The Most Valuable Woods on Earth - Michael Greenfield - Luthier Stories S2 E1
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- Опубліковано 20 січ 2023
- Michael Greenfield is an extraordinary human being who creates extraordinary guitars. A dear friend since our first meeting at the Montreal Guitar Show in 2009 Michael has been a guide and confidante in the fascinating and often bewildering world of the luthier-made guitar.
With a client list that includes rock and roll royalty such as Keith Richards and Paul Stanley as well as fingerstyle visionary Andy McKee - Greenfield guitars have a hard-earned reputation as some of the finest acoustic instruments in the world.
With and eye for detail and exacting standards that come a previous background in Michelin star hospitality Michael has a deep understanding of the materials he uses to create his guitars - who better to look at some of the most valuable woods (don’t say tone woods) on earth.
Join us as we explore Brazilian rosewood, quilted mahogany from The Tree, Pernambuco and moon-harvested Swiss Spruce in this first episode of season 2 of Luthier Stories.
Michael Watts
#luthierstories
You can support my work by contributing via my tip jar - thank you! michaelwattsguitar.com/tip-ja...
I could listen to Mr Greenfield for hours. He is a true Artist.
Ive recently come into a big stash of pernambuco veneers and its such an interesting wood. A lot of woods act fairly similarly like the rosewoods being hard and oily but pernambuco was one that felt and acted different to any wood ive worked with.
Michael has a great understanding on the wood properties. I like that he demystifies the « master grade » grading. Michael Watts, you are a great interviewer.
Merci Maxime!
Totally agreed but the business needs a marketing scheme for guitars and unfortunately the “wood grading” has become one of the easiest way
Players and listeners, like what they like. End-product sound is combo, combo of material, the maker, and player
That’s true - and the more we learn about the subject the more we can refine that taste and appreciation
From 1980 to 1990 I brokered ( bought and sold/hustled) pernambuco primarily to bow makers from San Francisco to Paris, San Diego to Vancouver Canada.
Brazil was named after the tree .. in Portuguese... pao brasil. The use centuries ago was for dying cloth and much of the wood went to France for that purpose. The wood was found in the State of Pernambuco.
hence the general term of the wood.
Tourte, a French violin and Bow maker supposedly found a sugar barrel from Brazil at the LeHavre shipping port and took it back with him to experiment in making a violin bow. ..the barrel was pernambuco. It is believed to be the first bow made with pernambuco.
Pernambuco is now legally harvested from old fence posts and other structures originally using pernambuco.
As Michael Greenfield said, pernambuco comes in many grades, the best is reserved for bows..
Not all PAU brasil is pernambuco or violin bow quality, especially the large tree trunks.. the best wood is from the highest limbs and too small for guitars.
PS And not all brazilian rosewood is dalbergia nigra. Other species have been substituted for musical instruments decades and passed off as the real deal. Spruciana is an example, even professional wood hustlers have been duped. American and British wood buyers who have been to Spain to buy from suppliers there (and have come in to contact with two businesses in particular) may have thought they were buying dalbergia nigra when it was not and they passed it on to builders who passed it on to the public. I know this first hand.
Excellent video.
Comments like this are why I am so grateful to have the audience that I do. Thank you so much for watching Jeff and for sharing your own insights. Wonderful!
This is the best Video on UA-cam, Thank you so much!!!!
Thanks for watching, that’s very kind!
It's nice to hear such a realistic approach to the use of the different woods. No marketing hype or BS. Just the experience of a sensitive and intelligent luthier. Thanks for posting this interview!
You are very welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it
Yeah I noticed that when he talked about moon spruce. I mean the wood does matter much more concerning the tone in acoustic instruments than in electric ones but even there too much marketing BS and myths are spread. I'd really like to see now studies done on the properties of wood and it's tonal qualities.
Such an important video. Experience speaks the truth. All the "old" guys who build fantastic guitars say the same sorts of things. "Just build a lot of guitars." "Take copious notes when building." "Individual pieces of wood are more important than species." Thank you , Thank you, Thank you, for this video!
You’re very welcome, I’m really happy you enjoyed it - thank you for watching!
I have a luthier-made Brazilian cutaway 000 with sinker redwood top and ebony fretboard. It's clear and LOUD!
Genius god level.
Michael may be the Dumble of Acoustic guitar builders! Awesome guy, had the pleasure to meet and drink a Heady Topper with him some years back! Still dream of owning a Greenfield one day! Thanks Michael for your wisdom!
Very true! Thanks for watching
Absolutely amazing. Well done on the interview.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
A wonderful conversation between two people who know and love their respective crafts.
Thank you Raymondo - I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I want a "The Tree" guitar even more now 😉
I know people who can make that happen!
@@MichaelWatts I think you do! Great video Michael, keep them coming!
au top comme toujours, merci du partage, merci Mr Greenfield !! 🥰
De rien Kasper!
Thank you.
You’re welcome!
I hope to own a Greenfield one day.
He's a lovable dude and know he would inject that into my guitar as he has for every person he's built for.
Thanks for watching Darryl - I am very happy to confirm that in my experience Michael Greenfield creates his guitars in exactly the way you describe
What a wonderful interview. There is something fantastic about listening to someone speak on any subject when they know what they are talking about.
Thank you very much for watching James - glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you a great master class about wood for guitar build - I have been taking notes 🙂
You are very welcome!
I even prepared a coffee to watch this. Awesome thank you! The rarest of all Dalbergias is Brazilian Kingwood it’s even better than Brazilian Rosewood (Yes that’s where you ger the King and Rose the Queen). They grow side by side same climate same everything but for 10 BR trees you get 1 BK tree. The sound is incredible.
Coffee is always a good idea - thank you for watching!
There's a saying, which I'll get wrong, that goes "the more you know, the more you realize you don't know." This fits Mr. Greenfield to a T. His knowledge is so vast, and so thorough, for him to say "I don't know what the F I'm doing" speaks volumes. He totally gets it. What a humble guy. Great interview too.
Thank you so much for watching Bill and yes, totally agree!
The last few minutes of insight and plain speak was priceless 👍
I’m very happy you agree!
Major points for Nee
He said it again!
What a wonderful and enlightening interview.
Thank you very much for this.
I’m very glad you enjoyed it - thanks for watching!
Thank you for such a fantastic episode. I'm dearly looking forward to the next!
Thank you Michael - tune in again next week for Episode 2!
Excellent, excellent, excellent!!! What a wonderful exchange!
Thank you Melvin!
What a charming, knowledgeable man (and you’re not so shabby either, Michael!).
Glad you enjoyed it Terry!
Thanks for sharing those great education knowledge
Thank you for watching Charles!
Appreciate this dude for his dedication to his crafts …speed of sound 😂 I tried working if my fast finger style picking but I noticed that I had to put more time on doing it from the seventies…I exercise my fingers consistently just recently…amid trigger fingers issue 😢
Thank you for watching Israel! Look after those hands!
Another fascinating discussion, thanks for sharing!
Thank you Joshua!
🙏🏼✌️🙏🏼
thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching Richard!
@@MichaelWatts fascinating... absolutely fascinating...
collection of data with an open mind is also... exactly what science should be...
the Pernambuco sawdust is something I keep along with any offcuts and scrap and give to the spinners weavers and dyers guild ( not a luthier but cabinet maker )
I’d be interested in the Michaels’ take on Western Red Cedar.
I have played only a couple of Greenfield guitars with cedar tops and they were sensational. And it’s not a wood that has worked for me in the past.
I think he's right about cutting the trees in the period of dormancy, compared to time of month.
I've read that people would traditionally cut when they could skid it out on the snow or frozen ground, and near the full moon so they could see well. instead of muddy and dark, during the wrong time.
I'm sort of a nerd about wood and its uses, and once when I was hiking with a friend, he showed me a trail up river of the Great Sacandaga reservoir, and we were walking through some old growth Red Spruce and I accidentally stepped on a seeding that was as big as a pen, and I picked up the damaged little baby tree and I cut it to count the growth rings and it was about 25 years old, only a foot tall all crooked and it could have grown for over 350 years easy, like it's bigger neighbors.
