As a long time luthier (60+ years), I cannot tell the difference between Paulownia wood and genuine swamp ash without smelling a body blank or lifting it to judge the weight. It's a great guitar wood!
It has great looking grain. The issue is how soft it is - which is why you shouldn't try to construct a Strat with a standard trem out of it, it won't be stable over the long term. I tried and had to hardtail the trem. It did however work great for a Tele style build with a hardtail bridge.
I’m a drummer but I love watching your channel for 2 reasons. I’ve been playing for over 40 years and I’ve benefited from understanding the approach other musicians have on their instruments. The other reason is I just love your playing and the beautiful touch you have. Love hearing you play.
I'm a mirror image of you in the sense that I'm primarily a string instrument player, am not a drummer, but I love watching drum videos about gear and approaches to playing for the same reason! Cheers
Been playing guitar for a long time and I am watching the drum clinic videos all the time. I can't play drums but it's an insight into the grooves. I can watch Bernard Purdie videos and I'm sitting there mesmerized learning about the pocket! I definitely understand what you're talking about!
Tim, you're the greatest! Thanks for not being a "Guitar Douche"! Lol... Meaning, you NEVER talk down to your viewers and ALWAYS have a smile on your face! Your enthusiasm for the instrument that you love so very much is contagious! Your lessons NEVER talk down to your students and you NEVER have an attitude, even though you are a living legend! Keep the faith and keep fighting the good Rock-N-Roll fight my friend! God bless and take care...
I built a paulownia partscaster a couple of years ago with a bridge humbucker and neck mini-HB. I finished it in surf green and nitro, total weight was a hair over 5lbs. It came out really nice. The only problem with paulownia is that it dents really easy and it helps to glue in a harder wood dowel for bridge/trem and strap button holes to prevent them from stripping out over time.
I built a LP JR a few years ago out of incense cedar (also a softwood, but much more resilient than Paulownia), and wound up having to do a similar thing to anchor the bridge posts - inlay a block of hardwood in the bridge area, using Zebrawood. Also have denting issues. If you look at wood-database, Paulownia might as well be balsa for its Janka hardness and crushing strength.
@@robotsongs Possibly the answer is to use a neck-through construction, so that all the essential parts are attached to the same relatively dense piece of wood, and use the lighter wood for the wings to keep weight down. The denting problem won't go away, but that's largely doewn to how you handle your guitars.
Awesome to see Mario Martin getting some shine from one of the top dogs. I’ve played his stuff for years now and have a few that I’ve custom ordered, including a hardtail, but none in paulownia. His wood selection is out of this world and I’m sure this guitar is no exception! Also love to see modal playing presented in a very approachable way. Nice work Tim. Thank you!
I’m a builder, and I love this wood! I love light electric guitars. I have a Brad Paisley Tele made from it, and that one and my Japanese built bass wood 50’s Tele are my fav sounding Teles . Don’t get “hung up” on ash and alder! There are soooo many woods! I’ve never appreciated the differences until I began building, first acoustics, then electric guitars. Try new things! You’ll like it! Peace
I thought he was going to say Jelutong was the super light wood. Ibenez used Jelutong on a model for a while. I've never heard of Paulownia, but it would be my pick of the two for the attractive grain.
I was a mediocre bass player who actually made few bucks years ago. Been playing for many years. Tim has opened up a new world for me by showing what a real musician is and sharing. I look forward to each video. Thank You!!!
One of the best pieces of advice ever .... Been soloing over my favorite tunes for 40 years now.... Much more fun.... And a lot easier than thinking in modes (Lydian, Mixolydian, etc...)
I would agree with commenter Frank Carr. I bought, some time ago an Italian made Eko Strat, same timber, the trem system, under combined string and spring tension, actually pulled the bridge assembly towards the neck and broke the body. Paulownia is a very soft timber. I saved the guitar by adding in a new section of timber in the way a boat builder would brace broken ribs in an old style timber boat. That guitar is still one of my go to gigging guitars at local hotels and clubs.
The lick at 6:19 !!! I wasn't watching, just listening but I grabbed the nearest guitar and now have a new lick. Maybe not exact but darn close and that's what it's all about, isn't it? Thank you, Sir Tim.
That last solo was near perfection...your melodic playing is quite lovely and satisfying. It would be an interesting experiment for you to restrict yourself to no more than three 8th or 16th notes in a row to see what results...as a listener, I find your playing is its most magnificent when the figures are patient, melodic and spacious. I could listen all day...thank you sir.
I have built 3 paulownia strat style instruments. One has a neck shape modeled after the Parker Fly Mojo, super thin mahogany with carbon rods. I also moved the pickup selector to the 'gibson' position as I always whack my strumming hand into the switch in the regular 'strat' position. I didn't know of any commercially available instruments made of paulownia until this video popped up on my screen. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Tim! I recently purchased your new beginners course and am getting ready to dive in. Thank you for putting that course together - its really the one I was waiting for. Just wanted you to know that I'm truly grateful for the course. And thank you for the lesson in this video too! All the best, Joe.
Paulownia is in the balsa wood family hence the light weight. It has a very dense straight grain which usually means a solid finish, and is a very fast growing tree, which the Japanese use for making traditional instruments. I have only ever held one guitar made of paulownia and it almost felt like I was holding a toy guitar.
I was waiting for some magical knowledge on how to most effectively practice, but that's how I usually practice anyway. I always thought playing scales and ideas over songs was just too "fun" for real practice, so it was comforting to hear Tim say it is the really the best way learn. Thank you very much, again.
