Can You Identify This Wood?

Soul Tramp

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My wife and I spend time in Vietnam where we have a retirement home. While visiting relatives I saw a piece of furniture that was made of the most spectacular wood. Thinking it would make a beautiful top for an electric single cut Les Paul type guitar, I took a couple of pictures. Next trip back to VN I'm going to see if I can get a slab. We have family that is in the exotic wood business. The wood came from S.E. Asia, but I don't know which country.

Any thoughts on what it might be?

Vietnam Wood - 2.JPG


Vietnam Wood - 1.JPG
 

davismanLV

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Very difficult when you get into exotic woods and especially when you're looking at highly figured crotch wood and such..... I wish I could say. That type of wood is usually sliced thinly as veneer and then laminated to maximize the beauty. But I have no idea.
 

Nuuska

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Are you sure it is not "graining" ? - painted to look like that - just like they do marble imitations.
 

Soul Tramp

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It's not a painted faux finish or a veneer. Definitely a burl. It's very similar to a Les Paul quilt top (maple), yet different enough to make me think it's not maple. The wood likely came from Laos, Cambodia, or Vietnam.
 

Soul Tramp

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This seems to be burled Makamong wood (Afzelia Xylocarpa) which grows in China, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Ralf


Ralf, thank you! Just did a web search of that and some of the pictures look very similar to what I saw.

It's such a pretty wood I thought it would make a beautiful and somewhat unique top. I wonder if Customs would allow me to bring a piece back to the states? Will have to investigate.
 

SFIV1967

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In Cambodia the tree is called the Beng Tree.

1596905064166.png


Finding the right burled variant might be difficult, each part of the tree is special.
"Since about 2005, it has become increasingly difficult to get, especially in the burl form. High figure burl in Afzelia is now rare. It is normal for it to have small bark inclusions, which can easily be hardened by adding thin superglue. This is now an extremely rare burl. Import of new pieces is almost non-existent and most pieces have almost no figure. Highly figured afzelia burl is much rarer even then amboyna burl now and pieces with good figure are generally from old private collections rather then recent import."
(Source: https://www.exoticwood.biz/afzeliaburl.htm)

1596904090051.png

Source: https://www.gilmerwood.com/products/155909-makamong-burl-table-slab



Here are some guitar sets out of Makamong:

1596903987499.png

Source: http://www.lonewolfguitars.com/options_back_and_sides_wood.html

Ralf
 
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wileypickett

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Burled wood can vary like crazy depending on what part of the tree the slab is cut from. If I understand correctly, the most dramatic figuring comes from the part of the tree closest to the ground / roots.
 
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