Best Wood For Acoustic Guitar Body

Walnut is an excellent choice of wood for a customized guitar.

Best wood for acoustic guitar body.

A heavier flat sounding and often beautiful wood of which there are several species maple is used in acoustic guitars because of its sonically transparent qualities which let the tonal character of the top ring through without significant tone coloration from the back and sides. It is best used for the tops on a typical guitar to keep the tone even when the sound is vastly amplified. The key is to find the wood that matches up best with your playing style like the warmth of a cedar top for fingerpicking and the feeling of responsiveness in your hands. It is the primary factor in how the guitar s sound is shaped.

A resonance feedback loop between the strings and through the guitar from the nut frets to the bridge develops which is why the guitar affects the sound at all. Generally a soft wood like spruce or cedar is used for the soundboard because of its high vibrational nature. Brazilian rosewood is a very hard and dense wood with great clarity and articulation in tone. The unique acoustic properties of top woods help color a body shape s fundamental sound.

True mahogany is only found in the americas and the most commonly used variety is known as honduras mahogany a relatively plentiful and cheap wood with a fine grain similar to ash. Strat bodies made out of rosewood will weigh in at over 6 pounds. The companies that sell us wood used to have two or three grades of wood with the best being a or first logical. Koa is a pricier wood as it s less common.

Basswood makes a great wood for some metal players because of its concentration in the midrange frequencies. The sound is very warm however the high end sounds are dampened. Rosewood is one of the heaviest woods currently employed in guitar making. From my experience i suggest mahogany the best wood for an electric guitar body and necks.

This got me thinking about wood in general wood sellers and the way they grade wood guitar buyers and what they expect and the different criteria that makers use for choosing wood. Oh and the neck wood affects the tone more than the body wood. The vibration course underneath the strings is the most important. However for the neck and body of your guitar ensure you find a wood type with an open grain for maximum reverberation.

It produces a dark yet warm sound with a lot of bottom end. To help you find the ultimate tone. Feedback of the gutiars resonance back into the string making the string vibrate with the. This is often used on classical guitars but also sometimes on steel string acoustics.

The top of the acoustic guitar s body the soundboard is what vibrates from the plucking or strumming of the strings. Maple has more density than alder and many other tonewoods which could render a musical note absolutely flat. It depends on what kind of metal honestly.