I have a Dean Vendetta with Pawlonia wood. Put a tusq nut and Dimarzio and SD pickups in it, its a great guitar! Love how lightweight it is, and it has a nice tone.
Finally! I've been searching for paulownia guitar bodies for fourteen years now, every since I bought some paulownia cheaply to build some closets. The loud, long thuds that come from those cabinets are very annoying, but that immediately made me think: "this would make for an awesome electric guitar!"
Thanks for that one. Sounds great. Oh yeah, I almost fell of my couch last week when i watched the Al Pacino movie "Danny Collins" on TV. Tim Pierce as an actor guitarist in his band. Yaay. Playing a Les Paul to boot. At least you wouldn't be miming the chords like all those other movie guitarists. I got kick out of it. Great job.
Made a partscaster with this, I love it, soo light! It was super easy to reshape the cheap/chunky body too. I painted on wood hardener before finishing it (added a little weight) I was so worried it wasn’t strong enough.
Hi Tim, you are a great player and teacher and I have a question: How come the E Mixolydian fits, it's not the 5th degree of any of these keys ? thank you so much
Suhr have been using Paulownia for a few years, I own a Suhr Classic-S made of Paulownia and it’s fantastic, one of the most resonant Strats I’ve ever played and definitely the lightest.
I have a Pawlonia Tele. It is the Brad Paisley signature Tele and it is comfortably in my collection until I pass to the other side. Saying this 4 lbs Tele is the best Tele in the world is an understatement.
I used to make finless Alaia surfboards with the paulownia. There’s nothing quite like the material; it’s got the playability of poplar, weight of cedar, not quite balsa, is naturally salt water resistant without sealing. Never really thought about it for guitars, but that hollow grain structure might be useful for a bit more unconventional flavor in guitar tone.
I built a partscaster tele from a paulownia body, and the first thing I noticed aside from the light weight was the resonance of the wood. It's the loudest unplugged solid body I've heard in my life!
I watched an older video with you & Brett where you mentioned "Over-Ringing" on guitar. I would love a deeper dive into that stuff. Not much out there on that type of skill set. I think Tom Bukovac's playing has a ton of this... how he moves around the neck, and always seems to have other notes ringing while he moves bass notes, melodies etc etc. Thanks Tim for putting a term on what I've been trying to improve at.
I have a Tele copy with a Paulownia wood body. It's lightly stained and clear finished with a nice (Ash like) grain to it. Sounds great and yes, it's very light.
I believe Dear Tim is an Encino boy, and noticed a break in the rain and took to the time to make this great video. Thanks very much. Best get that guitar indoors quickly, though. 😂🤣
A friend of mine has had this glitter silver partscaster tele for a while, and a few weeks back i had the chance to see him play and he had that guitar with him. It was a paulownia core with alder top and bottom. It’s sooooooooo damn light, it felt like a toy, but it was also solid.
Here's the genius of Tim's teaching: The part at @5:10 about switching to E Mixolydian is priceless, since normally, in a D major/B minor scenario, one could naturally think of playing E Dorian, which fits naturally a D major/B minor chord (in the key of D). But here the flat 7 of E Mixo ties everything together really nicely.
Exactly Stephen! I agree. I have spent the last hour trying to work out why E Mixo works well in place of E Dorian.. (Tim does make it sound VERY sweet!). I could be wrong, but suspect its because E mixo is using the G# (instead of the G in E Dorian), which in D would be a ♭5th (blues note). It adds a lot of flavour.
But he didn't explain why he uses E mixolydian. Is it just because the only out of key chord coming up would be a flat seven if referencing the E major scale, and E mixolydian is the mode that has that difference (and only that difference)?
Actually, B minor would also be out of the key of E major (since the chord in E major would be B major), in addition to the out of key D chord. I don't get what he's doing (or more specifically, why).
@@lsteved You are correct about B minor not being in the key of E, so the question is how it would sound over the D major -- could be jarring or it might work. As for what Tim is doing, (a) he's on a level way beyond me 🙂, but (b) by using the sharp 4th over D he adds a nice texture. I learned a lot from his Masterclass (this isn't meant as an ad/promo, just that there was a lot of content there from which to learn).
I was a kid in the 80s (1980 5 years old - 1990 15 years old) and I absolutely love that Level 42 song. The video for it was interesting too. Like the John Waite 'Change' song, I keep coming back to the songs of the 80s and I am so happy you keep featuring them in your videos. Also a sub-5 lb guitar? I'm gonna see if I can get a hold of that wood and make a Les Paul out of it.
Really interesting video (as always), and the way you were throwing around the guitar at the beginning I thought it was made of balsa! 🙂 Nice to highlight Level 42 -- that is a great album.
Under 5lb for a Strat is really light. Any older player with back problems will know what that means. I have an Epiphone Coronet reissue that is around 5lb, but it has only one pickup, simpler electronics, and the body is smaller. But light is good. Light and stiff is a great constructional formula for a solidbody guitar. We know that there are other ways of making a guitar - hi, Gibson Les Paul! - but this one works. Players need to remember that guitar manufacturers back in the day used what was available. Just because exotic hardwoods were easy to obtain doesn't mean that they were always the best choices for any reason other than appearance. The science of acoustics has moved on in the seventy years since Gibson designed the Les Paul and Fender came up with the Telecaster: we should take advantage.
