sassafras info

[blazemite]

i recently purchased some black hearted sassafrass for my next nylon string guitar and was after some info on what kind of sound i can expect from it, and any issues that i might encounter and precautions to avoid this ..... i do not have a heating blanket so it will have to be bent on a homemade bending iron, will this have any effect on the wood? any glueing issues e.c.t.
Also what kind of soundboard would you guys advise? im thinking red cedar at this stage but would like your thoughts on the matter.

ill post some pics of my current nylon string down below, its just waiting on some binding for me to start assembling it all together and varnishing ......

[Allen]

Just letting the lacquer dry on a Tenor Uke made with Black Heart Sassafras and WRC top. The Sassafras bends about as easy as any wood I've come across. It also wants to straighten itself out with even a little heat put back into it. You shouldn't have any problems at all on a bending iron. Glued up with HHG. No issues at all.

It's a little soft so deep scratched go deeper than what you might be use to and take a bit to get out. Have a real good look over it before switching to a finer grit.

Never built a full size nylon strung guitar, so the rest would just be speculation on my part. Will leave the rest to the experts.

[blazemite]

so does that mean it has alot of springback once its bent ?

[ozziebluesman]

Hi Blazemite,

I built a weissenborn copy from Golden Sassafrass. It bends very easy but watch out it doesn't scortch on the iron. The sassafrass I used didn't need pore filling either and is very light in weight. I think it is a great sounding tonewood.

Cheers

Alan

[graham mcdonald]

It will sound like a guitar. What you do with the soundboard will have much more effect on the sound than the material of the sides and back. It is relatively light weight timber, around mahogany in density, so it wouldn't be the first choice of many for a classical guitar where heavier timbers for backs and sides are more common. It doesn't really matter if you use a spruce or a cedar for the soundboard. It is what you do with it that counts.

cheers