Bloodwood/Bloodwood

[stormbringer]

I just ordered a Bloodwood/Bloodwood neck and am curious... Other than finishing it, is there any way to keep it 'red'? Tanks...

 

[bagman67]

I just ordered a Bloodwood/Bloodwood neck and am curious... Other than finishing it, is there any way to keep it 'red'? Tanks...

 




Hard to say - I'm sure someone here knows, but I figure there are two likely possibilities.


1.  The wood darkens due to oxidation (the tannins or other chemicals in the wood interact with atmospheric oxygen), turning it more brown.  If that's the case, no, you can't realistically do anything to keep the wood bright red.


2.  The wood darkens due to exposure to UV or other light.  If that's the case, you can make sure you store the guitar in its case in the dark and try not to play it outdoors too much.  This might help keep it bright red longer.


The teensy bit of google searching I've done suggests that the darkening is due to light exposure, but that at least with bloodwood you're in much better shape than with the two other significant reddish woods - bubinga and padouk.


Anyone else?

 

[ZionWarmoth]

I have 2 of them, for 4 or 5 years never did anything and stay perfect without any finish, one is darker but has been that way since I have memory.
here a couple of picks♫

 

[Cagey]

There's a post with some pictures here that I put up the last time this question was raised.

 

[BlueTalon]

If you want to experiment, you can get some pieces of bloodwood relatively cheaply from Woodcraft.  It's a store I'd never heard of until I met someone a month ago at a Pat Travers concert -- he teaches classes there.  There is one close to where I live, so I made a point of going there, and was suitably impressed.  They have a lot of exotic woods there. 

I hope this helps.

http://www.woodcraft.com/family/2001649/bloodwoodsatine.aspx

 

[LushTone]

Wow. Those are beautiful necks ZionWarmoth. Bloodwood is a beauty to behold. 

 

[rockskate4x]

i think you may be confusing bloodwood with padouk, which oxidizes very rapidly. Your bloodwood neck should keep it's color for a nice long time IIRC