The Tree Quilted Mahogany Guitar Sets are A History Lesson
Each set of The Tree is part of 500 years of history.
The Tree fought to reach the jungle canopy so it could get to the sun.
The Tree Art Project from the original source
The Tree Quilted Mahogany Original Source
Our guitar sets come from the original boards first milled by Robert Novack. The Tree has many looks other than tortoiseshell but all the sets carry its intense energy of a giant in a tropical jungle. It grew at the edge of a steep ravine then fell into when it was cut down by hand and axes in 1965.
What you are looking at now are the vibrations and energy of 500 years of growth where the roots of one side of The Tree followed the steep path of the ravine to prop its 100' tall canopy up to the sun while the level side fed and sustained The Tree.
Would you like 500 years of history and energy while you play? This mahogany is like no other, the figuring is a mutation that is found in no other Tree. Play a piece of history and magic.
From the Tree cut by Robert Novack in 1981. The last photo is a rare provenance to see the board where the set was cut from (see arrow) with Robert Novak standing in front. These 4 sets are part of the original logs milled from The Tree and purchased directly from Novak in Miami. They have been in a shop for the last 40 years and haven't ever been a table or any other piece of furniture. They now have been given the opportunity to be guitars. Each board has a unique energy and figuring. A bandsaw blade with an ultra-thin kerf of .022 thousandths of an inch was used to minimize waste and give a clean cut. This is history and nearing the end of these sets. Each board is unique and has its own energy and story. The set comes with a Certificate of Origin and Authentication. This set's non-ring figure was created by being on the leeward side or away from the wind. This means it was the compression side of The Tree and the wood is denser and tighter. It was also the side that faced the ravine and the roots needed to make this side of The Tree harder and tougher so it would grow straight and continue to reach above the canopy of the jungle.
This is the survivor side of The Tree.
Minimum Dimensions
- Back halves: 22.5" x 8.75" x .110" (571.5 mm x 225.25 mm x 2.794 mm)
- Sides:
- Length: 33" (838.2 mm)
- Narrow width: 5.125" (130.175 mm)
- Wide width: 5.125" (130.175 mm)
- Thickness: 0.15" (2.54mm)
The "show" side of these sets has a coat of shellac to clearly show grain pattern.
The Tree, Swietenia macrophylla
We have managed to procure a small handful of heirloom quality sets of perhaps the most talked-about wood in guitar-making circles—
The Tree Quilted Mahogany.
Originally felled in the Chiquibul rainforest in Honduras in 1965, The Tree laid on the forest floor for a decade until Robert Novak and his team devised a way to haul it up a steep ravine. Once they cut it open they knew they had a once-in-a-lifetime find.
Since then The Tree has become the stuff of legend. Wood that is so beautiful, so rare, and so hard to find that few builders have ever had the opportunity to see it in person, let alone build with it.
Compared to other quilted mahogany sets The Tree stands in a class by itself. The figure ranges from an intense, rolling "tiger quilt" to a highly sought-after "tortoiseshell" figure.
Players claim that the tone it produces is close to Brazilian rosewood but has an incredible positive energy.
Each set of The Tree will be shipped fully insured for our mutual protection.
The Tree Billets are Almost Gone
The Tree has earned the distinction of this title because it is the only tree in the world that has ever been found with this figuring. Only 12,000 bf of this material was originally available. The exact amount of what is left is unknown. But, after 40 years the number of billets of the original logs that are left is very small. Once those are gone, no more can be cut. The opportunity to build With The Tree is closing.
The Tree Quilted Mahogany Sets figuring
Each Tree set is going to be unique and different in the figuring.This group of sets come from the compression side of The Tree (away from the wind). Since most of the wind in Belize comes from the East, this was Western facing and has a tighter striation figuring, incredible strength and more density. You can see the density in the figuring and hear it when tapping quite distinctly.