Guitar Tonewoods
There are many factors determining how an instrument sounds; the style of bracing used, thickness and type of lacquer are just a couple. Tonewoods are a major factor in shaping the sound of an instrument with the guitars top providing a canvas and the different tonewoods used on the back and sides providing the colour, light and shade which help contribute to the instruments individual sound. Most tonewoods come from sustainable sources through specialist dealers and the grade of the wood is dependent on the quality of the grain, figuring and tone. You may have seen guitar companies like Gibson and Fender referring to some tonewoods, especially maple, as “AA”, “AAA”,”AAAA” – basically speaking the more A’s there are in the title the more figured the piece of wood. The cost can vary due to availability and trade restrictions – spruce, for example, is very common, but large pieces with an even grain represent a small proportion of total supply and can be expensive. The quality of the figuring doesn’t mean the wood will necessarily sound better either, in fact experienced players know you really need to visit your local guitar store to try guitars due to the nature/structure of wood. We have had five Gibson J45 Standards on display at Guitar Village before and each one sounded slightly different.
Common tonewoods used on guitar tops:
Engelmann spruce: Also known as white, European or German spruce, it has a creamier complexion than Sitka. Sonically, Engelmann spruce is bright with a rich midrange. Compared to Sitka spruce, Engelmann has a slightly played-in tone making a guitar sound a little older. Engelmann spruce is suitable for most playing styles.
Sitka spruce: As a guitar soundboard or top Sitka spruce is the tonewood standard used in the modern era. The combination of strength, flexability and broad dynamic crisp articulation responding to aggressive strumming, flatpicking and fingerpicking makes it a popular choice with most acoustic guitar manufacturers. Sitka spruce is suitable for most playing styles
Adirondack spruce: My personal favourite, also known as Eastern red or Appalachian spruce, Adirondack was commonly used on pre-WWII era instruments. Aesthetically modern era Adirondack can be identified by its wide grain pattern. Sonically it is more dynamic than Sitka having a more open sound with a higher ceiling for volume. It responds well to being played hard getting louder and louder without losing clarity. Adirondack is suitable for aggressive flatpickers or strummers.
Cedar: Cedar is less dense than spruce and is commonly used on classical guitars. Aesthetically it generally has an even tight grain like spruce but has a darker reddish appearance. Sonically it has a mellow played-in soft tone but is slightly limited on volume with strummed aggressively. Cedar is suitable for fingerpickers and players with a lighter touch.
Mahogany: Mahogany is a close straight grained wood and has a reddish-brown colour generally. It has been used by cabinet makers and guitar luthiers alike because it is very easy to work, durable, economical and attractive. Mahogany’s density provides punch, projection and sustain adding midrange warmth. Suitable for most players and musical styles.
Common tonewoods used on the back and sides:
Rosewood: Aesthetically rosewood is gorgeous with a dark, rich characteristic individual figured grain. Sonically the best way to describe rosewood is think of mahogany with its soft midrange tone, stretch it either way and the result is a tonewood with sparkling highs and rich thundering lows. Like mahogany rosewood is very versatile and consistent in sound which has help contribute to its popularity with luthiers and players over the years. Suitable for most players and musical styles.
Mahogany: Mahogany is a close straight grained wood and has a reddish-brown colour generally. It has been used by cabinet makers and guitar luthiers alike because it is very easy to work, durable, economical and attractive. Mahogany’s density provides punch, projection and sustain adding midrange warmth. Suitable for most players and musical styles.
Maple: Like rosewood, maple is also stunning visually but rather than a rich dark grain it is a creamy blonde colour and often highly figured either in a ‘quilt’ or ‘flame’ pattern. Sound-wise maple is known for its brightness, great projection and excellent note definition. I personally think it lends itself to larger bodied guitars like the Gibson J200 because the brightness compliments the huge lows you get from the jumbo body size. Suitable for most players and musical styles.
Koa: So we’ve talked about how beautiful rosewood and maple are, well koa is off the scale!!! Very often highly figured it combines a blend of rich golden honey colours. Sonically koa has the midrange of mahogany with top end of maple. At first koa has the same tight bright tone similar to maple but the more it’s played the more it opens up with the midrange tones coming through. Sometimes people buy koa guitars based on looks and find it to be too bright – this is because koa needs to be played a lot more than some tonewoods to reach its true potential. Suitable for most players and musical styles.
Walnut: Another beautiful tonewood with a similar grain to rosewood, walnut is slightly lighter in colour. The density is similar to koa and has a tight bright top end with a dark midrange that sits between mahogany and rosewood. Again, like koa, the more walnut is played the more the low end fills out. Suitable for finger pickers with a small cedar top combination and strummers/flatpickers in a large spruce top format.
Ovangkol: An African relative of rosewood ovangkol is a sustainable tonewood introduced by the Taylor guitar company. It is lighter in appearance than rosewood and shares a lot of its tonal qualities with a little more midrange presence but not quite as much top end as maple. Suitable for most players and musical styles.
I have picked on the most common tonewoods used but there are numerous other tonewoods selected by manufacturers. One of my recent favourites was the 5300 years old bog oak that was used on a limited run of Faith Guitars. In a more environmentally conscious world guitar companies are even using alternative materials to wood like richlite for example which is used on fingerboards as a substitute for ebony and rosewood. I hope this brief guide on tonewoods proves useful but the real test would be to come along to Guitar Village and get your hands on a few acoustics and hear the differences for yourself.