Paulownia for offsets?

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Unicorn Warrior
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Paulownia for offsets?

Post by Unicorn Warrior » Fri Aug 30, 2019 4:33 am

I haven’t seen a recent thread on this and since more people by now have done it, I’m curious to see what experiences people are having with using Paulownia.

I would like to make a light jaguar and/ jazzmaster, and paulownia seems like a good option, except I have read that it is “soft”. While I don’t care much about dents, my
Main concern is will it be durable enough for moderate vibrato use?

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AcrylicSuperman
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Re: Paulownia for offsets?

Post by AcrylicSuperman » Fri Aug 30, 2019 6:43 am

Never had a Paulownia offset, but I did have an LP shaped guitar body made out of it once. It is indeed a soft wood and while it did work great for a hard tail, I did swap the hardware once from black to chrome and the moment I did, I started having problems. So I would advise that if you are the type of person who is going to be screwing or unscrewing into that wood a lot, get a hard wood top to go on it.

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Danley
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Re: Paulownia for offsets?

Post by Danley » Fri Aug 30, 2019 7:13 am

I’ve used Paulownia for a Strat - great sounding wood but very soft, screw holes easy to strip; six screw bridge, no real issues but be careful modding/disassembling. Mine has taken a few falls and I’m surprised at the durability (relative to basswood.)
King Buzzo: I love when people come up to me and say “Your guitar sound was better on Stoner Witch, when you used a Les Paul. “...I used a Fender Mustang reissue on that, dumbass!

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Re: Paulownia for offsets?

Post by RuffiansFC » Fri Aug 30, 2019 7:59 am

I built a tele with a paulownia body. I really like how light and resonant it is, but I don't think I'd ever go that route for a body again. lots of doweling/toothpicks to hold screws. I've thought about putting a bigsby style trem on it, but I'd be afraid that I'd knock it loose unless I did more doweling. I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to go string through.

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Unicorn Warrior
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Re: Paulownia for offsets?

Post by Unicorn Warrior » Fri Aug 30, 2019 8:14 am

That pretty much answers it for me. I believe in the end it’s too big a risk with the trem and such. I don’t plan to go sonic youth on it, but I def be using it a lot. Because offsets are finicky at times it sounds like the wood would be too soft to risk it. Thanks, guys.

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Re: Paulownia for offsets?

Post by jvin248 » Fri Aug 30, 2019 1:57 pm

.

I have a Strat-like-object that is Paulownia wood and the trem and other screws are fine. It survived a teenager before I bought it, and I've used it as a pickup testing platform since.

You'll only have troubles with the screws that you over-torque assembling with a drill motor. Hand assembly it's generally ok. Screws on a the JM trem are large diameter with wider 'teeth' and shouldn't have any troubles. Use long screws for the strap pins. If you do strip you can dip a toothpick in wood glue, put it in the hole, break it off, and screw the screw in. Some people with worries ahead of time about the potential to strip, put a screw in (without stripping), remove the screw, drip some 'thin' CA adhesive in the hole, let that dry, then screw in and the CA makes the screw hole a lot tougher.

If you are chasing light weight, look up a Teisco Tulip body design -- I have one and it weighs 5.5 lbs. Mahogany body, maple neck. Thinness of the body and smaller shape are what get there.

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Re: Paulownia for offsets?

Post by RIORIO » Fri Aug 30, 2019 4:54 pm

I had a Paulownia offset and the wood is SUPER soft. It dented very easily. I didnt have it for that long but it was shockingly light- almost felt like a toy!

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Re: Paulownia for offsets?

Post by CROSS_guitars » Fri Aug 30, 2019 6:25 pm

I've used it a fair bit.
It varies in quality. I don't have much control of what I order. Sometimes it's quite solid and heavy, not much different to Alder but I have also ordered pieces that are very soft and light.
I have used epoxy resin to seal it and harden it before finishing, which seems to do the trick. Quite a bit more extra work though.

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