Spalted Maple Tops

[Doughboy]

I'm thinking of getting a spalted maple top on my next warmoth strat but have heard that it is very brittle, delicate, hard to work with & sometimes it chips on the sides unless there is binding.

Does anyone here have a spalted maple top & have they had any problems with it or have any tips?

 

[whyachi]

Dangerous has a spalted Tele and Wyliee has a spalt Gecko 6, and yeah, it is supposed to be squishy. Wyliee only got it because he works for Warmoth.

But, its gorgeous.

 

[TJD]

Spalt maple tops REQUIRE binding. I was gonna do a spalt maple iceman but the cost got to be too high..Warmoth would have to bind it and finish it. Add to that the iceman is more $$ to bind.

 

[AprioriMark]

I was in Jack Pimentel's shop (http://www.jpguitars.com/) this last week, and he had matching spalted maple guitar and bass bodies without binding.  He does great work in general, but I know he has a stock of some serious spalted maple, 'cause I was looking at it, lol.  Just an option if Warmoth can't do exactly what you're after.  Jack used to work for Warmoth when it was still Boogie Bodies, and has done TONS of great work for myself and a lot of people I know.  He repaired a 335 that I used to own that had been stepped on (omg /cry), and when he was done, I couldn't tell that it had even been so broken.

-Mark

 

[Doughboy]

Warmoth also can't do spalted maple tops on chambered strats. It seems that it could be too much hassle to go with spalted maple. It looks great, but too many obsticles. I guess it's flame maple top on chambered alder body for me.

Also, I had no idea Warmoth used to be Boogie Bodies. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[riverbluff]

If I remember correctly, Warmoth stopped offering Spalted Maple as a normal option.  Just glad I got this before they stopped...

 

[Wyliee]

Spalt maple is quite punky and soft.  It requires much more caution in sanding and finishing.  The figuration comes from fungal growth in the tree.  I once took a scrap home to experiment with and tried a Tru-oil finish.  In order to get any buildup, I had to poor the bottle directly on the wood.  Crazy!!

If you want spalt, just email sales.

 

[tubby.twins]

... and Wyliee has a spalt Gecko 6, and yeah, it is supposed to be squishy. Wyliee only got it because he works for Warmoth.

Eh?  I thought he said he got that body straight from the normal production line, not as a special request.  But I could be wrong.  A lot of the "special" bodies and necks will make it to the Showcase over time.  I should know. 

And yeah, I would be really careful with that body.  I already have a few small dings in two of my Gecko bodies which have a gloss finish over Mahogany and Black Korina (respectively).  These aren't very hard woods, so I can only imagine how much softer the spalt must be.

 

[Doughboy]

Spalt maple is quite punky and soft.  It requires much more caution in sanding and finishing.  The figuration comes from fungal growth in the tree.  I once took a scrap home to experiment with and tried a Tru-oil finish.  In order to get any buildup, I had to poor the bottle directly on the wood.  Crazy!!

If you want spalt, just email sales.

I spoke to Spike already & they have a stash of spalted maple in the back, but since I buy all my guitars unfinished & contour & finish it back home, splated maple may be way more trouble than it's worth. Plus, since getting my 1st chambered strat, I can't play heavy guitars anymore & warmoth won't do spalted maple on chambered bodies.

 

[Wyliee]

... and Wyliee has a spalt Gecko 6, and yeah, it is supposed to be squishy. Wyliee only got it because he works for Warmoth.

Eh?  I thought he said he got that body straight from the normal production line, not as a special request.  But I could be wrong.  A lot of the "special" bodies and necks will make it to the Showcase over time.  I should know. 

The spalt Gecko is the only instrument I have that did not come straight off the Showcase.  I went digging for that piece of wood and I think I managed to *almost* get on Ken's last nerve....

As far as spalt on chambered bodies, realize that our lam tops go in a pressure chamber to get the best possible seal between the top and core.  With the voids in spalt, I could imagine chunks would get sucked down inside the chambered cavities.  Yuck.

 

[TJD]

If I remember correctly, Warmoth stopped offering Spalted Maple as a normal option.  Just glad I got this before they stopped...

You did that just to make us jealous I know! Very cruel. ???

 

[bigguspickus]

Search the 'bay for "Spalted Telecaster" will yield some unbound examples.

I'd say they need binding.

 

[DangerousR6]

Spalt maple is quite punky and soft.  It requires much more caution in sanding and finishing.  The figuration comes from fungal growth in the tree.  I once took a scrap home to experiment with and tried a Tru-oil finish.  In order to get any buildup, I had to poor the bottle directly on the wood.  Crazy!!

If you want spalt, just email sales.

Generally it's pretty punky like cork, but I lucked out on mine, fortunately it was quite firm with no punky areas. And spalted is caused from fungus,  but it's actually man made to an extent. The trees once cut down are buried usually in soil rotten leaves or rotting saw dust or any catalyst that the fungi are in. Conditions must be damp and the right temps, normally 40 to 90 degrees. However in some cases trees can become spalted while still alive if under stress...But that's not to often..

 

[pabloman]

Don't call that guitar a Tele. It's a Traditional F-style single cutaway spalted shred machine, not a tele.

 

[DangerousR6]

Don't call that guitar a Tele. It's a Traditional F-style single cutaway spalted shred machine, not a tele.

My bad.... :icon_biggrin:

 

[jackthehack]

I've got this one: http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=467.0

If Warmoth has Spalted Maple tops available, to the best of my knowledge they are sold bound and finished ONLY, and while I don't see any tops in the Unique Choice or Showcase sections, Gregg or Wylie posted some pics of works in progress at Warmoth factory with Spalted Maples tops last week

 

[TJD]

My original plan was to build a spalted maple iceman  but the cost was to high for me...W was willing though. :icon_tongue: