Paulownia - The best wood you're not using yet.

This is a brief video to explain some of the benefits of using Paulownia in your musical instrument builds. With the current situation not looking good for swamp ash supplies we think this could be one of the best alternatives for luthiers looking for something light weight with similar looking grain.We currently stock a huge selection of 2pc and even some 1pc body blanks in various sizes.
www.luthierssupplies.co.uk

[@janpowell3334]

Good move spreading the word of LUTHIER SUPPLIES via KZbin and wish you continued success.

[@ScheltemaBoutiqueGuitars]

I just received my order of Paulownia frombuou guys and am so impressed. Its definitely my replacement to swampash.

[@chr15tree]

Thanks for doing this. Nice to see a little behind the scenes and some background on the woods we use/play.

[@flameguitars5770]

I have been buying wood from Dave for nearly 35 years. I wouldn't think that there is anyone in the country who knows more about guitar building woods than Dave. So great if he can share some of his knowledge this way.

[@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166]

Great to see you the other day, David. Looking forward to seeing the new builds!

[@pegbrady107]

Super work, David & the team @ Luthiersupplies

[@stuartcoupe6478]

Thanks Luthier Supplies - great idea to do these videos and look forward to watching more.

[@billygingerguitars2791]

Glad I found you, the wood I have received so far is excellent quality. Best supplier I've found in the UK

[@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166]

Thanks for the kind words! :-)

[@LotharOfTheHillPeople]

I love paulownia! It's a bit soft, but the weight savings are worth it. Especially when building something like a blackguard Tele, the grain pattern is virtually indistinguishable from traditional ash but I've been coming up sub-6lb consistently.

[@paulcunnington818]

Chuffed to bits that your first you tube video featured a wood called PAULownia

[@customguitarkits6836]

What a great idea

[@StickMan...77]

Great video,thank you.

[@sarahjouault7251]

An amazingly talented man when it comes cutting woods and finding the most usual woods

[@stephenroyston6058]

Great stuff, Mr D! Looking forward to the next instalment.

[@user-bj4yp6nm1v]

Один из моих басов - дешёвый китайский бас ASTONE AB-11 BK. Как раз сделан из павловнии. Звучит потрясающе, и очень лёгкий для баса - 3.1 кг. Зря я недооценивал это дерево. Спасибо

[@solar80]

Waiting for the videos... 😉 Greetings from Serbia.

[@davegreene7621]

Your Mark Wellgate replacement seems to be a great improvement!

[@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166]

Believe it or not He's still around!!

[@jerrymorganjr]

I use it a lot. I build lots of clones of 50s fenders and it's a perfect substitute for Ash. It's soft, so it wears easily with a thin lacquer finish. Which is cool, because people like aged guitars.

[@brucebennett8073]

I've been using Paulownia for over 35 years. its an excellent tone wood used by the Chinese to the the ancient instrument called the Guqin, and if your hesitant to believe that Paulownia wood can produce a great tone. then I highly advise all guitar players to at least listen to the Guqin videos found here on you tube this instrument that is over 500 years old and is right up a guitars player alley.

[@yoyofargo]

paulownia is used for carbon sequestration and biomass, it's an invasive weed tree in the usa because of how fast it grows. love it as a wood, easy to work with. cuts nice. sounds good for acoustic instruments. electrics with it unplugged couch noodling sound nice. sturdier than balsa. nice and cheap, especially since biomass/woodfuel operations get government money.

[@noi5emaker]

Great for surfboards, so probably good for jazz masters and Dick Dale signature models :)

[@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166]

I've just made a super strat style guitar from it and the whole thing has finished at 5lbs 7oz - I have to say it rings like a bell as well!

[@noi5emaker]

@@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166 wow that’s super light! Nice job. The only way I could get a build under 6lbs is with chambering, but that was with alder.

[@Wanielyo]

Do you have any info or a video on the best ways to finish paulownia?

[@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166]

Our advice would be to grain fill then apply either an oil finish or simply spray up. Do take care to get a good couple of coats of grain fill in there as it can be quite porous. I've just finished a build and sprayed in nitro and it's come up like glass! I'll be doing an open pore type finish soon and may well post a video up of it.

[@smarthalayla6397]

Thanks for the video. It's good to know about Paulownia which is lighter and cheaper than swamp ash. Do you have any Paulownia 5 stings 24 frets bass guitar parts? I didn't find any on the website.

[@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166]

Yes, it's not in our catalogue yet but we have a large stock of Paulownia - if you email your dimensions needed through to [e-mail] we can sort you out.

[@smarthalayla6397]

@@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166 Thanks.

[@donny_bahama]

Light woods tend to be fairly soft. You don’t have any concerns about structural integrity (especially where the neck attaches to the body - especially over time)?

[@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166]

We hear what you'r saying, and yes it is softer, along the lines of GB grown black poplar. I've finished several guitars using this wood now and have to say I'm very impressed - the super strat builds especially work very well and they're bolt on using the neck ferrule option. It's been completely stable since and they actually tend to resonate even more than the swamp ash guitars i've finished recently.

[@endezeichengrimm]

Is the tone similar to Basswood?

[@everready19373]

What kind of oil do you use on paulownia? I'm building a bass now and trying to decide between tung, Danish or boiled linseed oil

[@GilaMonster971]

I wouldn’t use an oil finish. The wood is extremely soft and dents easily.

[@thom2my71]

Isn't Paulownia wood brittle & easily damaged?

[@butterfinger4393]

Yes

[@infinitepawer]

May I know if this Paulownia as hard or harder than maple ?? Thanks first

[@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166]

It is softer than maple. We think it's fairly similar to black poplar (populus nigra) in terms of softness. It does takes all kinds of stain and finish very well.

[@infinitepawer]

@@daviddyke-luthierssupplies8166 Alright, understood. Thanks for the fast reply n info. Take care.

[@GilaMonster971]

Wish I wouldn’t have burned my paulownia tree wood after it broke in half after an ice storm 🤣