My grandkids broke my Strat. I lost my brain for year, due to a bad reaction to Covid vaccine. I stopped playing, because, I wasn't "musical" any more. I could play all the notes, but it came out yuck. I gave up. Finally, the other day when moving some junk, and I pick up an old cheap acoustic guitar. For whatever reason, I can play again. My joint damage from informatory reaction, and back operations, makes it difficult to sit with a heavy guitar. I have been considering a Fender Custom shop, but can't find one that I like. This looks promising. Who cares if it dents. So long as it is light, plays, and sounds good. Lindy Fralin pick-ups are an added bonus. Thanks for the heads up Tim. I'll check this one out.
Sounds fantastic! Mario Martin is a great builder. I bought a Strat from the company (great back story), and it has been such an inspiring instrument to play and use for writing. Enjoy! Certainly is a nice answer in long sessions with my Les Paul, which is heavy. I prefer to stand when I play guitar. Always love to see your channel.
I love how your videos often combine gear talk with lessons. You don't have to make some videos dedicated to cool new guitars and pedals and whatnot, and others just for theory and learning. Just combine them into one! I love it.
Paulownia wood is also used in the making of ukuleles due to its light weight, strength and tone. I'm planning an upcoming Warmoth guitar using Paulownia for the back with a walnut top and an all maple neck. Great video.
My first DIY build I did was a parts caster Tele with a Paulownia body. It weighs nothing. I love this wood and wish more manufacturers would use it. Would love one in an LP shape. What a mind fk that would be. A 4pound LP
I have a body ( had a neck but my half jack russell/half shih tzu puppy used it for a chew toy one night, little jack shih..) I want to build an Esquire type. But I have to find another neck lol.
I have two trees in my UK garden. It's grown as a hardy exotic plant here because if you cut it back hard in spring it produces fast growth with enormous leaves. When you cut it back the stems of the branches are hollow and really light. Due to its fast growth it's ideal as a guitar wood.
Angel City is such a great little shop, they opened almost exactly when the pandemic started but still survived, a testament to what a great job they do over there.
I've been off and on playing guitar for 27 years. Got off to a late start in my life. Took lessons for years but I just learned for the first time how the lead scales coordinate with the chords. It's kinda my fault because I started out with acoustic and said that I just wanted to be a "chord banger". Anyway, for the 1st time in my 65 years it finally makes sense to me. Thanks!
I wish that RUclips would get over this "woke" BS. It shows that I had a reply to my comment but there's not one when I looked for it. Believe me, I can handle any derogatory comments. I'm a grown man and if there's one thing I was endowed with, is a pair. I was a bricklayer for almost 40 years, until half of a 60ft tree fell on me in a microburst and obviously, I survived that. I know damn well that I can handle someone's bad mouthing from their parent's basement. 😂
I have a Tele that a luthier in Aachen made for me from paulownia body that I bought online and a Fender Baja Tele that had a quite heavy body. The "tone" is interesting, but I think my japanese ash Tele sounds better most of the time. The weight is a big plus, of course and it's not neck-heavy.
Oh I love a hard tail Strat but man findin one that's a 62 is difficult.. The only way is a "parts-caster".. That don't really bother me but it's a bit of a pain.. That thing sounds great
Most of the best boutique Teles I've found were Mario Martin. I went out to their Murfreesboro shoo after teying tons of them at NAMM Nashville like 13 years ago. Great guitars and that Paulonia wood had a nice snap tonal response. Mu favorites even though I still don't own one due to $$ supply.
Paulownia is one of the lightest hardwoods and though it has been used for a while to make acoustic musical instruments, it has only been used for a short time for solidbody electric guitars and basses. As long as there is no neck dive, it is pretty good on your shoulders to play an instrument that doesn't weight a lot!
While technically a hardwood, Paulownia is a ridiculously soft wood and crushes easily. Yes, I understand the hardwood/softwood designation has to do with biological expression, not density, but if ever there was a "soft hardwood," it would be Paulownia.
@@robotsongs Yes, with a hardness rating of 300 lbf in the Janka scale that makes it one of the "softest" hardwoods. Basswood that is a very popular wood used for solidbodies has a rating of 410 and Poplar 540, just for reference.
24 carat gold musical advice - Tim is Godlike - I wish I had his musical ear! - working on ear training - HARD- we gotta do it to use these pearls of wisdom.....
I don't play guitar. I don't know music theory. I can't read music. I'm 6 decades too late to start playing guitar. I love watching Tim Pierce videos. I don't know of anyone on RUclips that looks like life i. more fun than him. Keep it going.
Tim- you mentioned Mike Bloomfield several times and I would love to see and hear you do a deep dive into what makes Bloomfield so influential and great. Gypsy Good Time is a hidden treasure to me. Thanks for all the great videos!
Our shop, HARD ROAD guitars can't make our "52 Teel black guards fast enough. Our players LOVE the light weight and the resonant tone. and the Material we use is Tennessee Grown on a small but sustainable Tree farm in Northern TN.
The Fender signature Brad Paisley made in Mexico is made with Paulownia. It looks like ash, but is very light. You just need to be careful not to dent it, and sometimes screw holding is an issue.
@@3500ton No definitely not, but it does make a difference if you're playing for 3 hours and doing 250+ shows a year on the wear and tear on your body! They sound surprisingly good, but it does freak you out a bit when you first lift it. As I said, we designed it more or less when I was at Fender to use slow-moving inventory and some items left-over from when we owned Guild.