All kinds of Spruce have been exploited for that old growth straight grain.
I'm listening to this guy talk about trees as I write.
It is astonishing how nature works! Thank you for watching and for sharing that story Rich!
Thank you for talking about misconceptions. I’ve built only about 30 guitars(archtops, mostly) but, I’ve learned so much. I’ve completely quit volunteering my experience on forums simply due to the fact that sharing what I’ve learned becomes a platform for others to repeat what they “know”. There is no bigger truth in what you said “the guitar is a system”.
30 guitars is already quite an achievement! Well done and keep at it!
It's always "must-see TV" when you guys team up. Great stuff, Michaels!
Thank you Brian!
Amazing video for the public and our craft! Production is spot-on, interview/maker are a well-fitting pair, and Michael G. is one of the few who actually holds each wood plate at the sweet spot to properly demonstrate -tap tone-. This made my day! Thanks Michael Watts!
Thank you Thierry! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I like learning to play guitar
Absolutely fascinating! Thank you for this . . .
You’re very welcome Morton!
Beautiful videos, very enjoyable to watch. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it Nicolas!
Love this!
Thank you so much El!
@@MichaelWatts ... and your playing! Nice touch and phrasing!
A fascinating conversation, but I felt the (un)sustainability of these materials deserved much more attention. Brazillian rosewood is endangered (CITES appendix 1 and IUCN Red List). Honduran mahogany is also IUCN Red List and CITES appendix 2; the idea of finding another tree like The Tree - 5 centuries old and wider than a bus, and cutting it down to make some pretty guitars and furniture is horrific, isn't it? Pernambuco, also red list endangered; and although spruce is common, as Michael Greenfield says in the video, the spruce for guitars comes from trees many hundreds of years old, and those are rapidly dwindling. The value of these rare and ancient trees for carbon storage, habitat, biodiversity and intrinsically as very old living things is surely greater than it is cut into bits to make musical instruments, no matter how beautiful and expertly crafted.
Shouldn't we be less fascinated with how well these rare plants (and sometimes animals too) work as material for luthiers, and more interested in sustainable and readily available materials?
That is a subject for another video Keith - anyone seriously in the market for these woods will be well aware of the potential ecological implications.
Absolutley beautifull video, thanks!
Thank you Remo!
About "valueble woods ",one to mention is Tamo Ash,from the North of Japan.It's super rare and very expensive. Maybe you can find thinner sets of Tamo Ash, but massiv blankets,no way.
Maybe the guitarbuilder can tell us more about it,if it meets his demands to wood.
Great interview and information on acoustic wood choices.
You raise a good point Jochem - I’m sure neither Michael Greenfield nor I would feel comfortable speculating about a wood. I certainly haven’t played a guitar made from Tamo ash although I have seen it used in veneers and for ornamentation. Unlike other channels I will never showcase anything with which I do not have direct experience. I don’t doubt Michael Greenfield would agree.
Sensational interview with a brilliant Master Luthier. Mr. Watts, thank you for your channel.
Thank you so much!
Interesting and enjoyable video.
Glad you enjoyed it Phil!
So interesting. Great to get a bit of an understanding of a more scientific approach, as you do hear luthiers talking about getting a "feeling" or working off "instinct". I wish I could get those numbers for already constructed instruments; some of the "freak" instruments I've played over the years that had no right to sound as good as they did...
Thank you Michael for doing this stuff as always informative and very enjoyable.
You are very welcome!
Such a deep insight ! So interesting ! If I had 9 lives like cats, I'd have a luthier one.
Thanks for watching Bernadine!
Such great info in this video, thanks for making it both Michaels!
Thanks for watching Bobby!
@@MichaelWatts I would have been interested in hear Mr. Greenfields thoughts on the thickness of top woods based on the stiffness to weight ratio as well. I chatted with James Goodall about this a few years back and found it all quite interesting.
Great interview with Michael Greenfield. It was fascinating to hear his conclusions on various types of woods.
Thank you for watching Corey - glad you enjoyed it. I just launched episode 2 with Cris Mirabella and next week is John Monteleone. Fun!
