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The quality of the woods plays a fundamental role in the construction of an acoustic instrument. As for electric instruments, different woods are used for the body, the neck and the freatboard. Each one has peculiar physical, sonic, and esthetical characteristics, and costs can range widely depending on the quality of different tonewoods. Wood seasoning is very important: green wood does not have satisfactory sonic qualities and will certainly shrink during the natural process of seasoning. As other factors, like the kind of wood grain (open, closed, even, uneven), the seasoning, the bracing system, all influence the final sound of the instrument, the type of wood is just one among the many aspects contributing to the global sound. In other words, it is not possible to predict precisely how a guitar will sound knowing only the woods used. Our classification of woods will be based on their use, that is, the wood used for the top (or soundboard), and those used for sides and bottom.
This is the most common wood used for the tops, it is highly resonant, and has a well balanced and bright tone. Usually light coloured, the sound improves over the time, as spruce wood changes during the life of the instrument. The different kinds of spruce used for soundboards are:
Overview Of The 9 Guitar Types
The wood used as an alternative to spruce is cedar. Cedar sounds more rounded, softer and warmer than the spruce, that on the other hand offers a more opened and brighter tone, with more definition and loudness. That’s why we say “cedar is for the players and the spruce is for the listeners”. Moreover cedar does not change with the passing of time, consequently its tonal qualities will not improve during the life of the instrument as often happens with spruce (according to someone, cedar looses part of its global richness, but this is not always the case). Aesthetically, the difference between spruce and cedar is obvious, the latter being darker and reddish. Broadly speaking, who is looking for a more aggressive sound can usually prefer the spruce, but this is true only if other construction feature are the same. As a matter of fact, the sound of the guitar is also influenced by the shape, the bottom, the sides and the brace. For the soundboard of acoustic guitars, the Spanish cedar is preferable, usefully combined with rosewood, ovangkol or walnut sides. Sonically can be compared to sitka spruce, but with less transparency and harmonic separation. The red cedar is more suitable for the classic guitar, but can be a good choice for acoustic instruments used for finger-style, thanks to its bass-focused tone but nevertheless bright sounding at the same time. To express its tonal qualities at their best, red cedar must be cut into thin boards, consequently it is suitable for guitars equipped with thin gauged strings.
Bottom and sides The most common woods used in the construction of bottom and sides are rosewood and mahogany. Maple is frequently used too, mainly because of its beautiful figures, and the open and loud tone. Other tonewoods more rarely used for bottom and sides of the acoustic guitars are the ovangkol, the koa, the zebrano, the walnut (just to mention some).
It is a valuable and expensive wood (especially the Brazilian one), very strong and heavy. This translates in a warm and rounded sound, together wit a long sustain, qualities that make it suitable for flatpicking and bluegrass guitars. Especially beautiful, with noticeable grain and brownish coloured.
How Does Wood Type Influence Your Guitar's Tone?
, less valuable than the Brazilian one for availability reasons (but sonically equivalent or even superior) shows more porosity, a darker colour, and less noticeable grain, that looks more even and parallel.
Mahogany is lighter and usually less expansive than rosewood. Aesthetically has a typical red colour, sometimes with valuable figures. Broadly speaking, an acoustic guitar with mahogany bottom and sides sounds usually more sweetly and focused on the mid frequencies than a guitar with rosewood bottom and sides. Mahogany guitars are preferred by musicians using the bottleneck technique. Some acoustic guitars are entirely built in mahogany, often combined with an open pore or satin finish.
Maple is widely used for electric instruments (for the necks, fretboards, tops and bodies), but is suitable for the bottom and sides of acoustic instruments too, even if more rarely used than rosewood or mahogany. It is a beautiful wood, with its many aesthetically appealing variances. As maple highlights the higher frequencies in the spectrum, it is often employed to balance those instruments that would otherwise sound too rich in the low end, like the Jumbo models, for instance. A guitar with a maple body, even if with a poorer tone in the low end, will project a loud sound, perfectly suitable for the typical rock strumming.
How Different Woods Affect Your Acoustic Sound
In the construction of the acoustic guitar, the woods used can be solid wood (that is, made from a single piece of wood) or laminated wood, in which thin sheets of wood (usually at least 3) are glued on top of each other so that the grain of each layer is crossed, to increase strength.
This reflects in the propagation of sound, that depends on two factors: elasticity of the materials the instrument is made of, and its weight. As solid wood is lighter and more flexible than laminated wood, the propagation of sound waves is better when a guitar is built with this type of woods. On the other end, laminated wood is heavier and less flexible, but is stronger. Moreover, the sonic qualities of solid wood improves over the time, while those of laminated wood remain stable.
Both the top and the soundbox (bottom and sides) can be made of solid or laminated woods. The entry level models are made of laminated wood to keep costs down, while higher quality models can use solid wood for the top, the soundbox, or the entire instrument. Many guitars use a solid wood top together with bottom and sides made of laminated wood, in order to combine decent sound quality with strength and lower costs. This is not always true, as a low quality solid wood could sound not as good as an high-quality laminated spruce, for instance (spruce is the best sounding wood in terms of resonance, consequently is the most used wood for the soundboards). We want also remind that a solid wood guitar is easier to repair, as solid wood cracks, while laminated wood breaks into pieces.