@@michaelborn3318 i used to play 100 long shows per year with a heavy les paul, regular sg and heavy 70’s strat. The gig was not that bad at all but carrying my own amps and cabs was a nightmare. Guitar should be made of alder ash or mahogany and that’s it in my experience
The color reminds me of my purple Jeff Beck strat.. very similar finish. I really disliked it at first.. but the guitar was right. it felt right.. sounded right.. is amazing but.. the color.. it grew on me and looks quite different in stage lights :) I love it now.
Nice guitar. I’ve seen the pawlonia on a few, but never played one. But my real interest in this video is what Tim was playing and discussing. I’m going to have to try it. Thanks for sharing this Tim!
Love mario Martins. A lot of 9.5-12" compound radii. I am a swamp ash snob single piece 3.5 lb. Rare to find but 5 years ago you could find it. Love the avo mist color.
Currently, I own two Suhr Paulownia guitars; one classic T and a S. They are so light, resonant and well built I had to get a second one. They seat at 6lbs each. They are so comfortable and sound so good that I can’t put them down.
I built a custom guitar out of paulownia, it almost sound like an acoustic. It projects so much, and has a body to the sound like nothing else. We did a trick to install a Hipshot tremolo in the soft wood, and even with just two springs it sustains for ever
I like to play over the chill/ambient/Lo-fi/acid jazz genre because there isn’t usually a strong melody and there is plenty of space to add a melodic instrument.
Paulowna is great wood for breathy ragged tone. Good builders know to use hardwood inserts where any substantial force is applied. As with any soft wood.
I have a paulownia tree growing in my yard. They do grow extremely fast, but the wood is pretty weak. It’s also can be invasive. But the leaves are huge. Like giant elephant ears.
I'm building myself a new partscaster with not a single fender part. Wilkinson bridge, Guyker tuners, Iron Gear pickups, a scalloped maple neck from China and various and sundry non-fender parts parts from Amazon. The body I chose is routed but un-drilled and finished in Sherwood green. It's a baloneywood body and I found your video whilst searching for information about baloneywood.
I love light guitars. I have a nice tele and a strat that weigh around 8 pounds, or a shade under, and they are great. But I also have a squier bullet mustang, that weighs a little over 5 pounds, and cost me 110 bucks. I had planned on selling on the mustang once I got the tele, but I just can't let it go. The tele and strat both sound slightly better, and look better. But the little mustang is just so comfortable and easy to play. I can have it sitting beside me and I can pick it up anytime and have play a bit while sitting on the couch. It's just so much fun and really encourages me to play it more. I thoroughly recommend anyone to think about having a little lightweight guitar for practicing on. It's just great. Only problem is I now have 3 guitars, and I love all of them equally and can't part with any of them. I never wanted to be one of those guys who hoards loads of guitars, and I know 3 is small potatoes compared to some of these people who have dozens. Sometimes multiple identical guitars but perhaps with different paintjobs or whatever, but it's still unnecessary. But I can't get rid of the mustang because I play it the most and that's largely because it's so small and light.
As a long time luthier (60+ years), I cannot tell the difference between Paulownia wood and genuine swamp ash without smelling a body blank or lifting it to judge the weight. It's a great guitar wood!
Hey--quit sniffing the wood! 😁
🤦♂️
luthier? Hi! I grew up Catholic.
@@napoleoninrags1346 lol!
It has great looking grain. The issue is how soft it is - which is why you shouldn't try to construct a Strat with a standard trem out of it, it won't be stable over the long term. I tried and had to hardtail the trem. It did however work great for a Tele style build with a hardtail bridge.
This guy makes it all look so easy. Just a testament of how great of a player Tim is.
Absolutely! He is a MASTER!
Plus he seems so down to earth!
Or, how much a bad player I am.
@@ericinthemix subscribe to Tim’s course. It’s a phenomenal bargain and you’ll improve your playing.
Scary how he plays.
I’m a drummer but I love watching your channel for 2 reasons. I’ve been playing for over 40 years and I’ve benefited from understanding the approach other musicians have on their instruments. The other reason is I just love your playing and the beautiful touch you have. Love hearing you play.
Another good reason: it's not often you see someone so perpetually joyous about the work they do. It's uplifting and refreshing.
@@shadowselfCAhere here.
I'm a mirror image of you in the sense that I'm primarily a string instrument player, am not a drummer, but I love watching drum videos about gear and approaches to playing for the same reason! Cheers
Been playing guitar for a long time and I am watching the drum clinic videos all the time. I can't play drums but it's an insight into the grooves. I can watch Bernard Purdie videos and I'm sitting there mesmerized learning about the pocket! I definitely understand what you're talking about!
@@joetaska love that Purdie shuffle!
Tim, you're the greatest!
Thanks for not being a
"Guitar Douche"! Lol...
Meaning, you NEVER talk down to your viewers and
ALWAYS have a smile on your face!
Your enthusiasm for the instrument that you love so very much is contagious!
Your lessons NEVER talk down to your students and you NEVER have an attitude, even though you are a living legend!
Keep the faith and keep fighting the good Rock-N-Roll fight my friend!
God bless and take care...
I built a paulownia partscaster a couple of years ago with a bridge humbucker and neck mini-HB. I finished it in surf green and nitro, total weight was a hair over 5lbs. It came out really nice. The only problem with paulownia is that it dents really easy and it helps to glue in a harder wood dowel for bridge/trem and strap button holes to prevent them from stripping out over time.
