instruments. Two very different beasts.

Whether the reclaimed lumber is in any way desirable for its tonal properties is something that I have no opinion on. At the same time, I'm pleased that it is possible to reclaim lumber whose initial transportation went awry. If you've ever seen a clearcut up close, you tend to get sensitive about the felling of trees for pointless reasons.