Rockin' Instruments A Glossary Guide To Types Of Guitar Woods (tonewoods) And Components We Here At Rockin' Instruments Like To Think Of Ourselves As A Judgement Free Musical Instrument Space, Realizing That
The Soundsation line of acoustic guitars includes models made entirely of laminated woods and models wit a solid wood top. Series using laminated wood: Yosemite, YellowstoneSince time immemorial, guitars and woods have been intertwined in an amazing way and you often cannot talk about guitars and their tones without talking about the wood types that make them up. The type of wood used to design a guitar will definitely affect its weight, sound, tone, and look, standing the wood out as one of the most important parts of the guitar. Here, we will be taking a broad look at guitar wood types, as well as how each type affects the overall build of the guitar. So, what are the Guitar Wood Types? Some popular types of guitar woods are Alder, basswood, mahogany, swamp ash, walnut, koa, maple, rosewood, ebony, and wenge. Each of the wood types has its distinct features, including looks and tonal properties. Yes, there are other guitar wood types, but these are the most popular. In the next sections, we will be taking you through a ride on the designs, features and tonal properties of each of the above-mentioned guitar types. Read on because there’s a lot to learn about the guitar woods and how they affect the overall build and sound of the guitar.
Having known the different popular guitar wood types, we will be taking a broader look at their features, looks, and tonal properties in this section. The guitar is made up of different parts. The body and neck fall among the most important parts of the guitar that dictates its tonal sound. These parts are often designed with single- or multi-wood.
Have it in mind that woods from different trees, regions or countries will sound slightly different, even though they may be of the same species. They will also be characterized by different weight and density. So when it comes to detecting tone difference, type of woods should be looked into, as well as other subtle factors.
Ted Brown Music Blog
For this section, we will be looking at the properties of different guitar woods under two subsections – The body and the neck.
When it comes to guitar body construction, this is certainly one of the most popular types of woods used. It is almost impossible to talk about this type of
In the construction of the acoustic guitar, the woods used can be solid wood (that is, made from a single piece of wood) or laminated wood, in which thin sheets of wood (usually at least 3) are glued on top of each other so that the grain of each layer is crossed, to increase strength.
This reflects in the propagation of sound, that depends on two factors: elasticity of the materials the instrument is made of, and its weight. As solid wood is lighter and more flexible than laminated wood, the propagation of sound waves is better when a guitar is built with this type of woods. On the other end, laminated wood is heavier and less flexible, but is stronger. Moreover, the sonic qualities of solid wood improves over the time, while those of laminated wood remain stable.
Both the top and the soundbox (bottom and sides) can be made of solid or laminated woods. The entry level models are made of laminated wood to keep costs down, while higher quality models can use solid wood for the top, the soundbox, or the entire instrument. Many guitars use a solid wood top together with bottom and sides made of laminated wood, in order to combine decent sound quality with strength and lower costs. This is not always true, as a low quality solid wood could sound not as good as an high-quality laminated spruce, for instance (spruce is the best sounding wood in terms of resonance, consequently is the most used wood for the soundboards). We want also remind that a solid wood guitar is easier to repair, as solid wood cracks, while laminated wood breaks into pieces.
Rockin' Instruments A Glossary Guide To Types Of Guitar Woods (tonewoods) And Components We Here At Rockin' Instruments Like To Think Of Ourselves As A Judgement Free Musical Instrument Space, Realizing That
The Soundsation line of acoustic guitars includes models made entirely of laminated woods and models wit a solid wood top. Series using laminated wood: Yosemite, YellowstoneSince time immemorial, guitars and woods have been intertwined in an amazing way and you often cannot talk about guitars and their tones without talking about the wood types that make them up. The type of wood used to design a guitar will definitely affect its weight, sound, tone, and look, standing the wood out as one of the most important parts of the guitar. Here, we will be taking a broad look at guitar wood types, as well as how each type affects the overall build of the guitar. So, what are the Guitar Wood Types? Some popular types of guitar woods are Alder, basswood, mahogany, swamp ash, walnut, koa, maple, rosewood, ebony, and wenge. Each of the wood types has its distinct features, including looks and tonal properties. Yes, there are other guitar wood types, but these are the most popular. In the next sections, we will be taking you through a ride on the designs, features and tonal properties of each of the above-mentioned guitar types. Read on because there’s a lot to learn about the guitar woods and how they affect the overall build and sound of the guitar.
Having known the different popular guitar wood types, we will be taking a broader look at their features, looks, and tonal properties in this section. The guitar is made up of different parts. The body and neck fall among the most important parts of the guitar that dictates its tonal sound. These parts are often designed with single- or multi-wood.
Have it in mind that woods from different trees, regions or countries will sound slightly different, even though they may be of the same species. They will also be characterized by different weight and density. So when it comes to detecting tone difference, type of woods should be looked into, as well as other subtle factors.
Ted Brown Music Blog
For this section, we will be looking at the properties of different guitar woods under two subsections – The body and the neck.
When it comes to guitar body construction, this is certainly one of the most popular types of woods used. It is almost impossible to talk about this type of
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