South Pacific/Indian Ocean/Gulf of Carpentaria/Great Australian Bight Luthiers
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King Billy Pine works very well in small instruments such as mandolins and violins. I think it sounds as good as any Spruce, the best sounding King Billy mandolins I think sound better than any of my Spruce mandolins. It does have a slightly different sound, sweet and clear, and I have found that most women seem to prefer my King Billy topped mandolins. They respond well to a light touch and that may be why they like King Billy. In fact one of those mandolins in the picture is going to a lady who lives near Canberra. I have tried it with Qld Maple, Jarrah and Myrtle but prefer Blackwood with King Billy. The Jarrah instruments were particularly nice, but Jarrah is a bastard to carve, is heavy, difficult to bend and not very stable so I stopped using it. However, one of the Jarrah mandolins is still going fine and still sounding great 20 years later somewhere in France. With Blackwood it tends to sound a bit bright at first, especially the bass, but around 8 weeks later there is a very noticeable change for the better. With a bit more time and lots of playing they sound very sweet and the best of my King Billy mandolins can blow the socks off a Spruce topped mandolin. The problem is it is difficult to get King Billy that is even of remotely consistent quality, so there is a fair bit of variability in the finished instruments. The other issue has been hidden knots. On the outside a piece of King Billy might look perfect, carve it and you find a nasty hidden knot and it becomes firewood. Nowadays I still use it with small knots, because it is just about unobtainable in the sizes I need, but you can still get big ugly hidden knots that are a disaster. Has not been unknown to have to carve up to 3 tops before getting one that is useable.How do you find the sound of King Billy compared to spruce?