Wow I could watch this videos for hours... so glad I found your channel!
I’m very glad too! Thank you for watching!
Thank you so much for posting this!
I would love to hear about guitar design when it comes to the effects of increasing and decreasing depth of the guitar (sides) as well as from giving an angle to the sides so that the lateral is thicker in the end of the tail block of the guitar vs in the neck joint. I've built 2 guitars on my own, and my first one is a thick guitar (about 5 inches in the tail block AND in the neck joint) and my second guitar goes from 5 inches in the tail block but ends at 4 inches in the neck joint, however, I changed a bunch of things on my second guitar so I could not isolate the effects of the guitar depth. Plus, since I moved from Brazil to Canada, I couldn't really finish the second guitar yet and string it.
God bless you for your effort to document the work of many different luthiers Michael!
Thank you Victor! As you have proved yourself there are often too many variables in the creation of bespoke instruments to isolate the effect of any one variable and if a luthier is using deeper or shallower sides then they will doubtless be tuning every aspect of the guitar in question to get the response and sound they are looking for.
Some years ago I saw a video where a old guy was talking about the amount of sap in the trees accordingly to the moon phases and the ideal phase for harvesting trees to avoid wood bend... Never found that video again... 😢
hello, nice to meet you. I have Makassar ebony wood which can be used for guitars
Hi, great content, I've been able to access central American woods, and one of the most expensive ones is named rosul, cocobolo like, Dalbergia retusa hemsl, Guatemala'n rosewood, is so beautiful, hard and expensive, that I wonder how it would sound if a guitar was made from it. Cheers.
Thank you for the video :)
You are very welcome Roscoe!
I personnaly grade wood at an Adirondack supplier, and the amount of wood that is not fitting for even 2A grade, is absolutely crazy. Mastergrade? Forget it. Even 3A is crazy rare. Great Video Michael!
Thank you Benjamin - glad you enjoyed it!
@@MichaelWatts Yeah, but this is a dangerous & cruel video, I suddenly want to buy some sets of woods...
I totally agree with you in that the density of the back and sides influences the sound, I would be interested in your thoughts on the use of a wood found in nz called swamp Kauri which is a medium density soft wood but is dug from the swamps which is meant to change it.
Looking forward to this tonight
Thanks for watching David!
@@MichaelWatts it was great Michael, thanks for making these. Also enjoyed the Gruhn interview. Keep them coming.
I enjoyed this video, very informative!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you Blake!
Wonderful stuff ❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video! I wish I'd found your channel earlier. You've done some really interesting stuff. Keep it up!
Welcome aboard! I hope you’ll stay!
Like!
Merci!
Wonderful video! I have always gravitated towards Rosewood back and sides acoustics because of what I have read and heard online to the point where I convinced myself that since I like to sing and play the scooped midrange of rosewood was the best option for me. I’m going to be open to other woods after hearing this video. Thank you!
Thank you Dave - glad you found it inspiring! Always good to try new things
Not so much of an acoustic guitar player, but this video has taught me about the meaning of 'tonewoods'. The snippings of Michael tapping the wood is so enlightening. I wonder how much of these properties translate to electric guitars. Thanks so much for this video.
Thank you! There is a world of information out there about electric guitars too
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Omg I love this guy… could listen to him all day!!! 🤘😎🤘
Glad you enjoyed it!
On the mastergrade wood, i build most of my guitars with handselected pieces of aa or sometimes even a. Mastergrade is nice for the visual but means nothing for the quality of the sound it produces.
have you ever use wood from tropical fruit tree such as jackfuit tree for back and side acoustic guitar construction?
Master Luther clearly... amazing information and really knows his craft. Not everyone in the world is an idiot that knows nothing about wood however.. 😆...great interview my friend..very relaxed and professional..
Thanks for watching Eric! Glad you enjoyed it
@@MichaelWatts you're welcome 😁. Thanks for reaching out! Subbed my friend!
@@ericwarrington6650 i appreciate that!