I built a LP JR a few years ago out of incense cedar (also a softwood, but much more resilient than Paulownia), and wound up having to do a similar thing to anchor the bridge posts - inlay a block of hardwood in the bridge area, using Zebrawood.
Also have denting issues. If you look at wood-database, Paulownia might as well be balsa for its Janka hardness and crushing strength.
Thanks for your intel ,,👍
Well appreciated for your findings and sharing them ,🎸
@@dasczwo Heavier than a heave L.P.? Also how is the balance wearing a strap? Thanx.
@@robotsongs Possibly the answer is to use a neck-through construction, so that all the essential parts are attached to the same relatively dense piece of wood, and use the lighter wood for the wings to keep weight down. The denting problem won't go away, but that's largely doewn to how you handle your guitars.
Awesome to see Mario Martin getting some shine from one of the top dogs. I’ve played his stuff for years now and have a few that I’ve custom ordered, including a hardtail, but none in paulownia. His wood selection is out of this world and I’m sure this guitar is no exception! Also love to see modal playing presented in a very approachable way. Nice work Tim. Thank you!
I’m a builder, and I love this wood! I love light electric guitars. I have a Brad Paisley Tele made from it, and that one and my Japanese built bass wood 50’s Tele are my fav sounding Teles .
Don’t get “hung up” on ash and alder! There are soooo many woods! I’ve never appreciated the differences until I began building, first acoustics, then electric guitars.
Try new things! You’ll like it!
Peace
Plus 1 for the BP Tele. That thing is like shooting lightning from my fingers compared to other Teles!
I thought he was going to say Jelutong was the super light wood.
Ibenez used Jelutong on a model for a while.
I've never heard of Paulownia, but it would be my pick of the two for the attractive grain.
I was a mediocre bass player who actually made few bucks years ago. Been playing for many years. Tim has opened up a new world for me by showing what a real musician is and sharing. I look forward to each video. Thank You!!!
There's a mediocre bassist club on Talk Bass if you are interested.
I'm 62 years old and I have 3 Paulonia wood custom strats and 2 Paulownia wood custom Tele's. I love them! Been playing guitar since I was 14.
One of the best pieces of advice ever ....
Been soloing over my favorite tunes for 40 years now....
Much more fun.... And a lot easier than thinking in modes (Lydian, Mixolydian, etc...)
I would agree with commenter Frank Carr. I bought, some time ago an Italian made Eko Strat, same timber, the trem system, under combined string and spring tension, actually pulled the bridge assembly towards the neck and broke the body.
Paulownia is a very soft timber.
I saved the guitar by adding in a new section of timber in the way a boat builder would brace broken ribs in an old style timber boat.
That guitar is still one of my go to gigging guitars at local hotels and clubs.
The lick at 6:19 !!! I wasn't watching, just listening but I grabbed the nearest guitar and now have a new lick. Maybe not exact but darn close and that's what it's all about, isn't it? Thank you, Sir Tim.
Just your joy and passion is what I love most about this channel. Guitar seems like the dream guitar for anyone with back issues... I like that.
That last solo was near perfection...your melodic playing is quite lovely and satisfying. It would be an interesting experiment for you to restrict yourself to no more than three 8th or 16th notes in a row to see what results...as a listener, I find your playing is its most magnificent when the figures are patient, melodic and spacious. I could listen all day...thank you sir.
Sugar pine is good too..
I have built 3 paulownia strat style instruments. One has a neck shape modeled after the Parker Fly Mojo, super thin mahogany with carbon rods. I also moved the pickup selector to the 'gibson' position as I always whack my strumming hand into the switch in the regular 'strat' position.
I didn't know of any commercially available instruments made of paulownia until this video popped up on my screen. Thanks for sharing.
I used to work for a snowboard company and we have used paulownia in our boards for over 20 years. Lightweight
and grows very fast.
Hi Tim! I recently purchased your new beginners course and am getting ready to dive in. Thank you for putting that course together - its really the one I was waiting for. Just wanted you to know that I'm truly grateful for the course. And thank you for the lesson in this video too! All the best, Joe.
That color is what first grabbed my attention. Beautiful.
Paulownia is in the balsa wood family hence the light weight. It has a very dense straight grain which usually means a solid finish, and is a very fast growing tree, which the Japanese use for making traditional instruments. I have only ever held one guitar made of paulownia and it almost felt like I was holding a toy guitar.
I was waiting for some magical knowledge on how to most effectively practice, but that's how I usually practice anyway. I always thought playing scales and ideas over songs was just too "fun" for real practice, so it was comforting to hear Tim say it is the really the best way learn. Thank you very much, again.
My MIM fender brad paisley tele is the same wood. The tele weights 5lbs and change. My#1
I’ve got it just before the improv started and you are so right. That colour is sick!!!
I have a Dean Vendetta with Pawlonia wood. Put a tusq nut and Dimarzio and SD pickups in it, its a great guitar! Love how lightweight it is, and it has a nice tone.
Finally! I've been searching for paulownia guitar bodies for fourteen years now, every since I bought some paulownia cheaply to build some closets. The loud, long thuds that come from those cabinets are very annoying, but that immediately made me think: "this would make for an awesome electric guitar!"
Thanks for that one. Sounds great.
Oh yeah, I almost fell of my couch last week when i watched the Al Pacino movie "Danny Collins" on TV. Tim Pierce as an actor guitarist in his band. Yaay. Playing a Les Paul to boot. At least you wouldn't be miming the chords like all those other movie guitarists. I got kick out of it. Great job.
