Monte Pittman playing his Bourgeois 12-fret acoustic during “Masterpiece” build with Sacha Rosewood back/sides.

The gorgeous back of the Bourgeois 12-Fret OM in “Sacha Rosewood” from Terra Tonewoods.

“This Bourgeois Vintage D pairs Adirondack Spruce top with Sacha Rosewood back and sides. Adirondack spruce, also known as Eastern Red Spruce, was the legendary topwood used on most pre-war American-made guitars. Properly sawn, Adirondack is much stiffer than Sitka and Engelmann spruce, both along and across the grain. This allows builders to make thinner, lighter tops, resulting in lightning-quick response with power to spare.

The scientific name for Sacha Rosewood or “Higuerilla” is Micandra spruceana. Sacha Rosewood is an excellent wood for acoustic guitar backs and sides. It’s appearance is very reminiscent of traditional old world Madagascar Rosewood with rich colors ranging from light coffee to mid orange brown with dark brown stripes. The sapwood is strong and stable with a light-beige color, so there is no jarring contrast, and it looks fantastic on the sides of the instrument. When book matched, Sacha Rosewood presents a strong and colorful linear figure for backboards.

Tonally, Sacha Rosewood reminds us of Palo Escrito (the Rosewood from Mexico known for making great sounding instruments), Madagascar Rosewood with a bold glassy tap tone that belies the low weight of the wood. While the overall tonal palette settles in tones midway between mahogany and rosewood, it delivers an immensely satisfying richer overtones akin to Brazilian Rosewood. When coupled with an Adirondack Spruce top Sacha Rosewood brings the guitar strong fundamentals, a lightning quick response, clear trebles, well defined mid-range, and a solid bass register – or in other words, simply wild (*) !!”

For full article go to: http://artisanguitars.com/bourgeois-vintage-d-adirondack-and-sacha-rosewood/

Instrument builders are continually searching for alternative woods that can match the tonal qualities that Brazilian Rosewood brings to the table, as well as the aesthetic beauty of this wood .  In this custom D2H, Collings has chosen to present a new species of custom wood for use on their instruments – introducing, Sacha Rosewood.

“Sacha Rosewood” is available in matched back & side sets for acoustic guitar builds exclusively through Terra Tonewoods, luthier division of Forgotten Woods LLC, California. Order online at www.terratonewoods.co

“Had the opportunity to visit Artisan Guitars today and witness another step in the evolution of Collings’ rosewood dreadnaught build process.

The somewhat blonde in color cousin of madagascar rosewood was a delight to play, and if this guitar is a prototype of sorts if you will experiment by Collings, then there will be many of these instruments to come. The standard neck and 1 11/16 nut width of this guitar was very comfortable, even in my 6’6 hands, which again, demonstrates that not all nut widths/neck shape combinations are created equal, and in the end you just have to play the guitars for yourself. That being said, for a guy who prefers the D18GE/Merrill C18/Martin D18 Authentic chunky baseball neck shapes, this guitar fit the bill anyway, and was a fast playing joy all the way up the neck.

Let’s discuss this business of tone with the sacha rosewood. Huge, controlled chunks of punch await the player. CONTROLLED..PRECISE..POWERFUL..BRUISE YOUR STERNUM PUNCH, PEOPLE. Yep, this is one for the ages, and even in what I see as an experiment by Collings (Bill, Ellie, W.T., Adam, correct me if I’m wrong)this one is pushing the punch and precise, articulated, in your face out front tone and volume to the next level. As usual, the balance is all there, and the craftsmanship is flawless, maybe better than in the past, if that’s possible. A piece of coffee table art with strings. Think Robert Bowlin Six String Soliloquy album with just a tad more of everything..punch (did I really use that word again? Yes, I did), power, balanced pop with each note, again, laying the sternum to waste.”

To read the full thread history copy this link to your browser:

http://collingsforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/74760485/m/8140014156?r=8140014156#8140014156

http://www.themusicemporium.com/system/html/om2hasasha_750_7-597dd6f5.jpg

Not content to let the dwindling supply of exotic rosewoods diminsh their capacity to make great guitars, our friends at Collings have introduced a limited number of instruments made with Sacha Rosewood back & sides. This South American tonewood offers plenty of punch in the low end, but with less darkness than Brazilian (think Cocobolo). Lots of chime and sparkle in the high end, and a round, warm midrange make this an exceptional fingerstyle guitar; but it handles a pick just fine and sounds punchy and crisp tackling fiddle tunes.

A word from Michael too:
“It shipped last week. Some of my best work to date. A special thanx to Mike Baranik and Terra Tonewoods for the fantastic customer service and the spectacular set of spalted Peruvian Manchinga this guitar is made of.”

Model G4.2 http://www.greenfieldguitars.com/gg2.aspx?class=GG&section=64&storyid=132#

Artisan Guitars wrote:
“Played in tandem with another D2HA with standard Indian Rosewood back and sides, the contrast is striking. While both are wonderfully defined in the trebles, with a crisp defined bass note, the mid-range on the Sacha dreadnought was crystal clear, and almost dripping in resonance.”

Sacha Rosewood gets HIGH PRAISE!
We gotta hand it to Artisan Guitars for their very well written critique on the new Collings D2HA featuring Sacha Rosewood (Higuerilla) from Terra Tonewoods.

For the full read go to http://artisanguitars.com/collings-d2ha-adirondack-spruce-and-sacha-rosewood/

Terra Tonewoods is please to announce an extremely lightweight new guitar neck wood!

Achihua neck on acoustic guitar by luthier Mike Baranik.

The light color of Achihua provides a blank canvas for color tinting the neck to blend perfectly with the Bubinga body.