Ancient Kauri Wood

richardp69

Enlightened Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
6,007
Reaction score
5,965
Location
Barton City, Michigan
Have any of you ever heard of this tonewood or does anyone have an acoustic made of this? I just committed to my first ever custom built acoustic from a Luthier/Guitar Builder in Barronette, Wisconsin called Helstern. One of the reasons I bought it was it is about 10 miles away from where I grew up in Wisconsin, a small town called Shell Lake. Yeah, I know maybe not the most important reason for buying a pricey guitar. But, it's important to me so I did it.

Anyway, this Kauri wood comes from New Zealand and has been carbon tested to be 50, 000 years old. It's really a pretty wood. John Beland, a well-known session player from Nashville and the founder of the band The Flying Burrito Brothers, actually moved to Wisconsin and lives nearby this Luthier. He has a Custom Helstern built out of African Zebrawood and another built from this Kauri wood and he swears by this guys guitars. He says this one guitar (the Helstern) replaces three guitars he used to have to carry with him for different reasons.

Anyway, I was just curious if any of you have had any experience with this tonewood.
 

txbumper57

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2014
Messages
7,577
Reaction score
58
Location
Texas
Hey Richard, I don't have any experience with it but it is gorgeous wood. The reviews I have been reading compare it tonally to Koa or Claro Walnut with an amazing amount of sustain. I'm still researching but that has got to be pretty cool to have a guitar made out of 50,000 year old wood.

Here is a clip I found on youtube of a Kauri Wood guitar with no EQ, Straight into a Blue Snowball Microphone. Honestly I think it sounds amazing. Reminds me of a cross between my Brazilian Anniversary D55 and my Orpheum Jumbo if i took the best aspects of both and combined them. Here it is.

 
Last edited:

70man

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2013
Messages
931
Reaction score
1
Location
North Island ,NZ
In New Zealand Kauri (Maori word is Tanemahuta .....which means "King of the Forest") is well respected for it's wood working qualities,Bends moderately well ,beautiful to work,but has a good strength,it equally turns well,holds varnish,stain,and glues very well no need for specialist glues.The tree's were massive in size,mostly knot free,easily cut.Quarter sawn is not unheard of.Much of the timber was exported mainly to England in log format and came back to New Zealand
In the early years of milling it was absolutely raped and pilaged by the colonist of the time. It cut uses have been from Flooring,weatherboards,studs,butter moulds,vats, butter churns,wooden machinery,later years highly prized as a boatbuilding timber.
Due to it's prized nature the North Island stands of timber have been nearly total annihilated.It's mainly found in the North Island and was very prolific,now only small stands are left.
Laurie Williams is now in his third decade of producing guitars.He was granted special permission by Northland "Iwi"(Maori local to that area) to select a live tree on private Maori land,cut it and mill it specifically for guitar/violin/mandolin making.
The "silking' you see on the guitar shown in the video is most probably from a Swamp Kauri/or Kauri tree stump.The Swamp Kauri's are all over Northland,loggers /saw millers are approaching Farmers to search their properties to find these stumps,they are then excavated /dug up ,I suppose similar to the process that brazilain rosewood find's itself sold today.It is highly value here.
It is not allowed to be exported in unprocessed form,so unscrupulous exporter with Chinese connections are processing the trees into 4 to 5 inch thick boards,sanding the top and bottom then sealing it and selling /exporting them as table tops to China,which any woodworker can see is a farce.Those tops arrive in China then are re sawn in more managable lengths to be process into other things.
Because swamp Kauri is exactly as it says fro a swamp, it generally has a lots of resin still in the timber(the resin in the past had a lot of use,from rosen for a violin bow to paints).
Kauri has great depth in it, and actually simmer when held in the light,also there is spalted or Mottled Kauri,where a burl has developed,this burl is highly figure and used as a veneer for Kauri dresser drawer fronts as an over lay,in cabitnetry.

