Tamo Ash

Although this specific tree is in the ash or Fraxinius family, it has an unusual grain pattern that is unlike any other ash species. Tamo ash or Fraxinius mandschurica is also known as Japanese ash, as it grows in Japan (unlike Spanish cedar, which is neither Spanish nor cedar). Woodworkers call the wildly swirly grain of this expensive wood plateaud, and its figure peanut, because it has 3-dimensional bubble-like areas that actually do look rather like a peanut or double-nut goober shell. It also produces another figure pattern that woodworkers typically call “waterfall”. This is particularly dramatic when stained and bookmatched. Currently, the only guitar manufacturer using tamo ash is Taylor, though the beauty of the wood will almost certainly catch on with other builders.