Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
rose wood value ,size of guitar back?
ernie miller
>I got tis large chunk of rose wood at an auction. I have to sell it to pay for Zues's next cancer treatment. my question is how big does the chunk need to be for a guitar back. And what should I put for a reserve on this to keep from it selling to cheap? it measures
18 1/2"X11"X6" I figure it is about 7 BF more or less. any ideas? it would make a bunch of infill plane stuffings.
Re: rose wood value ,size of guitar back?
R.J.Whelan (Eastern Sierra, CA)
>Ernie ... I sold a piece of Rosewood that I knew to be 60 years old (15"W x 5"T x 68"L) to a large instrument chain (Guitar Center) about six years ago - the paid me $2600. The piece I had was carefully dried and had no checks, cracks or visible flaws (I learned later that the chunk was 100% defect free).
Also check with Ed Roman Guitars in Las Vegas before putting this on eBay.
I think John Aniano is pretty tightly connected with several bowed instument makers - he may be a good resource too.
The piece you have is certainly large enough - length is the most important dimension and at 18" you're at about the mimimum.
I wouldn't let it go for less than $525.
Good luck with the sale. I wish I had the money, I'd bid on it myself.
Wish I'd never sold the piece I had - at the time I didn't think my skills were equal to the beauty and value of the material (that really hasn't changed but I'm at an age where I don't want to pass up any more opportunities) ........ rj
Re: rose wood value ,size of guitar back?
ThomD
>It depends 100% on the quality. Indian rosewood is as low as 40 bucks, for backs and sides, in perfect grain quality, but not interesting other than accoustics. This quality of wood will cause an upcharge of 500 bucks in a finished guitar. Good brazilian is 1000 and up.
The backs are about 22" x 8" two bookmatched pieces. Size varies, I make classicals which are smaller than steel string, consult LMII.com, or alliedlutherie.com for info. The sides are a lot longer. With average wood you don't actually have to saw the backs and sides out of the same piece, but there has to be matchable wood somewhere. If the wood is exceptionally interesting, then you pretty much need to be able to saw the sides out of it as well.
Your piece looks short for most uses, and the wood does not look fine grained, what kind of rosewood is it? If it is brazilian, you probably have a market either for smaller instruments, or accessories.
Good luck
Re: rose wood value ,size of guitar back?
ernie miller
>I think it is Brazilian it came from a estate of a man who broght it back in the 60's when he worked on a rubber plantation for goodyear
Re: rose wood value ,size of guitar back?
ThomD
>Brazilian is very valuable to someone. You could try and drum up some business with MIMF.com.