Originally Posted by Snakeman1066 (Post 13939630)

If you have never heard of Royal Paulownia it is a fantastic wood choice...It is a extemely fine grained, very light, and warp resistant. Not to mention Paulownia is extremely fast growing; some species of plantation Paulownia can be harvested for saw timber in as little as five years. Once the trees are harvested, they regenerate from their existing root systems, earning them the name of the "Phoenix or Dragon tree." Paulownia has the ability to reclaim ecologically stressed and degenerate patches of land relatively quickly. Its root systems run deep and penetrate compacted and contaminated soils which have resulted from industrialized development. Paulownia is also a highly developed phyto-remediator, increasing the organic content of degraded soils, processing and filtering contaminants through the uptake of its vascular system, and emitting oxygen into the atmosphere. The bark is made into numerous types of dyes, and the leaves are used in vermicide preparations. Tone wise it is very similar to Ash! It is also rot resistant and a has a very high ignition point. So from an ecological (read green tree hugger) standpoint this wood can't be beat! plus it's quite attractive

I have two Trabens made from this wood and no not neck heavy at all, they balance quite well...

Originally Posted by kevinsbass (Post 13939558)

Not New Bass Day, but New Body Day!

I bought my surf greenish P bass in the late '80s. It had an '82 Bullet Deluxe neck and what I eventually determined to be a DiMarzio body with a solid brass pickguard. My shoulder could no longer stand that 11.5 pound monster and I looked for lighter alternatives. I loved the Road Worn P, but I'm sort of attached to this bass and its neck. A replacement body was in order. I decided to go cheap and try a paulownia body from Guitar Fetish. They didn't have surf green in stock, so I said what the heck, let's try something new: a sunburst. It was supposed to be 3.5 pounds but turned out to be 2.75 pounds! The neck pocket required a little trimming and shimming, but it is now ready to play at 7 lb 4 oz. Amazing! I tiny bit of neck dive, easily tamed by resting my right arm on the bass. I think I will replace the strat-style knobs with chrome barrels or maybe jazz knobs. What do you think? Here you can see the old bass in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU8BTgo_KFg

Originally Posted by Scott in Dallas (Post 13939661)

Interesting. I now have a favorite body wood. Thank you for the information!

Originally Posted by Snakeman1066 (Post 13939711)

You can probably fix the neck dive by adding a high mass bridge or ultra lite tuners

Originally Posted by Snakeman1066 (Post 13939630)

If you have never heard of Royal Paulownia it is a fantastic wood choice...It is a extemely fine grained, very light, and warp resistant. Not to mention Paulownia is extremely fast growing; some species of plantation Paulownia can be harvested for saw timber in as little as five years. Once the trees are harvested, they regenerate from their existing root systems, earning them the name of the "Phoenix or Dragon tree." Paulownia has the ability to reclaim ecologically stressed and degenerate patches of land relatively quickly. Its root systems run deep and penetrate compacted and contaminated soils which have resulted from industrialized development. Paulownia is also a highly developed phyto-remediator, increasing the organic content of degraded soils, processing and filtering contaminants through the uptake of its vascular system, and emitting oxygen into the atmosphere. The bark is made into numerous types of dyes, and the leaves are used in vermicide preparations. Tone wise it is very similar to Ash! It is also rot resistant and a has a very high ignition point. So from an ecological (read green tree hugger) standpoint this wood can't be beat! plus it's quite attractive...

Originally Posted by Snakeman1066 (Post 13939630)

If you have never heard of Royal Paulownia it is a fantastic wood choice...It is a extemely fine grained, very light, and warp resistant. Not to mention Paulownia is extremely fast growing; some species of plantation Paulownia can be harvested for saw timber in as little as five years. Once the trees are harvested, they regenerate from their existing root systems, earning them the name of the "Phoenix or Dragon tree." Paulownia has the ability to reclaim ecologically stressed and degenerate patches of land relatively quickly. Its root systems run deep and penetrate compacted and contaminated soils which have resulted from industrialized development. Paulownia is also a highly developed phyto-remediator, increasing the organic content of degraded soils, processing and filtering contaminants through the uptake of its vascular system, and emitting oxygen into the atmosphere. The bark is made into numerous types of dyes, and the leaves are used in vermicide preparations. Tone wise it is very similar to Ash! It is also rot resistant and a has a very high ignition point. So from an ecological (read green tree hugger) standpoint this wood can't be beat! plus it's quite attractive

I have two Trabens made from this wood and no not neck heavy at all, they balance quite well...

Originally Posted by chuck norriss (Post 13939754)

Nice bass! Good job on the stain.

Originally Posted by Gord_oh (Post 13941642)

been wanting to pull the trigger on one of those. drilling for a bridge scares me.

Originally Posted by Rip Topaz (Post 13941768)

That pickguard is awesome! Where'd you get it? Was it part of the original bass?

Originally Posted by Avalon (Post 13940667)

By the way, I wonder why I've never heard of Catalpa being used as a tone wood. It's not that common, but I would think it similar to Paulownia. I would not be surprised if both trees had developed from the same Genus.