Madagascar Rosewood, MADROSE - Dalbergia baronii, the ULTIMATE tonewood? Tommy's Tonewoods

Just picked up a 2012 Martin Custom Shop 00-21 made with this wood. It's pretty killer in every way!

I've been watching your videos for about a year, and this is the finest sound of all those other woods I've heard. Not to mention stunningly beautiful. I can hardly wait to see the end build and hear the tones.

Thanks for bringing this beauty to us as part of your genuinely engaging tonewood series. I have to say, for me, that Madagascar Rosewood is simply in a class of its own! Absolutely, I can hear the similarities with cocobolo, but i think the Madi raises the bar even further. The sustain, note variety, clarity and projection is stunning... music to my ears. Every tap provides an alternative voice and additional experience. This is the exact encounter I had when tap-toning the Madagascar for my guitar build - a beautiful small bodied, 12 fret wonder. Paired with an incredibly tight grained Cedar, the guitar presents a beautiful tonal balance with crisp fundamentals supported by smooth overtones. The argument for acquiring and working with this beautiful tonewood does need to be balanced. The tree has been over exploited for many years and for various uses. Due to the growth timescale - some 50 years - a harvesting programmer is badly needed for sustainability. The practicalities of our generation benefitting from this is limited, but other generations will. So, should we be using it and adding to the problem? In very limited and controlled numbers, yes. If countries did not overexploit the harvesting then it would be manageable. Madi is used for many purposes - furniture in particular. However, I believe when it’s used to build a guitar it brings the wood/tree back to life and the wood itself continues to live through its vibrational and sonic frequencies. This, in turn, provides, not just incredibly engaging musical experience, but for many of us, it provides a vehicle for meditation and mindfulness, which transcends the boundaries of its physical presence. So, for guitar building, I think we need a measured and valued approach to acquire and use Madi in a limited and treasured capacity. Really enjoyed this episode Tom... cheers. K.

Hello Tommy, Been watching your woody reviews for years, great stuff! Question for you: is there more than 1 type/species of Madagascar Rosewood or is there just the one type that we guitar players are crazy about? Thanks, Craig

Interesting. My D28 is Italian Alpine / MadRose and it doesn’t sound like standard Martin dreads.

I bought a Sigma OM 28 Madagascar style guitar just recently. The sound is crystal clear and punchy if that makes any sense. My two high end Martin and Bourgois guitars are taking a rest in their cases right now. The cheapo Sigma is so inspiring that it led me out of my comfortable muscle memory zone right into new discoveries. The strings doesn't seem to dull out at all it seems. Very sweet w. silvery highs in the spectrum. I bought a similar Sigma w. Madagascar for a girl friend a few years ago. It was very nice sounding as well. I thought it was a lucky coincident, but now I learned that Madagascar RW is definitely the trick I love.

Tom, thanks for speaking so directly about the sustainability issues with Malagasy industrial products. Let's hope meaningful and massive reforestation efforts can get underway and these bio-regions can someday produce sustainable crops of Dalbergia.

Love the complexity of tone of the one Madagascar I've played - and I applaud your efforts as a luthier to use old stock & educate people about the importance of saving this beautiful species.

As a young new builder, I’d like to start my career with consideration of the sustainability of the worlds great tonewood. Your videos are helping me understand that!

I own a Sigma SOMR28M,Adirondack top and Maddy back and sides.Only 12 we’re made,the sound is outstanding

That Madagascar is beautiful but what I can't stand on any guitar is Sap wood going do the middle. How do you feel about using sap wood. I'd rather have the heart of the wood. I know it's been the fashion to use sap wood but it just winds me up when paying thousands. No more sap wood, 🛑. Beautiful guitar's to. Dean 🇬🇧 🙏 ❤️

Mind blown at 2:04 tap tone outta this world. All “wood lovers” should watch an episode of Curb your enthusiasm where Larry David gets accused of not being a lover of wood.

I have a handmade guitar, Madagascar Rosewood and Torrified Swiss Moon Spruce and is just lovely

The holy grail

You could build a guitar with a 3 piece back 2 Maple &1 mad rosewood in centre👍🎸

I think we should work more on plantations, but not fast grow the trees, i know it will take ages for trees to grow but better w8 that much time then destroying such a magical wood

Any experience with Dalbergia Maritima (Bois de Rose)? How does it compare tonally to other Dalbergia from Madagascar? Thanks, John Gig Harbor, WA

Holy Smokesssssss what a sound........Thumbs-up Tommy

I got wood from this :)

SuperD