Indonesian "maple" - what is it really?

[wvbass]

My Indonesian sterling (SUBrays) certainly does not use maple for the body, more like something very soft, light and porous (I bought one with a big chip out of it from MF). Seriously reminds me of the balsa wood i used to make toy planes from. Advertised as 'solid wood', 'extremely light and airy". I can't imagine why they would ship such stuff from the States.

great bass for the dough by the way. Neck and fretwork is excellent.

The subs have some kind of basswood for the body. They have something with a grain pattern similar to maple for the neck. Because of the tint, it is tough to say what it really is.

 

[BigBigGuy44]

Bite me. I have a job and can't spend all day on Talkbass. I guess it is "suspicious" that a bass player as a job, but hey, we can't all deliver pizza.

Yes, the finish is different, but that is not what I am talking about. It doesn't seem as dense, in general, as my MIA basses. It is lighter and softer. If it is NA lumber shipped overseas, it is clearly a lesser grade. I wonder if it might be some evergreen variety of maple.

Actually, I would bet my Spector and Lakland are NA wood shipped to Indonesia. My Sterling and my G&L I am not so sure...

Easy there junior.

I always chalked the cheaper imports up to using a cheaper grade of wood and having cheaper finishes. Some almost feel like plastic. Still maple though.

Now back to delivering pizzas...

 

[felixxx]

Evergreen variety of maple. Weird. I doubt there's any relation to hard NA maple, it's likely been given that name for similar grain and densities. I googled Indonesian maple and it has a single point leaf. Misleading; if it doesn't even have a multi point leaf it shouldn't be called maple as the common name. Should be called fluegelwood or something.

Indonesian maple (Acer laurinum). Hard maple (Acer saccharum).
Same genus, which means it is actually a maple. Just one of hundred or so species around the world. The leaf is a single point one, but leaves are not often used in plant classification anyway. And it is evergreen, but not conifer. It simply means they don't drop leaves in autumn. Probably because there is no autumn in Tropics.
And as I said before, I really doubt Indonesian maple is used in any big production of anything, because it grows in more remote regions, and it is sporadic, nothing like big areas covered by single tree species.
If I have to guess, I would say that it is some lower quality maple from NA.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Yep. Difficult to feel the wood if its encased in a plastic sheath.

That's what she said! Sorry, couldn't resist it...and thanks for the set-up.

Riis

 

[96tbird]

''twas nothing

 

[Jeff Scott]

Heh heh heheh. Incense mahogany. Heh heh. Nice one Jeff. BTW, are you my brother? That's my brother's name there.

Hmm, Manitoba, Canada sounds like a nice place to spend some time at.

I see you have some strange aliens a bit North of you guys.

 

[FourBanger]

The cost to ship maple from NA to SE Asia would negate any difference in value from the quality unless it was bad enough it couldn't make a guitar. However, there are maples growing all over China. Chop 'em and box them to Indonesia for pennies I'd bet compared to sourcing NA maple.

 

[smcd]

The cost to ship maple from NA to SE Asia would negate any difference in value from the quality unless it was bad enough it couldn't make a guitar. However, there are maples growing all over China. Chop 'em and box them to Indonesia for pennies I'd bet compared to sourcing NA maple.

Re-importing finished Asian goods that use NAmerican wood is extremely commonplace. One third of Chinese timber imports are processed and exported as finished goods. China is in no position to export domestically harvested timber. They consume far far more than they grow.

 

[RED J]

My Indonesian sterling (SUBrays) certainly does not use maple for the body, more like something very soft, light and porous (I bought one with a big chip out of it from MF). Seriously reminds me of the balsa wood i used to make toy planes from. Advertised as 'solid wood', 'extremely light and airy". I can't imagine why they would ship such stuff from the States.

great bass for the dough by the way. Neck and fretwork is excellent.

Sounds like a description of Paulownia, used a lot these days.

 

[jim777]

Yep. Difficult to feel the wood if its encased in a plastic sheath.

Sneaky lol

 

[96tbird]

Re-importing finished Asian goods that use NAmerican wood is extremely commonplace. One third of Chinese timber imports are processed and exported as finished goods. China is in no position to export domestically harvested timber. They consume far far more than they grow.

You'll never convince some guys. Oh well, their biases will only prevent them from enjoying a larger collection of very good instruments than they would otherwise be able to afford. It's actually kind of funny.

 

[wvbass]

You'll never convince some guys. Oh well, their biases will only prevent them from enjoying a larger collection of very good instruments than they would otherwise be able to afford. It's actually kind of funny.

Never convince who? Nobody is really arguing the point. It could be the difference I notice is just a lesser quality of wood. But, they make some bodies from local woods; surely some necks use local woods also.

 

[FunkRenegade]

Even my 5 yr old usa std maple neck is pretty soft. I could easily put a gouge on it with a fingernail. I was surprised how soft the wood is compared to other hardwoods that doesn't require sealed finish.