Urban Iron Bark?

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by guitar12

I like to dabble in woodworking and earlier this week, even before I saw this thread, I went to this wood supplier here in Southern Cal for the first time to look at some slabs. It turns out that they supplied the urban ash to Taylor for a previous run of guitars. They actually had a Taylor guitar on display in the showroom and if you page down on the website you can see them detail their partnership with Taylor. I'm thinking that it might be possible that the Urban Iron Bark might be from this outfit and I hope that a quick perusal of this company's website shows that big trees are taken down all the time and I for one am glad that they are repurposed for anything and especially happy that they turn into great guitars.

www.streettreerevival.com

Rob

Yes, this is how I feel about it, as well. Well said!

- Glenn

[soups]

Originally Posted by guitar12

I like to dabble in woodworking and earlier this week, even before I saw this thread, I went to this wood supplier here in Southern Cal for the first time to look at some slabs. It turns out that they supplied the urban ash to Taylor for a previous run of guitars. They actually had a Taylor guitar on display in the showroom and if you page down on the website you can see them detail their partnership with Taylor. I'm thinking that it might be possible that the Urban Iron Bark might be from this outfit and I hope that a quick perusal of this company's website shows that big trees are taken down all the time and I for one am glad that they are repurposed for anything and especially happy that they turn into great guitars.

www.streettreerevival.com

Rob

[folkedup]

I dont get out alot so I've been waiting to hear/see posts from folks that have actually owned or played an Ironwood . I have not seen any posts. If you could direct me ...thank you.

[Jeremy]

Originally Posted by folkedup

I dont get out alot so I've been waiting to hear/see posts from folks that have actually owned or played an Ironwood . I have not seen any posts. If you could direct me ...thank you.

I briefly owned it and posted my thoughts on it in its own thread here: https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=654956

I've since deleted the demo video, but you can get a good idea of the tone from the comments posted there.

Bottom line: I gave a try and am not a fan. I'd recommend playing it before committing to a purchase, or buying some a seller/company with a good return policy.

[Br1ck]

Taylor is nothing if not a juggarnaught of marketing. The city of El Cajon was widening a street and a bunch of Eucalyptus trees had to go. Taylor bought some of the wood and made a few guitars that sounded good, but they decided people would balk at buying Eucalyptus. So they got creative.

Nothing new. Look at all the African wood being called mahogany. Sapelle is being respected more as some boutique builders use it and call it what it is. I don't know why builders can't just call wood what it is. It's commendable to use non threatened wood.

Eucalyptus makes very good firewood, and farmers planted it a lot in the Imperial County of California as windbreaks to keep topsoil from blowing away. Koala bears love it too.

[jimmy bookout]

Originally Posted by folkedup

I dont get out alot so I've been waiting to hear/see posts from folks that have actually owned or played an Ironwood . I have not seen any posts. If you could direct me ...thank you.

You really should read this entire thread...the wood in question is IRON BARK, aka RED IRON Bark. It is a member of the eucalyptus family.

Ironwood is not the same thing. "Ironwood" is any number of very hard woods, most of which are NOT related to each other, beyond being...hard...and being wood.

[jimmy bookout]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Taylor is nothing if not a juggarnaught of marketing. The city of El Cajon was widening a street and a bunch of Eucalyptus trees had to go. Taylor bought some of the wood and made a few guitars that sounded good, but they decided people would balk at buying Eucalyptus. So they got creative.

Nothing new. Look at all the African wood being called mahogany. Sapelle is being respected more as some boutique builders use it and call it what it is. I don't know why builders can't just call wood what it is. It's commendable to use non threatened wood.

Eucalyptus makes very good firewood, and farmers planted it a lot in the Imperial County of California as windbreaks to keep topsoil from blowing away. Koala bears love it too.

There are 600 species of eucalyptus in Australia...koalas are VERY specific about the species they will eat (and it's not many).
Being generic about "eucalyptus" is as wrong as simply calling something "rosewood" (there are 300 species of rosewood in the world)

[Moldstar]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

I don't know why builders can't just call wood what it is. It's commendable to use non threatened wood.

It's because many guitar players completely freak out when a guitar is made of the non-trad woods. Also, Iron Wood is not the wood in question here, I don't know why all these people are posting about Ironwood. It's Iron Bark. Not Iron Wood. Iron Wood is not even a wood, it's a catch-all phrase for a gazillion very hard woods. Focus, people, focus.

[colins]

Chime in from an Aussie. Ironbark is a name in common usage down here for certain eucalypt trees.