Brazilian Rosewood

In 1985 whilst working at Santa Cruz guitar company, and with the help of Richard Hooper, I purchased a few boards of Brazilian rosewood. On my return to South Africa in 1986, I made my first guitars using this wood and I was hooked. The beauty and tonal properties of Brazilian rosewood is legendary. It does I believe, make for better notational separation, volume, and has many other subtle nuances.

There can be no denying its visual characteristics and as an investment it has huge collectable value. In 1987 I was approached by a wood company in South Africa to come and look at and to make an offer on 25 boards (4 meters x 50cm wide x 10cm deep) of Brazillian rosewood. I had to sell many possessions to acquire this wood.

Almost 30 years later and the pile is dwindling, I have managed to obtain a few other boards between then and now, but the reality is that all of us guitar makers worldwide are scratching to find decent Brazilian.