Brilliant! Love the way Tim explains (what could be COMPLEX) musical ideas & concepts in terms even I can understand!! :)
Made a partscaster with this, I love it, soo light! It was super easy to reshape the cheap/chunky body too. I painted on wood hardener before finishing it (added a little weight) I was so worried it wasn’t strong enough.
Hi Tim, you are a great player and teacher and I have a question: How come the E Mixolydian fits, it's not the 5th degree of any of these keys ? thank you so much
Suhr have been using Paulownia for a few years, I own a Suhr Classic-S made of Paulownia and it’s fantastic, one of the most resonant Strats I’ve ever played and definitely the lightest.
I have a Pawlonia Tele. It is the Brad Paisley signature Tele and it is comfortably in my collection until I pass to the other side. Saying this 4 lbs Tele is the best Tele in the world is an understatement.
I used to make finless Alaia surfboards with the paulownia. There’s nothing quite like the material; it’s got the playability of poplar, weight of cedar, not quite balsa, is naturally salt water resistant without sealing. Never really thought about it for guitars, but that hollow grain structure might be useful for a bit more unconventional flavor in guitar tone.
I built a partscaster tele from a paulownia body, and the first thing I noticed aside from the light weight was the resonance of the wood. It's the loudest unplugged solid body I've heard in my life!
I watched an older video with you & Brett where you mentioned "Over-Ringing" on guitar. I would love a deeper dive into that stuff. Not much out there on that type of skill set. I think Tom Bukovac's playing has a ton of this... how he moves around the neck, and always seems to have other notes ringing while he moves bass notes, melodies etc etc. Thanks Tim for putting a term on what I've been trying to improve at.
I have a Tele copy with a Paulownia wood body. It's lightly stained and clear finished with a nice (Ash like) grain to it. Sounds great and yes, it's very light.
Tim, excellent video! Thanks for explaining that wood species and also those soloing progressions. Aweome !!!
Pawlonia is great. I have a pbass made with this, many pounds lighter than a fender but it works.
Recently started teaching again, and yours is the exact approach I use with my students!! Appreciate you, Tim!!
I have a Suhr Tele in paulownia. Favorite wood and the guitar is also under 6 lbs and strong to light hits.
I like the color. Reminds me of my dad's 67 Mustang color - lime gold. Sound is sweet too. Those Fralins are nice sounding pickups.
I believe Dear Tim is an Encino boy, and noticed a break in the rain and took to the time to make this great video. Thanks very much. Best get that guitar indoors quickly, though. 😂🤣
Great sound, love the color Tim. Thanks for all you do!
A friend of mine has had this glitter silver partscaster tele for a while, and a few weeks back i had the chance to see him play and he had that guitar with him.
It was a paulownia core with alder top and bottom. It’s sooooooooo damn light, it felt like a toy, but it was also solid.
Here's the genius of Tim's teaching: The part at @5:10 about switching to E Mixolydian is priceless, since normally, in a D major/B minor scenario, one could naturally think of playing E Dorian, which fits naturally a D major/B minor chord (in the key of D). But here the flat 7 of E Mixo ties everything together really nicely.
Exactly Stephen! I agree. I have spent the last hour trying to work out why E Mixo works well in place of E Dorian.. (Tim does make it sound VERY sweet!). I could be wrong, but suspect its because E mixo is using the G# (instead of the G in E Dorian), which in D would be a ♭5th (blues note). It adds a lot of flavour.
But he didn't explain why he uses E mixolydian. Is it just because the only out of key chord coming up would be a flat seven if referencing the E major scale, and E mixolydian is the mode that has that difference (and only that difference)?
Actually, B minor would also be out of the key of E major (since the chord in E major would be B major), in addition to the out of key D chord. I don't get what he's doing (or more specifically, why).
@@lsteved You are correct about B minor not being in the key of E, so the question is how it would sound over the D major -- could be jarring or it might work. As for what Tim is doing, (a) he's on a level way beyond me 🙂, but (b) by using the sharp 4th over D he adds a nice texture. I learned a lot from his Masterclass (this isn't meant as an ad/promo, just that there was a lot of content there from which to learn).
@@lsteved I think that's right right -- the key being the flat 7 (D).
I have a G&L ASAT made of that wood. It's also called Empress wood. Sounds great and is super light.
I was a kid in the 80s (1980 5 years old - 1990 15 years old) and I absolutely love that Level 42 song. The video for it was interesting too. Like the John Waite 'Change' song, I keep coming back to the songs of the 80s and I am so happy you keep featuring them in your videos. Also a sub-5 lb guitar? I'm gonna see if I can get a hold of that wood and make a Les Paul out of it.
Hey Tim, my Salomon Stance skis are also made from Pauwlonia wood
It’s very good for alpine skis
I have a pine body hardtail partscaster Weighs about 5 lbs. My favorite strat ever.
I have a hard-tail with a light body and Fraylin vintage hots, and it sounds INCREDIBLE. And now it's even better with the Free-way 10-way switch!
Really interesting video (as always), and the way you were throwing around the guitar at the beginning I thought it was made of balsa! 🙂 Nice to highlight Level 42 -- that is a great album.
I have a paulonia Suhr and it is very light as well as musical.
Yes I have to say I love the sound of this guitar also, thanks for the comment
I've also never heard of paulownia wood, but that guitar sounds great! Very resonant and open.
Under 5lb for a Strat is really light. Any older player with back problems will know what that means. I have an Epiphone Coronet reissue that is around 5lb, but it has only one pickup, simpler electronics, and the body is smaller.
