Best Wood For Acoustic Guitar

Koa is a pricier wood as it s less common.

Best wood for acoustic guitar.

Cedar by contrast is softer sounding than spruce with more dynamic range and less natural compression. It s known for its tight grain pattern and its high stiffness and relative lightness translating to a broad dynamic range that stands up well when strummed heartily. Good swamp ash is both light and resonant and generally carries a broad grain that looks great under a translucent finish. Cedar is a bright sounding wood option though produces a warmer tone than spruce the most common top wood see below when used as a top.

When reading about acoustic guitars you may notice that cheaper instruments tend to feature laminated wood whilst more expensive guitars tend toward using solid wood. Sitka spruce is commonly used in acoustic guitars and offers a balanced tone with clarity and dynamic range. However whilst wood may be a step up compared to plastic materials such as bone fossilized ivory and the likes are still a better choice if going for wood then ivory is your best bet in my opinion. Best known as the wood of classic 50s fender guitars ash is most desirable in the form of swamp ash wood taken from the lower portions of southern grown wetland trees that have root systems growing below water level.

East indian rosewood and it s more elusive and expensive alternative brazilian rosewood. Guitar necks are traditionally made from maple in part because of its strength and in part because the material can highlight and amplify the wood in the body. Rosewood is without question one of the most popular and enduring tone woods known in acoustic guitar construction. It s been used to very good effect for decades and there are two main varieties that have been employed throughout this time.

Flame maple on an acoustic guitar back image c o josred handmade guitars. In a nutshell an all laminated body guitar the top back and sides will use layered laminated pieces of wood most typically laminated spruce for the top and laminated mahogany for the back and sides. This is often used on classical guitars but also sometimes on steel string acoustics. Arguably the most common tonewood sitka is a well rounded tonewood one suited for many styles of playing.