Timeless Timbers

From southern Mexico to Northern Canada, I am searching far and wide for the perfect wood for guitars. This week I was given the opportunity to have an learning experience in Wausau for MATC, and decided to combine that trip with a visit to Ashland and Timeless Timbers. This company recovers wood out of lakes and rivers, cleans it up and kiln dries the wood. My friend Rich Herbst accompanied me on the trip and helped pick out some great flaming yellow birch. This will make many guitars in the coming years.

The wood is not cheap ($15.00 a board foot) but it is old growth timber, virtually free of any defects or knots. The wood is no longer recovered from Lake Superior, but is found in many Canadian lakes. Some wood even comes from rivers and lakes in the Southern United States. I will plan on resawing the wood on my bandsaw and making some back and side sets for future guitars. It is best that this wood acclimates for awhile to the environment, so my first guitars will be made with the cocobolo from Mexico.

Paracho

Our visit with Katie was the best! We spent a couple days at the Rancho Madrona near Erongaricuaro, Mexico. Then, off to Uruapan - a large city 40 kilometers south. The following morning we caught a taxi to Paracho - The City of Guitars! Wow!

I had read some about Paracho prior to our trip. I knew that some of the best guitars would be found in homes, off the beaten path. I wasn't totally sure I was going to buy a guitar, I was mainly interested in the construction of the guitars and history of the town. Also, I was kind of hoping to find some wood to bring back and build one from some local Mexican wood.

We started out exploring a few places and asked to see the finest guitars that they had. The first one I looked at was impressive - wood bindings, well mitered fittings, a great sound. The price? 2500 pesos, or about $250.00. We stopped in a few more shops, each person pretty much giving a pretty similar story - about being the only true guitar builder on the street, and producing the guitars with their own hands. The highest priced guitars were approximately $1000.00 - some made with exotic wood such as Koa. Entertaining to say the least - lots of guitars, many poorly made, but a few real great examples of craftsmanship.


With Katie interpreting, we found the person who supplied wood for the town craftspeople. Wow! Quartered logs, waiting to be cut into backs and sides for guitars, ebony for fingerboards, woods from pretty much all over the world. I ended up buying some Cocobolo from southern Mexico at a great price - the perfect souvenir for the fledging luthier.