But light is good. Light and stiff is a great constructional formula for a solidbody guitar. We know that there are other ways of making a guitar - hi, Gibson Les Paul! - but this one works.
Players need to remember that guitar manufacturers back in the day used what was available. Just because exotic hardwoods were easy to obtain doesn't mean that they were always the best choices for any reason other than appearance. The science of acoustics has moved on in the seventy years since Gibson designed the Les Paul and Fender came up with the Telecaster: we should take advantage.
My grandkids broke my Strat. I lost my brain for year, due to a bad reaction to Covid vaccine. I stopped playing, because, I wasn't "musical" any more. I could play all the notes, but it came out yuck. I gave up. Finally, the other day when moving some junk, and I pick up an old cheap acoustic guitar. For whatever reason, I can play again. My joint damage from informatory reaction, and back operations, makes it difficult to sit with a heavy guitar. I have been considering a Fender Custom shop, but can't find one that I like. This looks promising. Who cares if it dents. So long as it is light, plays, and sounds good. Lindy Fralin pick-ups are an added bonus. Thanks for the heads up Tim. I'll check this one out.
I've been play guitar for 53 years ,an I agree,that one of the best ways to practice,guitar sounds great,keep bring us good video,happy jams for you.
Sounds fantastic! Mario Martin is a great builder. I bought a Strat from the company (great back story), and it has been such an inspiring instrument to play and use for writing. Enjoy! Certainly is a nice answer in long sessions with my Les Paul, which is heavy. I prefer to stand when I play guitar. Always love to see your channel.
I love how your videos often combine gear talk with lessons. You don't have to make some videos dedicated to cool new guitars and pedals and whatnot, and others just for theory and learning. Just combine them into one! I love it.
I built a Tele/LP mashup with Pawlonia and a river oak top. It’s light and sounds good.
Paulownia wood is also used in the making of ukuleles due to its light weight, strength and tone. I'm planning an upcoming Warmoth guitar using Paulownia for the back with a walnut top and an all maple neck. Great video.
My first DIY build I did was a parts caster Tele with a Paulownia body. It weighs nothing. I love this wood and wish more manufacturers would use it. Would love one in an LP shape. What a mind fk that would be. A 4pound LP
I have a body ( had a neck but my half jack russell/half shih tzu puppy used it for a chew toy one night, little jack shih..) I want to build an Esquire type. But I have to find another neck lol.
I have two trees in my UK garden. It's grown as a hardy exotic plant here because if you cut it back hard in spring it produces fast growth with enormous leaves. When you cut it back the stems of the branches are hollow and really light. Due to its fast growth it's ideal as a guitar wood.
Tim you could play an old shoebox strung with shoe strings and sound great! One of the most natural players I’ve ever heard… great channel!!
I have a Tele made from this wood. My keyboardist calls it my paper mache guitar because it's so light. Anyhow, it sounds and plays great. Thanks Tim!
I had a Dean Vendetta made of Paulownia. Sounded great (for $100), and very light. No issues with screws coming out or anything.
Angel City is such a great little shop, they opened almost exactly when the pandemic started but still survived, a testament to what a great job they do over there.
I've been off and on playing guitar for 27 years. Got off to a late start in my life. Took lessons for years but I just learned for the first time how the lead scales coordinate with the chords. It's kinda my fault because I started out with acoustic and said that I just wanted to be a "chord banger". Anyway, for the 1st time in my 65 years it finally makes sense to me. Thanks!
I wish that RUclips would get over this "woke" BS. It shows that I had a reply to my comment but there's not one when I looked for it. Believe me, I can handle any derogatory comments. I'm a grown man and if there's one thing I was endowed with, is a pair. I was a bricklayer for almost 40 years, until half of a 60ft tree fell on me in a microburst and obviously, I survived that. I know damn well that I can handle someone's bad mouthing from their parent's basement. 😂
I have a Tele that a luthier in Aachen made for me from paulownia body that I bought online and a Fender Baja Tele that had a quite heavy body. The "tone" is interesting, but I think my japanese ash Tele sounds better most of the time. The weight is a big plus, of course and it's not neck-heavy.
Oh I love a hard tail Strat but man findin one that's a 62 is difficult.. The only way is a "parts-caster".. That don't really bother me but it's a bit of a pain.. That thing sounds great
Most of the best boutique Teles I've found were Mario Martin. I went out to their Murfreesboro shoo after teying tons of them at NAMM Nashville like 13 years ago. Great guitars and that Paulonia wood had a nice snap tonal response. Mu favorites even though I still don't own one due to $$ supply.
Paulownia is one of the lightest hardwoods and though it has been used for a while to make acoustic musical instruments, it has only been used for a short time for solidbody electric guitars and basses. As long as there is no neck dive, it is pretty good on your shoulders to play an instrument that doesn't weight a lot!
While technically a hardwood, Paulownia is a ridiculously soft wood and crushes easily. Yes, I understand the hardwood/softwood designation has to do with biological expression, not density, but if ever there was a "soft hardwood," it would be Paulownia.
@@robotsongs Yes, with a hardness rating of 300 lbf in the Janka scale that makes it one of the "softest" hardwoods. Basswood that is a very popular wood used for solidbodies has a rating of 410 and Poplar 540, just for reference.
24 carat gold musical advice - Tim is Godlike - I wish I had his musical ear! - working on ear training - HARD- we gotta do it to use these pearls of wisdom.....
