Tonewoods: sonic signatures

The right tonewoods for you depend largely on what kind of sounds you like and how you play your guitar. A fingerstyle player, for example, will want wood that responds to his or her delicate playing as opposed to a wood that requires more force - like using a pick - to fully resonate. Guitar craftsmen, or luthiers, believe that the wood chosen for the top is the single most important factor in determining what the instrument will ultimately sound like.

After the top, the back, sides, and neck are the next most important in overall tonality. Other woods, such as the bracing, binding, bridge, and fretboard can also serve to enhance or constrain the tonal effects of an acoustic guitar's other woods - though they generally don't define the sound of an instrument.

It's important to keep in mind that wood species can be responsible only for certain aspects of the tone of any guitar. Equally important are design, skill of the maker, and the quality of each individual piece of wood used. However, tonewood selection can be a determining factor in the creation of a very special guitar or a guitar designed for a specific purpose.


Spruce
Spruce is a standard material for tops, the most commonly used species being Sitka. Its high rigidity, combined with the lightweight characteristics of most softwoods, makes it a natural for high velocity of sound. Sitka spruce also has a powerful direct tone capable of retaining its clarity when played forcefully.

Cedar
Cedar, particularly Western Red Cedar, is a popular top wood for its balanced warm sound. It's particularly favored by fingerstyle players for its signature quick, rich response to the lighter playing style.

Mahogany
When used as a top, mahogany has a relatively low response rate (compared to other top woods), considerable density, and a low overtone content. Mahogany-topped guitars have a strong "punchy" tone that is well suited to country blues playing. When considered for back and sides, mahogany has relatively high velocity of sound, which contributes much overtone coloration.

Maple
Different species of maple, such as big leaf, sugar, and bearclaw, tend to be more acoustically transparent due to their lower response rate and high degree of internal damping. This allows the tonal characteristic of the top to be heard without the addition of significant tonal coloration.

Rosewood
Rosewood is known for its high response rate and broad range of overtones, and is also characterized by strength and complexity in the bottom end and an overall darkness of tone in the rest of the range. Strong mids and highs also contribute a richness of tone to the upper registers.