GR Bass Natural Fibre

[Downunderwonder]

The Bamboo ply material has a high Young's Modulus. That is the resistance to bending relative to the cross section. It gets that from having very densely packed fibres like a hardwood.

 

Intuitively a bamboo cabinet of a given size won't be any lighter than other ply unless it employs superior internal bracing, but it will be harder on the surface.

[yorks5stringer]

Guys, there may be a problem with bamboo......

https://bambooclothing.co.uk/bamboo-socks/

[Phil Starr]

My bass practice has stalled and my tea has gone cold as I've disappeared down another rabbit hole

 

I'm a biologist by training and chemistry was my second subject at university, I started to fact check and bamboo is way more interesting than I imagined, and my chemistry way more rusty than I realised.

 

So to summarise bamboo has a very different structure to wood. It is made of similar cells arranged in a different way. The conducting tissues are surrounded by bundles of fibre cells which give the stems their stiffness. These cells are longer than most similar cells in woody tissue. There are lots of these fibre/conducting bundles in the stems and they are surrounded by parenchyma cells, these are softer cells and they strengthen the structure by absorbing and spreading forces on the fibres. Mechanically this is very like fibreglass. It goes beyond this. The fibre cells have walls which are made of strands called fibrils, as are  all woody tissues, but bamboo has evolved a few extra tricks. The ratio of lignin to hemicellulose in the fibrils shows higher levels of hemicelluloses which are less strong than lignin but the mixture is stronger than lignin alone as the hemicelluloses create strong hydrogen bonds with the lignin. The hemicelluloses also have microfibrils which increase the strength of the fibres. Article in Nature 

 

Bamboo is a grass, not wood and it has lots of exciting possibilities. It grows quickly, maturity in 4-5 years and not decades like wood. The plant survives harvesting. The 'waste' can be chemically treated (breaking those hydrogen bonds) to produce long soft fibres softer and stronger than cotton. The technology is young and developing so the price may drop as it is scaled up. Whether monocultures of bamboo prove to be better than monocultures of cotton and spruce/fir is a potential issue but bamboo is more productive and may be able to address the shortage of timber in the construction industry. Certainly growing a fibreglass like material as strong as steel sounds promising.

 

For bass cabs the Youngs modulus/stiffness thing could mean thinner cab walls and lighter cabs. I don't know how easy it will be to cut/drill/glue/shape. The density isn't an issue, it's lighter than some hardwood ply not as light as poplar. I think at this time it's wait and see. Will availability improve and the price come down? It's great we have one entrant into the bamboo cab market. If it is successful we'll see more. 

[agedhorse]

Great post Phil.

 

I have read engineering articles about the use of bamboo alone and in conjunction with conventional wood in compression laminated beams of various cross sections. The results were promising, especially for longer spans. 
 

I don’t think the weight saving alone makes it a structurally beneficial material for a plywood substitute, but possible as a face lamination for its surface properties.

[Stub Mandrel]

I've seen a lot of well-finished bamboo houseware. It clearly machines well and gives a good finish.

 

I think it's worth remembering that the GR Bass carbon enclosures are a bit of a 'gimmick' - they look good and are light (but relatively delicate). But the sound is not hugely from the  cabinet material, it's mostly a good match of size, porting and drivers with a nice stiff construction. You could get the same sound with other materials and good design.

[tauzero]

5 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I've seen a lot of well-finished bamboo houseware. It clearly machines well and gives a good finish.

 

I think it's worth remembering that the GR Bass carbon enclosures are a bit of a 'gimmick' - they look good and are light (but relatively delicate). But the sound is not hugely from the  cabinet material, it's mostly a good match of size, porting and drivers with a nice stiff construction. You could get the same sound with other materials and good design.

 

The big selling point to me was the light weight (800W 12" combo, 9.5kg). I don't see that as a gimmick.

[Stub Mandrel]

21 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

The big selling point to me was the light weight (800W 12" combo, 9.5kg). I don't see that as a gimmick.

 

Ok poor word choice.  What I meant is the light weight/carbon fibre isn't fundamental to the sound. If my cab failed, i would got all the bits in a ply cab of identical dimensions.