I don't play guitar. I don't know music theory. I can't read music. I'm 6 decades too late to start playing guitar. I love watching Tim Pierce videos. I don't know of anyone on RUclips that looks like life i. more fun than him. Keep it going.
Tim- you mentioned Mike Bloomfield several times and I would love to see and hear you do a deep dive into what makes Bloomfield so influential and great. Gypsy Good Time is a hidden treasure to me. Thanks for all the great videos!
Our shop, HARD ROAD guitars can't make our "52 Teel black guards fast enough.
Our players LOVE the light weight and the resonant tone. and the Material we use is Tennessee Grown on a small but sustainable Tree farm in Northern TN.
The Fender signature Brad Paisley made in Mexico is made with Paulownia. It looks like ash, but is very light. You just need to be careful not to dent it, and sometimes screw holding is an issue.
Imaginh SRV or EVH use that toy wood. The instrument wouldn’t survive the sound check
@@3500ton No definitely not, but it does make a difference if you're playing for 3 hours and doing 250+ shows a year on the wear and tear on your body! They sound surprisingly good, but it does freak you out a bit when you first lift it. As I said, we designed it more or less when I was at Fender to use slow-moving inventory and some items left-over from when we owned Guild.
@@michaelborn3318 i used to play 100 long shows per year with a heavy les paul, regular sg and heavy 70’s strat. The gig was not that bad at all but carrying my own amps and cabs was a nightmare. Guitar should be made of alder ash or mahogany and that’s it in my experience
The color reminds me of my purple Jeff Beck strat.. very similar finish. I really disliked it at first.. but the guitar was right. it felt right.. sounded right.. is amazing but.. the color.. it grew on me and looks quite different in stage lights :) I love it now.
Nice guitar. I’ve seen the pawlonia on a few, but never played one. But my real interest in this video is what Tim was playing and discussing. I’m going to have to try it. Thanks for sharing this Tim!
Guitar Fetish sells bodies made from Paulowina. I assembled a Telecaster from their parts. Used a Lefty Bridge. Sounded great.
Love mario Martins. A lot of 9.5-12" compound radii. I am a swamp ash snob single piece 3.5 lb. Rare to find but 5 years ago you could find it. Love the avo mist color.
Now combine with titanium trussrod and a smaller 4x2 or 3x3 headstock and it will balance better and be even lighter.
Currently, I own two Suhr Paulownia guitars; one classic T and a S. They are so light, resonant and well built I had to get a second one. They seat at 6lbs each. They are so comfortable and sound so good that I can’t put them down.
The color is beautiful!
I built a custom guitar out of paulownia, it almost sound like an acoustic. It projects so much, and has a body to the sound like nothing else. We did a trick to install a Hipshot tremolo in the soft wood, and even with just two springs it sustains for ever
1 : The guitar sounds great!
2: Tim P plays soooo smooth! Master class musician👍🏼
Love to hear you solo Tim
I have a ‘76 Strat w a hard tail bridge, it sounds incredible.
The Fender Brad Paisley Tele is made from this. so light! I nearly bought one. When I went back to the store a couple of days later… it was gone
I like to play over the chill/ambient/Lo-fi/acid jazz genre because there isn’t usually a strong melody and there is plenty of space to add a melodic instrument.
Paulowna is great wood for breathy ragged tone. Good builders know to use hardwood inserts where any substantial force is applied. As with any soft wood.
I read an ancient woodworking magazine. Like late eighties.. talking about paulownia wood as the future for guitars. And here we are.
Thanks Tim awesome lesson
Tim Pierce, your joy is infectious and addicting!
I have a paulownia tree growing in my yard. They do grow extremely fast, but the wood is pretty weak. It’s also can be invasive. But the leaves are huge. Like giant elephant ears.
Awesome Tim! Always eye opening
Nice guitar but 3 grand used is a bit high with the options out there but that weight is going to be a draw.
Simple. Brilliant. Thanks Tim.
I always appreciate your knowledge. Please keep sharing. You're fantastic.
I'm building myself a new partscaster with not a single fender part. Wilkinson bridge, Guyker tuners, Iron Gear pickups, a scalloped maple neck from China and various and sundry non-fender parts parts from Amazon. The body I chose is routed but un-drilled and finished in Sherwood green. It's a baloneywood body and I found your video whilst searching for information about baloneywood.
Oh man. I knew Lindy Fralin (pickups) in Richmond, Va. decades ago. Walked into his smallish shop and there he was hand-wiinding pickups. Great guy.
Great playing, and a cool key change.
I love light guitars. I have a nice tele and a strat that weigh around 8 pounds, or a shade under, and they are great. But I also have a squier bullet mustang, that weighs a little over 5 pounds, and cost me 110 bucks. I had planned on selling on the mustang once I got the tele, but I just can't let it go. The tele and strat both sound slightly better, and look better. But the little mustang is just so comfortable and easy to play. I can have it sitting beside me and I can pick it up anytime and have play a bit while sitting on the couch. It's just so much fun and really encourages me to play it more. I thoroughly recommend anyone to think about having a little lightweight guitar for practicing on. It's just great. Only problem is I now have 3 guitars, and I love all of them equally and can't part with any of them. I never wanted to be one of those guys who hoards loads of guitars, and I know 3 is small potatoes compared to some of these people who have dozens. Sometimes multiple identical guitars but perhaps with different paintjobs or whatever, but it's still unnecessary. But I can't get rid of the mustang because I play it the most and that's largely because it's so small and light.