Faithless Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 (edited) [url="http://www.americanguitarboutique.com/bass_detail_objectname_BG_Langcaster_5_String.aspx"]http://www.americanguitarboutique.com/bass...r_5_String.aspx[/url] Looks like guys used 35k year old wood for makin' this bass How's that for ya? Edited January 31, 2008 by Faithless Quote
DirkThrust Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 35,000 years old? and only $2,850? Bargain. I'll have a couple Quote
Happy Jack Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 Interesting - I didn't know about 'Ancient Kauri' wood, so at first I assumed this was either a typo or a wind-up. Turns out that Kauri is [i]Agathis australis[/i], so it's not just old, it's also yer actual basswood ... Quote
The Burpster Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 Similar to our 'bog oaks' here in Lincolnshire..... I bet they could tell a few tales.... "Well the first 15thousand years lying around in a swamp were pretty boring but, next 15 thousnad years whizzed past!" Quote
Happy Jack Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 [quote name='The Burpster' post='131736' date='Feb 1 2008, 09:27 AM']Similar to our 'bog oaks' here in Lincolnshire..... I bet they could tell a few tales.... "Well the first 15thousand years lying around in a swamp were pretty boring but, next 15 thousnad years whizzed past!" [/quote] And people kept dropping strangled Celts into the bog right next to me ... Quote
elom Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 [quote name='Happy Jack' post='131740' date='Feb 1 2008, 09:33 AM']And people kept dropping strangled Celts into the bog right next to me ...[/quote] Yeah the toilets at Eisteddfod can be a nightmare! Quote
neepheid Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 They took a 35,000 year old piece of wood and made... a non-offset waist Ibanez Black Eagle. I think they could have made something a little nicer, but hey whatever floats your boat. Quote
Soulfinger Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 Top contender for ugliest headstock ever IMHO, and the body´s not much better I´m afraid. I remember DW building a (very) limited series of drums made from timber that had been hauled from the bottom of a lake in North America after maturing down there for a couple of centuries. These were some seriously beautiful instruments... Quote
Faithless Posted February 1, 2008 Author Posted February 1, 2008 It looks like, it might exactly be 35,000 years old without doing chemical analysis, and even using most advanced methods the error can be approximately 10,000 years. The other thing, no one really knows what conditions that wood lived by.. Ah, there's also an opportunity to find out the age checking soil's layer where the wood was found in... But, they're simply rough raves... Quote
cetera Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 I much prefer this..... [url="http://www.spectorbass.com/NewFiles/32kbass.html"]Spector 32K Bass[/url] but, hey.... what's 3,000 years between friends Quote
SwordRaven Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 [quote name='umph' post='132030' date='Feb 1 2008, 04:36 PM']is it me or is that bridge not straight?[/quote] definitely wonky :/ Quote
OutToPlayJazz Posted February 2, 2008 Posted February 2, 2008 One of the drummers I work with has a new Mapex Kit made from thousands of years old wood dredged from a Peruvian lake. He hates it - It sustains and booms like a b*****d! Quote
dub_junkie Posted February 2, 2008 Posted February 2, 2008 [quote name='The Burpster' post='131736' date='Feb 1 2008, 09:27 AM']Similar to our 'bog oaks' here in Lincolnshire..... I bet they could tell a few tales.... "Well the first 15thousand years lying around in a swamp were pretty boring but, next 15 thousnad years whizzed past!" [/quote] [quote name='cetera' post='131921' date='Feb 1 2008, 01:42 PM']I much prefer this..... [url="http://www.spectorbass.com/NewFiles/32kbass.html"]Spector 32K Bass[/url] but, hey.... what's 3,000 years between friends [/quote] Quote
The Burpster Posted February 2, 2008 Posted February 2, 2008 D Lloyd....... BC Arborologist....! We're not worthy.... Quote
wotnwhy Posted February 3, 2008 Posted February 3, 2008 i'm sorry but that body is just awfull! and i don't mean that in that i think it's ugly. it just hasn't been well designed. all the contours and lines are out of whack. with wood that old i think they should have spent a little more time making sure they got the lines right.. Quote
TDM Posted February 3, 2008 Posted February 3, 2008 [quote name='cetera' post='131921' date='Feb 1 2008, 01:42 PM']I much prefer this..... [url="http://www.spectorbass.com/NewFiles/32kbass.html"]Spector 32K Bass[/url] but, hey.... what's 3,000 years between friends [/quote] Damn, beat me to it. The spector looks nicer, and the inlay is a fossil too. Quote
Kiwi Posted October 30, 2008 Posted October 30, 2008 [quote name='dlloyd' post='132468' date='Feb 2 2008, 11:00 AM']Kauri isn't basswood. They're enormous trees that grow only on the North Island of New Zealand, and have some pretty interesting wood working properties (but whether it's a good tone wood is another matter). The Agathis we see used as basswood is from other species.[/quote] The latin name for basswood is [i]Tilia americana[/i], thats the stuff that is used mainly for guitar bodies because its good for mids. Its the same genus as our linden tree in the UK ([i]Tilia tormentosa[/i]). I guess you could try making a body out of that too if you wanted. The kauri that is used in cheap-mid level basses and guitars is fijian kauri ([i]Agathis vitensis[/i]) and its plantation grown mostly in Indonesia as well as other parts of SE Asia. I believe the plantations contribute to habitat loss although not on the same scale as palm oil. The kauri that is reclaimed from swamps and grows in NZ is [i]Agathis australis[/i]. It's treated with acrylic resin (polymerised) to make it durable and capable of being worked. Kauri trees are protected in NZ because they're considered sacred by the Maori people as well as globally endangered. Some of the living trees are up to 1000 years old. Tane Mahuta, the biggest kauri tree in NZ is supposed to be between 1200 and 2500 years old. Although thats nothing compared to the 10,000 year old bristlecone pines still growing in Sweden. My parents have a dining table set made from ancient swamp kauri that cost them about a thousand quid. Quote
mathewsanchez Posted October 30, 2008 Posted October 30, 2008 I'd pick this this piece of old wood over the spector any day. There's an explanation on the website [url="http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.junkranch.com/resources/_wsb_275x701_slab.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.junkranch.com/6.html&h=701&w=275&sz=88&hl=en&start=2&sig2=AfWtqu4tLzhM-_1b_FsC0g&usg=__4oHqHHkr22GqMSU_TfTmUwxVAB4=&tbnid=lWVNBGsbQjnwQM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=55&ei=jQoKSeeeHZCq0wSk4ti5BA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcustom%2Bbarn%2Bwood%2Bslab%2Bbass%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff"]here[/url]. Quote
The Burpster Posted October 30, 2008 Posted October 30, 2008 [quote name='Crazykiwi' post='318567' date='Oct 30 2008, 05:51 PM']My parents have a dining table set made from ancient swamp kauri that cost them about a thousand quid.[/quote] Do you think they'd miss a PRS neck sized sliver missing from one side of it.....? Quote
Kiwi Posted October 30, 2008 Posted October 30, 2008 [quote name='The Burpster' post='318658' date='Oct 30 2008, 09:04 PM']Do you think they'd miss a PRS neck sized sliver missing from one side of it.....? [/quote] It's too soft to use for a neck. It gets dented even by fingernails. Quote
Stu-khag Posted October 31, 2008 Posted October 31, 2008 I was filming in Kew Gardens a month or two back in their wood specimens depository... big lumps of all these rare woods they had collected over the centuries just sitting there. (all under controlled temperatures of course!) I was drawing basses in my head on all the various bits. If I had access to a saw that day goodness knows what I would have tried pinching! Quote
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