TONEWOOD
The Tree Mahogany Swientia Macrophyllia
The Maya Forest is a lowland tropical rain forest boasting 375 plant species found nowhere else on
earth. It stretches from the Caribbean coast of Mexico, through Belize and into Honduras and the Peten region of Guatemala.
In 1965, within the heart of this jungle, a group of loggers came across an exceptional mahogany tree. Measuring 10 ft wide at the mid-trunk and 50 at the base, it had a spiralled back. This was a sign the wood could be highly figured. The loggers camped at the base of the giant and felled it with axes. But they were robbed of their prize by fate. On the way down, the tree twisted and landed in a steep ravine. Two D7 tractors were brought in to extricate the fallen tree, but to no avail. So there it lay until 1971 when a sawmill owner called Robert Novak heard of the giant figured mahogany tree. In 1983, after some searching, he found the log. The tree was halved then quartered with the resulting eight pieces were dragged, carried and floated for 200 miles to a steam-powered bandsaw mill. Novak outbid several veneer manufacturers to saw the logs into timber. The cutting operation lasted 12 days and yielded 12,000 board feet of lumber of which one third was a blister/quilt figure, another third had a waxy quilt figure and the remaining length, a combination of the two. This wood was air dried to 35% on site then kiln dried in Miami. Half the shipment was sold direct from Miami and the other through Handloggers Hardwood in California
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Issue Tree 2012
GUITARBENCH EDITOR: Terence Tan CO-EDITOR: Jessica Pau SALES/MARKETING: Jessica Pau PROOFREADER: Doug Shaker Contributing Writers: El McMeen, Ken Bonfield, Jose Bernardo WEBSITES: guitarbench.com Our Online Magazine: www.guitarbench. com
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A lot of interest was generated through Mark Berry’s article in the September/ October 1985 issue of Fine Woodworking. Mark, now a noted Classical and Flamenco luthier, had purchased wood for several projects during his time in a woodworking firm. Today, boards of this striking tonewood continue to be sawn and used by firms & luthiers such as Breedlove guitars, R Taylor Guitars, Brock Poling and Ken Miller. Miller has worked several sets of the tree mahogany says “it’s more brown than red and is denser and stiffer than usual for mahogany. It sounds closer to rosewood than mahogany.” This issue of Guitarbench is dedicated to this remarkable tree.
Opposite: A board from the Tree. This page: End wedge of a Ken Miller dreadnought. Photos courtesy of J. Howlett and K. Miller.
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You’re missing a lot of great content in Issue3 Click here for the full ISSUE! INTERVIEWS
David Wren 52-65 Kris Barnett 66-79 Megan Slankard 80-82
LESSONS Celtic Guitar Masterclass with Anton Emery: Celtic Backup 40-44
FEATURES Guitar Anatomy 6-7 Honduran Mahogany 9-10 The Tree Mahogany 12-13
SPECIAL FEATURE All instruments featured in this issue are feature highly figured Mahogany from “The Tree”
Kostal Modified Dreadnought 14-22 Ryan Dragonfly 24-29 Wells The Atlantic 34-37 Elliott Steel String Model 30-33 Breedlove OM Revival 38-39 Mauel McCloud 45-48 Miller Dreadnought 49-51 Kraut Modified Dreadnought 84-85 Saville Small Jumbo 86-90 McElroy Standard 94 Shimo Sugilite 95 True North Guitar Model 1 96-99 Fleishman 100-102 Woolson Ukulele 103-104
REVIEWS Little Man 91 Songs About Something 92 Acoustic Bossa Nova 93
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