African Walnut / Dibetou
Family: Meliaceae - Order: Sapindales - Class: Magnoliopsida
Scientific name: Lovoa
trichilioides
Trade name: Dibetou
Also known as
Tigerwood, Congowood, Noyer d` Afrique and Lovoa.
Origin:
West Africa
Instrumental uses:
Guitar back and sides, guitar necks, electric guitar bodies, head plates and
inlays.
Tonal
properties:
The
tone has a very warm resonance and very quick response very similar to
mahoganies. Extraordinary
great sounding over all frequency ranges due to the low weight and stiffness. Well defined bass, the mid and high range very clear and well
defined as well.
Easy
to work but can be a little difficult to bend due to It’s highly interlocked
grain and finishes
well.
In
general, very resistant and very stiff
even though only being a medium dense wood, being about
530 kg/m3.
Grows in
West Africa, from Sierra Leone to Gabon. The tree reaches a height of 50 m,
with trunk diameters of 100 cm. The bole is usually straight, clear and
cylindrical to 20 to 30 m in length, with short buttresses.
The
sapwood is light grey to light yellow, it has a thickness of up to 7 cm. The
heartwood is grey-brown to yellow-brown, sometimes with dark veins, it is
clearly demarcated. The silver figure is fine.
CITES Status is unrestricted. On The IUCN it is reported as
vulnerable.
