similar woods

[Joel Larsson]

I read through the post on Bosnian spruce, and it kind of made it clear that it could be near impossible to determine which part of the world this particular piece of wood came from. Now, what different woods are there that look so similar to each other that sometimes you need an expert's eye to tell them apart? I have for instance heard it rumoured that some kind of African mahogany can look almost identical to maple, which - according to the rumours - has resulted in some basses been built with the cheaper mahogany but sold as maybe even highly graded maple. Anyone knows if this is true, and are there any similar pitfalls out there to be wary of?

[Anselm Hauke]

i don´t now what kind of african mahogany you mean, but your post made me think of anigré, an african wood that looks like maple and is sometimes used in bassmaking.
you can identify it at it´s dark pores, similar to mahogany

[Ken Smith]

aka Aningeria..

Similar density to Mahogany and Soft Maple.

I believe Pollmann uses this wood on some of their Back's and Ribs because that's what it looks like to me. I had a Pollmann Bass from the 70's not long ago that I believe had Aniegre' on the Back but Maple on the Ribs. The wood is beautiful.

[Anselm Hauke]

i know some pöllmanns from the 70s where the wood looks exactly like the one you posted. nice flame. a little bit too nice for my taste

[Joel Larsson]

Yes, hm, maybe Aniegré is what I was referring to, although the guy who told me said it was some sort of mahogany. I also heard that some 70's and perhaps 80's Pöllmanns has that wood. Question is, is it as good as proper maple, or a cheap replacement? There are three Pöllmanns at my school, two from the 70's and then my 82er. One is VERY average but needs some fixing before a final judgment is in place, quilt figuring on this one which might imply that the good Günther put some effort into it; the five-stringer is unplayable thanks to some rubbish luthier varnishing the neck and curving the fingerboard WAY too much (and maybe even putting epoxy or something on it, it does look suspicious) but it sure sounds good, and then there is mine, which is the best. On the pic at http://smithbassforums.com/showthread.php?t=768&page=2 there is a fourth one, another institutional instrument in need of some care (it seemed to develop a sound post crack...) which was from the 70's too. This one was real good though. There are more pics of mine. Can anyone tell whether mine is maple of aniegré (I won't ever learn that word) or maybe the pics aren't detailed enough? The flames do look a lot like the one on the pic Ken posted here, but then again, I have seen even thicker maple flames. What you people's experience of basses made from aniegré?

[Anselm Hauke]

Originally Posted by Joel Larsson

Can anyone tell whether mine is maple of aniegré

if you can make/post a closeup pic it would help

[Anselm Hauke]

Originally Posted by Joel Larsson

lWhat you people's experience of basses made from aniegré?

looks nice, sounds good. lets wait 200 years to get a final judgement