Hi Fretters. Sunvalleylaw inspired me to start this post on different tone woods as it pertains to acoustic guitars. I hope that we can share some information here that is useful for other people interested in different wood in the guitar and how it affects the tone.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the expert on tone woods, but I am familiar with the sounds of some of these woods based on experience in using both Rosewood and Mahogany guitars that I've had over the years, and recording with them.
First, there are two common woods used in the tops of acoustic (steel string) guitars. These would be Spruce and Cedar. For most of the high end acoustic guitars these will be solid cuts of wood for the top, usually in two pieces cut from the same piece of wood. Over the years a solid-top guitar will improve with tone and volume since it is more resonant than a laminated piece of wood. Solid wood tops are also more fragile, so this is partly why they're more expensive since the bracing under the top becomes more important in addition to the quality of the wood used.
To my ears Spruce tops sounds slightly brighter and a little louder than Cedar tops. However, Cedar tops sound warmer and sweeter in the midrange than Spruce. It's common for classical guitars to have Cedar tops, and you can usually hear it in the tone. It's a little darker sounding than Spruce. However, there is one drawback to Cedar in that it's a little softer wood than Spruce so it dents an scratches a little easier.
The next big part of this affect on tone is the wood used in the back and sides of the guitar. The two most common woods you will find in high-end acoustic guitars are Rosewood and Mahogany.
Rosewood is a slightly more dense wood than Mahogany. Guitars with Rosewood backs and sides tend to have a deeper, bigger tone overall. As compared to other woods there tends to be lower lows and higher highs, in other words, more of a full range. This is partly why alot of solo guitarists like Rosewood guitars. They sound bigger in general. A Martin D28 is a great example of this kind of sound.
Mahogany is less dense than Rosewood. Guitars with Mahogany backs and sides tend to have a more pronounced mid-range tone to them. A lot of recording people like Mahogany guitars because they tend to mix well with other instruments since they aren't competing for the same frequecies (in the low end) as the bass player, for example. They also work well for single-note solo parts because of the accented midrange.
I'm not saying that any one choice of wood is good or bad. I'm just trying to point out some of the tonal differences as rough guide. Try out some different guitars and offer your own observations here.
Now, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't do my part in promoting more G.A.S. attacks on this forum ... hopefully you can see the benefits of owning both a Rosewood and a Mahogany guitar?
I hope this is helpful, -- Jim
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the expert on tone woods, but I am familiar with the sounds of some of these woods based on experience in using both Rosewood and Mahogany guitars that I've had over the years, and recording with them.
First, there are two common woods used in the tops of acoustic (steel string) guitars. These would be Spruce and Cedar. For most of the high end acoustic guitars these will be solid cuts of wood for the top, usually in two pieces cut from the same piece of wood. Over the years a solid-top guitar will improve with tone and volume since it is more resonant than a laminated piece of wood. Solid wood tops are also more fragile, so this is partly why they're more expensive since the bracing under the top becomes more important in addition to the quality of the wood used.
To my ears Spruce tops sounds slightly brighter and a little louder than Cedar tops. However, Cedar tops sound warmer and sweeter in the midrange than Spruce. It's common for classical guitars to have Cedar tops, and you can usually hear it in the tone. It's a little darker sounding than Spruce. However, there is one drawback to Cedar in that it's a little softer wood than Spruce so it dents an scratches a little easier.
The next big part of this affect on tone is the wood used in the back and sides of the guitar. The two most common woods you will find in high-end acoustic guitars are Rosewood and Mahogany.
Rosewood is a slightly more dense wood than Mahogany. Guitars with Rosewood backs and sides tend to have a deeper, bigger tone overall. As compared to other woods there tends to be lower lows and higher highs, in other words, more of a full range. This is partly why alot of solo guitarists like Rosewood guitars. They sound bigger in general. A Martin D28 is a great example of this kind of sound.
Mahogany is less dense than Rosewood. Guitars with Mahogany backs and sides tend to have a more pronounced mid-range tone to them. A lot of recording people like Mahogany guitars because they tend to mix well with other instruments since they aren't competing for the same frequecies (in the low end) as the bass player, for example. They also work well for single-note solo parts because of the accented midrange.
I'm not saying that any one choice of wood is good or bad. I'm just trying to point out some of the tonal differences as rough guide. Try out some different guitars and offer your own observations here.
Now, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't do my part in promoting more G.A.S. attacks on this forum ... hopefully you can see the benefits of owning both a Rosewood and a Mahogany guitar?
I hope this is helpful, -- Jim
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