If you had any questions about kauri as a tone wood or even the top of a guitar I would ask Laurie directly
http://www.guitars.kiwi/wood.html

Or Christiandrury he is another Luthier whom works with Kauri and other NZ tree.
He can be contacted on His website

http://www.christiandruery.com/guitars.php
He is also a member of The Acoustic Guitar forum,here is a Thread ,you could PM him
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=245664
Hope that helps
Stu in NZ
 

richardp69

Enlightened Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
6,007
Reaction score
5,965
Location
Barton City, Michigan
Well thanks guys. This is great info. Now, if I could only play like 10% as well as the fella on the video txbumper57, I could die a happy man. Thanks again.
 

chazmo

Super Moderator
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
25,465
Reaction score
7,123
Location
Central Massachusetts
Have any of you ever heard of this tonewood or does anyone have an acoustic made of this? I just committed to my first ever custom built acoustic from a Luthier/Guitar Builder in Barronette, Wisconsin called Helstern. One of the reasons I bought it was it is about 10 miles away from where I grew up in Wisconsin, a small town called Shell Lake. Yeah, I know maybe not the most important reason for buying a pricey guitar. But, it's important to me so I did it.

Anyway, this Kauri wood comes from New Zealand and has been carbon tested to be 50, 000 years old. It's really a pretty wood. John Beland, a well-known session player from Nashville and the founder of the band The Flying Burrito Brothers, actually moved to Wisconsin and lives nearby this Luthier. He has a Custom Helstern built out of African Zebrawood and another built from this Kauri wood and he swears by this guys guitars. He says this one guitar (the Helstern) replaces three guitars he used to have to carry with him for different reasons.

Anyway, I was just curious if any of you have had any experience with this tonewood.
Richard, best wishes with the custom build! I hope it turns out great! It sounds like a fascinating tonewood choice.
 

70man

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2013
Messages
931
Reaction score
1
Location
North Island ,NZ
Stu, are you a forestry guy? Great info!!!
Nope Ex Super yacht cabinetmaker who loves wood and the artisan side of making things.
This the Crowd I used to work for
http://www.alloyyachts.co.nz/yachts/sailing+yachts/Georgia.html
It was the only place I could find where you actually could make something from start to finish in exotic timbers,something you could not buy off the shelf.
Some things like the soft furnishings were not to my taste but hey I got to work with some fine timbers.This is Georgia,a quarter sawn cherry ,with vavona panels interior.Amongst the things I made was these entry stairs Black american Cherry and maple inserts.the biggest sloop in the world at the year 2000,until Marabella V came out.
I think my favourite is Tiara http://www.alloyyachts.co.nz/yachts/sailing+yachts/Tiara.html. Honduras Mahogany interior,Ebony furniture,Wenge flooring.the Mahogany is amazing to work...............I don't think I'll get a chance to work that timber again.

Just like wood.It's amazing stuff.
 

70man

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2013
Messages
931
Reaction score
1
Location
North Island ,NZ
I tried to post this before but you are only able post one video ,so here is the other one she is a brute of a tree.

 

chazmo

Super Moderator
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
25,465
Reaction score
7,123
Location
Central Massachusetts
Holy smoke, Stu! Spectacular stuff. And, seriously, brilliant cabinetry if I may say so myself. What fun that must've been! Wow!
 

Neal

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Messages
4,857
Reaction score
1,627
Location
Charlottesville, VA
Wow. How awesome to own a guitar out of wood from huge Pleistocene trees mowed down by an ice sheet!

Neal
 

Westerly Wood

Venerated Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2007
Messages
13,329
Reaction score
6,501
Guild Total
2
One of the reasons I bought it was it is about 10 miles away from where I grew up in Wisconsin, a small town called Shell Lake. Yeah, I know maybe not the most important reason for buying a pricey guitar. But, it's important to me so I did it..

the reason why i came to Guild was i grew up in RI but never knew Guild was a mere 30 minutes from me.
 

70man

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2013
Messages
931
Reaction score
1
Location
North Island ,NZ
Sometimes I do wish I were fabulously wealthy. :)
Hahaha yeah ,these dude have some serious coin.Georgia owner John Williams is a property developer from yep you guess it Georgia, a very generous man.Tiara owner was a venture capitialist, made his money by buying and selling a computer search engine I think,his cousin told me that one deal he did netted him 500 mill us,one deal !!!!!, the guy was only 40 when he built Tiara,he has since sold it to the owner of Cirque de Soleil
 

Westerly Wood

Venerated Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2007
Messages
13,329
Reaction score
6,501
Guild Total
2
wow, $500 mil in one deal. going on record here that when this happens to me, I am buying everyone on LTG a D55.
 

Rayk

Enlightened Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2015
Messages
5,769
Reaction score
1,173
Man that guitar sounded good . Wonder what MIC one would sound like ?
 
Top