Anyone use persimmon?

[erikbojerik]

OK, just the past few weeks I've had a hankering to make a fretboard (maybe more) out of persimmon. Just the fact that its the good old USA's version of ebony, and I have plans for a bass made from all-USA woods.

Problem is, I can't seem to find any large enough for a bass fretboard. Any leads?

Yeah I know I could just use maple, but.....but....but.....I WANT persimmon.

 

[Greg Johnsen]

what's wrong with gluing 2 pieces together? If you make it seamless, no one will notice, and I don't see any structural things wrong with it.

but then again, it would help if I knew what this stuff was, lol

Greg

 

[Musiclogic]

Damn it Erik.....I just cut up a piece of Q-sawn persimmon, it was 4x4x30, now it's in 4x4x5 blocks for golf club heads. If you google Persimmon lumber, or Persimmon Golf club head, you might have some luck, I bought my piece from an old clubmaker, but this might help. I'll do some checking too.

 

[Drake Kennedy]

If it's two pieces of wood, they WILL be different, which means that although they'll be seamless to begin with, they will wear and warp with humidity differently enough to cause problems.

 

[wilser]

If it's two pieces of wood, they WILL be different, which means that although they'll be seamless to begin with, they will wear and warp with humidity differently enough to cause problems.

but they make laminated necks out of different pieces of woods all the time!!! this is too confusing!

 

[erikbojerik]

Damn it Erik.....I just cut up a piece of Q-sawn persimmon, it was 4x4x30, now it's in x4x5 blocks for golf club heads.

Dammit man...who uses persimmon on the links anymore? My grandmother can drive it 300 yds with a titanium head!

Yeah I've recently done a fair bit of googling (that is a verb now, isn't it...?)

I've thought before about making a bookmatched fretboard (not necessarily persimmon), and came to the conclusion that I don't really feel quite right about having a glue seam directly over the truss rod.

Though I might consider it again if I went with a 2-layer sandwich.

 

[JSPguitars]

Being a golfer, and fond of wood, I've always wanted to make a 'wood' out of persimmon, OR, a putter.
Who the hell is buying (new) wooden clubs anymore anyway??
If You're actually making some clubs from persimmon, Musiclogic, I'd love to see the finished results!!

 

[FBB Custom]

Persimmon is not quite as durable and stiff as the foreign ebonies. It is hard to find wide and clear and you are really pushing it if you want quartersawn.

The trick is to find someone who has access to orchard trees. That's about all that is left.

 

[Bryan316]

Would persimmon be better hardness and stiffness than rosewood?

 

[FBB Custom]

Persimmon is used for golf clubs due to a different strength category: impact resistance. It excels there. I do not have reliable numbers on stiffness but my sense is that it is not the stiffest wood unless it is carefully selected for that property. It may be less stiff than rosewood and graphite stiffeners is probably a good idea.

 

[Musiclogic]

here ya go JSP. There is still a desire for Pesimmon heads out there. Ping actually has a small line of Persimmon heads still available. They are much larger than the old style, going abut 335cc for a driver, and they hit the ball well. I d them for collectors with classic sets, in which one of the woods may have been fractured. The end me the head, and I do a duplcation using the original sole plate and an exact match of the insert. I'll try to post a pic or two of one in the process this summer.
JC

 

[scottyd]

We got a few around my area. Nasty little fruits....I can think of a couple of trees now where I can probably get some lumber to dry. Correct me if Im wrong but the persimmon trees that we have here can get fairly large. Not oak large but big enough to produce very usable wood.