Weeping Willow as a tonewood?

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We've got a gigantic Willow in the garden that needs felling because the root system is causing problems with our foundations and (potentially) those of the two houses either side of us. I initially thought that it could be turned into cricket bats (there's a factory nearby), but it turns out that Weeping Willow is too dense and inflexible for that.

So, given that's the case; how about using it for guitar construction? Anybody here tried that? Or know of any examples? Seems a shame just to turn it all into firewood...
Not much of the gear, even less idea.
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  • If it won't work as a tonewood (and I don't know one way or the other), it might make some nice guitar stands, or amplifier cabinets ...
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
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  • found this http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Weeping_Willow_Tree_Facts

    quote Not only are willow trees beautiful, but they can also be used to make various products. People around the world have utilized the bark, branches, and wood to create items that range from furniture to musical instruments to survival tools. unquote

    ... although I think that may refer to small wind instruments such as recorders or flutes
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
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  • Cheers!
    Not much of the gear, even less idea.
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8591
    Willow is nice and light. Several years ago I felled a neighbours willow. We cut the branches for firewood, and planked a section of trunk with the intention of building a few guitar bodies. Before the end of the two year drying period it was full of woodworm, and I had to burn it all.

    Good luck with yours
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • @Roland you could have treated it to kill the little buggers, and then sold the guitar bodies as "weight-relieved"
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • KKJaleKKJale Frets: 982
    Willow is used to make the endblocks and corner blocks on violins. It's also used for the kerfing as it's lightweight and bendy. So there's probably enough there for a couple of thousand fiddles, if you fancied a new career  :)
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  • usedtobeusedtobe Frets: 3841
    Sounds great played through a crybaby wah!
     so if you fancy a reissue of a guitar they never made in a colour they never used then it probably isn't too overpriced.

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  • Roland said:
    Willow is nice and light. Several years ago I felled a neighbours willow. We cut the branches for firewood, and planked a section of trunk with the intention of building a few guitar bodies. Before the end of the two year drying period it was full of woodworm, and I had to burn it all.

    Good luck with yours

    Was that a willow tree or a weeping willow?

    As I understand it, they are quite different to each-other. Willow is light and flexible, but strong (great for cricket bats), whereas weeping willow is denser and heavier - which is what got me thinking about guitar bodies.

    The tree itself is about 60' tall, with a trunk that my wife and I combined can't get our arms around. It's a beast! If nothing-else, I guess it'll keep us in firewood for a few years...
    Not much of the gear, even less idea.
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  • There's a weeping willow guitar maker although he seems to use black willow for bodies which is a different species ( approx 100 types of willow apparently). 

    You can make tea with the bark as it is similar to aspirin so it is a traditional pain killer. So, you could have a life time supply of mild pain killer. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • You can make tea with the bark as it is similar to aspirin so it is a traditional pain killer. So, you could have a life time supply of mild pain killer. 
    Aspirin was developed to be a synthesised willow bark extract
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • From what I understand turning a tree into good quality, usable timber is no easy job, what with the felling, sealing, rough cutting, drying and so on needed. No problem if you just want firewood, but unless the tree is processed appropriately, firewood might be all you end up with.

    It would be interesting to know how much processing a tree into timber, the associated transport and storage costs and so on would add up to. Given that a relatively small proportion of the tree might produce quality timber, it might well be cheaper just to buy some quality planks of a wood that is already recognised as being suitable for building guitars.
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  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30273
    From what I understand turning a tree into good quality, usable timber is no easy job, what with the felling, sealing, rough cutting, drying and so on needed. No problem if you just want firewood, but unless the tree is processed appropriately, firewood might be all you end up with.

    It would be interesting to know how much processing a tree into timber, the associated transport and storage costs and so on would add up to. Given that a relatively small proportion of the tree might produce quality timber, it might well be cheaper just to buy some quality planks of a wood that is already recognised as being suitable for building guitars.
    Apparently it doesn't matter what sort of wood you use.
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  • Three-ColourSunburstThree-ColourSunburst Frets: 1139
    edited November 2017
    Sassafras said:

    Apparently it doesn't matter what sort of wood you use.
    It matters from a structural point of view, and getting timber suitable for guitar building direct from a tree growing in one's garden might not be so simple, or cheap.
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  • ChuckManualChuckManual Frets: 692
    edited November 2017
    Well, one of my neighbours is a tree surgeon, there's a lumber mill about 60 seconds down the road from me - and the two chaps who run it drink in my local (situated roughly equidistant between us), so getting it felled and milled won't be a problem ...it's just; what to do with it afterwards?

    I wonder if it'll be good for flooring timber...?
    Not much of the gear, even less idea.
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  • I wonder if it'll be good for flooring timber...?
    So long as it's not laminated
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • FreebirdFreebird Frets: 5821
    edited November 2017
    I bet the D minor key would sound really great on it 
    If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.
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  • Well, one of my neighbours is a tree surgeon, there's a lumber mill about 60 seconds down the road from me - and the two chaps who run it drink in my local (situated roughly equidistant between us), so getting it felled and milled won't be a problem ...it's just; what to do with it afterwards?

    I wonder if it'll be good for flooring timber...?
    You sound very well placed. Why not ask your contacts about the tree? Who knows, even if it isn't really suitable for building guitars, it might be worth enough for you to sell the timber to buy one!
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8591
    Well, one of my neighbours is a tree surgeon, there's a lumber mill about 60 seconds down the road from me - and the two chaps who run it drink in my local (situated roughly equidistant between us), so getting it felled and milled won't be a problem ...it's just; what to do with it afterwards?
    If you were several hundred miles further north I’d have an answer to that. I’d love to try making a willow body.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • BranshenBranshen Frets: 1222
    I read in a book somewhere that willow can be used to make magic wands. 
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  • Branshen said:
    I read in a book somewhere that willow can be used to make magic wands. 
    Hell's teeth! :o I hadn't thought of that!

    I could keep Ollivanders fully stocked for a thousand years!  =) 
    Not much of the gear, even less idea.
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