None of the normal places I'd look for tops has Japanese Maple, and I'm completely striking out searching for it. Anyone have an idea who to talk to?
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Source for Japanese Maple tops?
- Thread starter jasonbraatz
- Start date
Well, for one thing the wood is actually called "box elder." The Japanese Maple name is a marketing thing used by guitar makers, but not by arborists or most wood dealers.
Look here: Box Elder | The Wood Database (Hardwood)
Look here: Box Elder | The Wood Database (Hardwood)
No, it's a thing on it's own: Acer Palmatum. They grow all over the place here on the wet coast. A thousand trees were donated to Victoria by Japanese Canadians in the early 1900s, and as a result there are now 10s of thousands all over here. I've seen some lumber come up from time to time, but its been through the local woodworker's guild, who have located a log felled by the city or someone locally. When I've seen it, it's been parsed out geared to woodturners and I haven't seen any large pieces as even the really old trees are not very thick here. Like the bole is around 16" diameter in a 100+ year old tree. I've not seen it commercially available here, though we have every other kind of maple available. The pieces of palmatum I've come across were not particularly exciting in the grain, but I'm sure it happens.
Well, maybe... but a senior employee of a well known guitar company who makes and markets a fair number of instruments with what they call "Japanese maple" tops personally told me that the wood is actually box elder. Box elder sometimes has those pretty red streaks in it (as as Google search will quickly reveal), but I've never seen a piece of Japanese Maple lumber that does. YMMV, of course.
Last edited:
Well hey, I guess that explains how it was so hard to find examples of real Japanese maple with figuring like you see like Fodera’s “Japanese maple” instruments and completely impossible to find any pieces for sale that would work for a top. Boxelder maple seems to be the right thing.
I hope it’s truly box elder that you are looking for because a Google search shows that it’s fairly easy to find. Good luck!
Last edited:
If it is acer palmatum you seek you will be lucky to find a piece large enough to do much with. It is more of a shrub than a tree and the largest examples I've seen ran around 15 feet tall and had trunks around 6~8 inches in diameter. They are said to run around 10~25 feet when fully mature, but they are very slow growing. I got a couple of Japanese cut leaf red maples for my mom in 2001. They were about 2~3 feet tall when I planted them in her yard and when I saw them a little over a year ago they were about 6~7 feet tall with a trunk diameter of around 3~4 inches.
And looks like box elder to me!
Fodera’s 40th Anniversary basses had Japanese Maple tops. They were gorgeous. Good luck on your search.
Yeah, and those are definitely box elder. What a strange thing. There's nothing japanese about box elder, it's north American and the lumber is way nicer than acer palmatum. Why not call them 'blood maple'? What a weird marketing turn...
What marketing has done with fish is equally weird. Naming taking precedent over information about the thing—what it is—has to be one of the more insidious fear-based sales tactics.
If one Googles images of box elder wood it becomes instantly obvious that what Fodera refers to as “Japanese Maple” is actually box elder. Examples:
Boxelder Wood | Makers Woodshop
[URL="http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/box%20elder.htm"]box elder[/URL]
[URL="https://www.gccl-99.top/products.aspx?cname=box+elder+wood&cid=60"]box elder wood[/URL]
Boxelder Wood | Makers Woodshop
[URL="http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/box%20elder.htm"]box elder[/URL]
[URL="https://www.gccl-99.top/products.aspx?cname=box+elder+wood&cid=60"]box elder wood[/URL]
Nah.. lignum vitae (aka iron wood)
That would be THE most Metal bass wood of all time...
If I could get a piece big enough for a neck throughYou'd need osmium body wings for a lignum vitae neck thru.
. I could always make a support stand to be able to play on stage
