# Padauk as a tonewood...



## The Echthros (Aug 15, 2008)

whatchall think?

I have never played a guitar made of this wood before but I have noodled about on a bass made of it before( the K5 to be exact). I also remember there being a washburn made of it some years back that jon donais played for a little bit( think he was still using it the first time i seen them in 2004).

what ohter tone wood could it be compared to? im assuming by the grain and mass of the wood it may have similar properties to mahogany or limba/korina. please correct me if im wrong.

thanks in advance for the responses!


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## stubhead (Aug 15, 2008)

Warmoth's tone-o-meter & website description compares it to maple, so as a body it might be really bright. I have a padouk neck on a fretless P-bass, and it sounds great, but that's not evidence of anything... it's a stable, slick-feeling beautiful wood, for sure - heavier than mahogany.

Warmoth Direct - Options - Body-Woods


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## The Echthros (Aug 15, 2008)

more like maple eh? well if its something like maple or hard ash it could be cool. I would be using it on a warmoth 7S if they say itsa go

actually, refering to that same chart it is more neutral in kin with alder


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 15, 2008)

One of the sales reps here has a pad neck with ebony fretboard on an old charvel tele body & it just sings for days.


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## The Echthros (Aug 15, 2008)

^^^^too bad i'll never know because a certain washington based company either can't or won't padauk 7 string for one reason or another


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## ohio_eric (Aug 15, 2008)

You might want to drop dpm a line. He told me padauk was one of the tightest woods for seven strings. I was metioning how much I loved the sound of ash and maple Loomis and he said padauk even tighter and punchier than ash. I want one.


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## bulletbass man (Aug 15, 2008)

I've found Padauk to be rather uninspiring tone wise. But it generally does have a very tight sound. Then again I've only ever seen it used on basses. I don't know how it would work on guitar. I definitely wouldn't say it's similar to maple though. I don't like warmoths general descriptions though.


However I've noticed some woods that generally used for bass sound suprisingly good on guitars.

Walnut is a classic example. I only saw it on basses. However the first time I picked up my classical I was impressed by the tone. So much so I got a walnut body for my old rg550 (though I sold that 550 with the walnut body for 600 dollars) It sounded amazing. I'm probably going to get a walnut body for my 7621 (or just hold out until I can afford a custom guitar).

Wenge is another wood that is suprisingly awesome for guitar in my opinion. My friend's custom is all wenge and it has a really nice sound. Super warm but a little more "bite" than mahogany.


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## Jongpil Yun (Aug 16, 2008)

I'm rather curious as to why bass manufacturers are apparently so much more adventurous in wood choice.


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## canuck brian (Aug 16, 2008)

The neck on my new 7 is all padouk and I love it.


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## TMatt142 (Aug 16, 2008)

Ever play a N4??? Thats a pad guitar......Wow that guitar sounds tight!


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## noodleplugerine (Aug 16, 2008)

Jongpil Yun said:


> I'm rather curious as to why bass manufacturers are apparently so much more adventurous in wood choice.



They are?

Many luthiers make both, and those who would use interesting woods on a bass are likely to do it on guitars too.


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## The Echthros (Aug 16, 2008)

> You might want to drop dpm a line. He told me padauk was one of the tightest woods for seven strings. I was metioning how much I loved the sound of ash and maple Loomis and he said padauk even tighter and punchier than ash. I want one.



Thats kind of what I was hoping for. I want something biting and tight so when I crank the gain to get that saturated nearly unrestainable sustain and feedback I have a means to give some definition. that and the aesthetics of the wood are bad ass. I like woods that need nothing more than an oiling to get them ready. they seem to breathe and feel more alive to me to use some cliche


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## dpm (Aug 16, 2008)

Oiled woods do have a more reactive vibe IMO. As Eric mentioned, I'm a padauk fan. It's always difficult to make generalisations about wood types because individual pieces can vary so much, but in comparison to swamp ash I find padauk richer and more complex sounding, a touch tighter, definitely punchier in the mids. It seems to hold a broader frequency range as the notes decay, where ash seems to lose some frequencies a little quicker.


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## dpm (Aug 16, 2008)

Damn, you've got me wanting a padauk 8 now


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## The Echthros (Aug 17, 2008)

yeah talking about it has me wanting a padauk 7 but such a guitar doesn't exist


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## ohio_eric (Aug 17, 2008)

il_echthros_777 said:


> yeah talking about it has me wanting a padauk 7 but such a guitar doesn't exist



Then you need to find a luthier that will build you one, Dan might be able to help.


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## The Echthros (Aug 18, 2008)

i would love to get a guitar by dan...but the problem is two fold: 1) too much money that i cant part with all at once, 2) the Oni body style is too tiny for me


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 25, 2008)

Beware, they're insanely heavy, I sold a standard Top Routed Telecaster body that we had on the showcase today, and I went to grab it from the shelf & nearly pulled a muscle in my wrist and forearem, it weighed 9.5 lbs! When it gets assembled, I can't imagine how heavy it will be then.


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