I was recently talking with a guitar maker here in my hometown in England and he showed me a guitar, which had an interesting looking wood on its back and sides. It had a lightish grain, which at a distance was almost like satin. He said it was "tolla" wood - the spelling is something I am unsure about but the word seems to be pronounced in a way that it rhymes with cola as in coca-cola. Do you know anything about such a wood? And if so, how does it compare with rosewood? He knows nothing about this wood, and has it seems been given the material by a former luthier, and as he is about to make a guitar for me, I was wondering about its properties.

Bob Wilkinson
b.wilkinson@coventry.ac.uk

If anyone can help Bob, just let me know: GNW-Editor@hitsquad.com

There is a great page that shows the different woods at: www.braille.uwo.ca/~charles/woods.html
Charles S. Tauber, Maker of Guitars & Lutes

It takes a while to load, but the pictures clearly show the wood grain and colors of many woods, even "Spalted, flamed Koa", but... no "tolla"!