Michael great interview!! I had to watch it three times, awesome insight on tonewoods. Oops I didn't mean to say tonewoods, Oops
Lol I live for this stuff
Michael, I don't know when you actually recorded this interview, but it was wonderful to listen to Michael explain his thoughts on materials. If Michael needs some insight into using Pernambuco, maybe he should get in touch with Luthier Bruce Sexauer. Bruce started using Pernambuco as a back and side wood in 2007, and so far has built about 29 of his guitars using that material. Very nice interview, I look forward to more Luthier Stories in the future!
Thank you Eric - the interview was filmed in May 2022 and I believe Michael has since completed this instrument and delivered it to his delighted client. Bruce’s work is very different of course, much more of a vintage style build but I’ve played a couple of his guitars in pernambuco and enjoyed them.
Michael is completely right to say that AAA grade soundboards can outperform master grade wood. I've come across many fantastic sounding guitars with quite average grade soundboards.
Absolutely! That whole tight grain thing is not alway the best choice
@@MichaelWatts especially true in bigger guitars. Dreadnought and Jumbos.
What a wise man he is , with magical hands and ears .... and he doesn't wax poetic like too many of his colleagues do. Refreshing and very educational !
Very true Christian - thank you for watching!
What I'd also really like to hear his view on is the role of the SIDES - he mentions the difficulty in bending quilted woods and the particular sonic qualities it affects as a backplate on a guitar but what other REAL aspect is there to the sidewalls besides "simply" connecting the back and top plates and the VISUAL and aesthetic continuity in the build ?
Michael builds with triple laminated sides and his reasons for doing so are similar to other builders who use the technique
@@MichaelWatts I'm familiar with the method/concept of double sides, also employed my many builder of classical guitars. If I were a luthier I'd use easy-to-manipulate wood as a core and then put a nice looking veneer on the outside, if any at all. This could save a lot of precious material I'd guess ....
Dat wood got tone, I guess its that simple, but only to the experienced !!??
So the rosewood family is dahlbergia. Ebony is in that family. Brazilian rosewood is in that family. It’s the persimmon family. I don’t know if he misspoke of what. I grow tropical hardwoods as a habit. That’s why it caught my attention. Still looking for seed to grow some dahlbergia Nigra!! It’s so hard to find now.
Yes that was a generalisation on michael's part but it makes sense - thank you for watching Andrew!
Great interview. It surely deserves a Part II dedicated to voicing, which was the elephant in the room here. If I have to criticize something, it'd be Greenfield's bashing the unreliability of the internet while he himself is in it. Aside of that, wonderful episode overall. Thanks for doing this!
Thank you for watching! How useful a conversation on voicing would be without actually being in the room with the luthier, the set of wood and the intended client would be is up for debate - like everything else!
In my opinion theres really only a couple species i would consider to be non_tonewoods. Woods that really dont want to resonate and dampen so much it wouldnt make sense for an instruments. All other woods have their specific merits but can all be musical when used right
Bell like wood
is there a video of the guitar making process?
There are videos of Michael making a guitar here on UA-cam - I hope you enjoy them!
Mr Greenfield is a very direct - no nonsense guy, I like this aspect of him a lot. But I differ on the aspects of harvesting wood at certain cycles and the internet thing. The moon is a good indicator of what's happening in nature & its quite clear we have lost a lot of wisdom from the ancient folks, who were more in tune with nature, spent more time in nature and therefore knew more of natural cycles of when to do certain activities.
In terms of the internet - we have many masters of their craft on the internet - sharing knowledge be it master guitarists, luthiers, herbalists etc. Even beginners can teach a lot, one just needs to have a good discernment and maturity. This is the reason of the explosion of young, technically gifted guitarists and I emphasize technical, not necessarily musical. I personally have learnt things I would have never dreamt of had the internet never existed. And when it comes to the guitar luthier thing, the internet helps to bridge the gap between the player and the luthier in terms of guitar construction knowledge, which really helps get a desired custom build.
Steel string luthiers still have a lot to learn from players - I feel there is too much obsession with sound over playability and even so, I feel the sound generated from modern custom instruments has gone backwards, with most being too loud, harsh and bright, too high in unnecessary overtone content unlike good older "factory" instruments. Your flesh playing technique I guess tames this to some extent and may suit you. So this obsession has resulted in most custom guitars being overbuilt i.e. unnecessarily heavy bar a few luthiers like Bruce Sexauer & Rosie.
