my new Pollmann (SOLD)

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Anselm Hauke

Why do you think the Krahmers stopped using anegre?
Do you know any other luthier using it?

Maybe, maybe, Michael (Krahmer) will tell you but I doubt it because it looks as if they used it in place or mixed with maple as if it 'was' a maple, which it is not. I have not seen it used before by anyone else.

My personal best guess is that a few logs came available thru a wood supplier there that imports from Africa (possibly Nagel Woods) and they/he (Gunther Krahmer) bought it and used it until it was all gone.

Here is the Pollmann I had that has the Back in Anegre' but the Ribs in Maple, well matched in color but the pores of the grain up close are not the same. http://www.kensmithbasses.com/doublebasses/pollmann/

I had a Cabinet maker over one day when that bass was still in my rack and asked him and he confirmed it was Anegre' on the back. I had seen it in veneer on a piece he has in his showroom and remember seeing it in a store on the cabinets in veneer and then knew for the future how to tell the difference. It is easy enough to google anigre' and see what the flamed material looks like. A dead ringer for maple to the naked untrained eye.

It is easier to use the wood and sneak it in under the radar as maple than to introduce a new species and try to educate people.