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Paulownia... any one have a source for getting body blanks?
- Thread starter SpeakerBoxxx
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- body blank paulownia
Check with Guitar Mill outside of Nashville - they use it for guitar bodies and usually do a "sammich" to address the screw issue. 
It’s one thing to build a bass with a Paulownia body, but you also need to make sure the neck is also light (either light wood or lighter tuners - or both). Otherwise it’ll be neck-dive central.
D
Or just drip some CA glue in all the screw holes. I’ve done that to my Glarrys.. ive had zero stripped threads since I did.
I have a Paulownia P Body from JVG Vintage.
No issues. He did a great job on the finish.
I don't know if he would sell just some of his lumber stock....
No issues. He did a great job on the finish.
I don't know if he would sell just some of his lumber stock....
I had this Spector RST made from Paulownia. The wood was very light but soft. The strap buttons were problematic. Ultimately required a dowel of harder wood to not fray the hole. Upper bout strap button screw came out multiple times. Be advised.
You can always do chambering. I had a 35" scale 5 string fretless with an Alder body and Maple top that weighed just over 6 pounds. The body was chambered and it sounded great. Just another option.
i'm curious how you acquired your bias against --- thanks in advance!per the discussion: paulownia is excellent body wood for those of us who like uber lightweight + attractive. yes, it's soft, but the glarry instruments also have protective poly colors and clearcoats which help to resist dents.
holding screws is no more complicated than with any other body wood (IME/IMO) glue and/or dowels/toothpicks, depending on location and function = easy peasy!
i've remedied neck dive propensities with lightweight tuning machines.
I just received delivery last week of a nice paulownia blank from CFP. They have one listed right now on their ebay store site. Here's link.
Ultralight Thinline Paulownia/EmpresswoodStrat/Tele 22”x15”x1.66”@Under 6LB | eBay
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Paulonia is used traditionally in Japan to make okoto, and it's pretty in that form, but the instruments don't last long. When I inquired about buying one when I was there, everyone who knew anything told me that they're good for only nine or ten years before they punk out and become wall art. So as a decorative wood, fine; as a tonewood, no.
Lol I saw Glarry and burning fire and thought, yes Glarrys make good firewood
i'm sure they do when things go wrong! 
(i've come close to disaster a couple of times.)but you don't have any experience with them, just a bias against them, so there's that.
+1
I tried a Paulownia body, Maple neck in our local music store. Picked it up and it felt like it was "all" neck. I sat and tried it for 2 minutes then put it back. Neck dive central! It was so bad, there was no way even a set of the lightest tuners in the world would rectify that!
Turnaround
Commercial User
A wood that is often overlooked, which I like a lot, is Okoume. It is a moderate weight coming in lighter than Alder, about the same as Basswood, but not as light as Paulownia. Takes a stain well and has good chatoyance. It dents far less easily than Paulownia, much more like Swamp ash in that regard. Fender used it for a year or two, but their finish was decidedly orange in colour which I dislike, so I refinished mine in Walnut.