Playability has to be the starting point, then we can speak of how to get the best possible sound after we design the most ergonomic box possible for the player. Then it becomes even more worthwhile to custom build. And custom is not really fully custom, players are limited to the few models & shapes the luthier offers - and can only customize certain aspects, unless one is willing to pay a good price for a ground up design. So it's just an extension of the factory model & perhaps can call them more customizable factory instruments at premium prices.
Thank you for watching Jonah and for your considered response!
Oh Michael Greenfield how cool. I was hoping we may see your partner in crime Jason Costal at some point but what with Gruhn and Now Greenfield you’re spoiling us
My audience deserves the very best!
@Michael Watts Absolutely and you’ve always delivered in what is still a relatively close knit community. Somogyi, sobell, Greenfield just don’t crop up on people’s radars probably because they making guitars lol. But honestly Michael they’re all really special
"Build a lot of guitars". Rarely was there better advice. Like most things in life, there's no shortcut to the summit. Some get there quicker than others, and many will never get there but, on average, experience is everything.
Absolutely right! Thanks for watching Steve!
What is “the tree” they are referring to?
A quick search for The Tree Mahogany should reveal another video on my channel which will help answer that question for you Felix!
Given that most acoustics are made of the same woods it is no surprise that they tend to sound the same to all but the most discerning ear. Contrasting that with something such as an old Zemekis and the quality of construction and wood choice shows how guitars are created by luthiers, not wood
Clearly the beauty and figuring of the wood has no positive bearing on the sound quality and likely higher figuring may even have negative effects.
Building a guitar with a $3000 set would definitely make one nervous.
I’ve seen the cash hit the table for double that and more for a set. It focuses the mind…
At last , common sense!
What is The Tree.
The Tree was a huge mahogany tree found in Belize in the 1960s. It is prized for the incredible figure and its scarcity. I have a full video on The Tree here on my channel - I hope you enjoy it
value is based on what one is willing to pay, give or trade for it, not based on what one is willing to charge or ask for it... lord
I’m fairly sure there is a correlation there…
Here are my takeaways:
1- do your homework in terms of understanding what you want from an instrument FUNCTIONALLY and SONICALLY.
2- forget about tonewoods
3- find a luthier which works for you (and play as many guitars as you can from that luthier) and have faith. You’re buying luthier’s skills.
That’s pretty much it - just add almost infinite variables in terms of materials, techniques and player’s experience
Carbon fiber cloth and epoxy resin!
Well, wood is a carbon fibre… so we’re halfway there
I mean..anyone saying tonewood doesn't affect an acoustic guitar is wrong. But i don't see how it could affect the sound of an electric guitar.
Well that’s a whole other can of worms… Paul Reed Smith recently had a lot to say on the subject, most of which I agreed with
@@MichaelWatts thanks, i'll check it out! It's an interesting topic, but as i said- I've only seen good proof towards the idea, that tone wood ain't much in electric guitars. Anyways, thank you for the video. Really interesting and you showed some absolutely gorgeous woods- amazing what nature creates!
Nnnnnnneeeee!!!
So......guitars for the Obscenely rich ?
I assume these are guitars of 30k and up.
Guitars made from these woods tend to carry a thought-provoking price tag. That said, I don’t make a habit of counting other people’s money but I have seen many players do whatever it takes to afford an instrument of this quality. Thankfully guitars are relatively cheap compared to concert violins or even a half decent pernambuco bow.
Well violins and gear are way overpriced.
But today im learning this on the internet 🙂🤔🤣 . Not to make light of what he is saying thou.
Spicy Thai food for dinner. Quite a bit of Spruce Waft. Sorry about that.
It can happen
tree killers
if you need pernambuco message me i have some but im in the philippines
As long as it’s certified genuine and has all the CITES documentation - but I don’t make guitars
@@MichaelWatts sadly i dont have the documentation anymore i inherted the wood from a violin making family that made violin bows from 1950 and they stoped in the 80s.