Paulownia

TBoomz

New User
Ron
anyone here ever work this wood? I've seen birdhouses made of it. But I'm thinking of using it as a soundboard for either dulcimer or kantele, but don't know if it would be "bright" enuff in tone, to be worth the trouble. Also do different finishes affect tone?
e.g. acrylic vs oil vs plain wax.
 

appalachia

New User
Greg
It’s the traditional wood choice for kotos so should sound pretty good. Looks like kotos normally use specifically paulownia tomentosa.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
It is softer than Cedar which is a common wood used on dulcimers and sometimes guitars.
 

PeteStaehling

New User
Pete
I have used it for sound boards before. It had a nice warm mellow sound. Probably a little like cedar. It is pretty soft so it will probably get dinged of more easily than most woods over time.
 

TBoomz

New User
Ron
I have a couple of small [weed] logs I took down years ago; had em stored in a shed for about 4 yrs. Last yr, brother put em outside on a trailer to make room for his hay. Am surprised at how well they've held up, uncovered. I missed one log out in the woods. Except where it made contact with ground, it shows little decay. Also spotted some chunks of mimosa in firewood pile; gonna see how well it works as sound boards. Made a small box from it once. Fuzzes up a lot, but I like the scent of the wood.
 

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