ABOUT GUITARS

             Guitars now come in such a variety of shapes, sizes, woods and finishes that it’s hard to decide what to look for in choosing the right one for your needs and preferences.  How it looks, how it feels, and how it sounds (not necessarily in that order) are the three main things that an experienced player looks for. But, how it sounds is the main ingredient for helping to choose a guitar that will help win your heart. Whether you’re recording or playing on stage, the better you sound, the more you’ll enjoy what you’re playing.

There are many ways to help you decide what’s best for you in your quest for the ultimate sound. The main factor is the type of woods used in the making of each guitar. Two guitars can look exactly the same, but will sound entirely different from one another if made with different woods.

Here is an overview of the different guitar woods and how they sound in a guitar.

Hard Rock Maple – Most commonly used for guitar necks. Has extremely good strength and stability and has a light grain that looks good with different translucent or transparent finishes. As a body wood, being very heavy and dense, it delivers a bright sustaining tone.

Alder – A very common body wood found in most guitars and basses. Due to it’s relatively light weight, this wood is very resonant with upper midrange definition. Alder is a classic tone wood and has been present in solid body guitars from the beginning. Alder has a medium light color, slightly darker than Maple and Swamp Ash.

Mahogany – This wood has an inherent warm quality with accentuated low midrange. It is reddish brown in color and looks great in different finishes. Mahogany is also considered to be a classic tone wood. It is denser and heavier than Alder, but lighter than Maple. Mahogany, along with a flamed or quilted maple top, gives great sustain and warmth.

Spruce – Known for it’s pure light color and uniform grain, Spruce is considered one of the finest woods for acoustic guitar tops. It has a brighter tone than Cedar with a very nice and even low-end response.

Cedar – Cedar has a very nice reddish brown color with even straight grain. It has been used for hundreds of years as a top wood for classical or flamenco guitars. It has a very warm tone with a subdued high end when compared to Spruce.

Basswood – Used mostly as a guitar body wood and sometimes for the neck, Basswood is becoming very popular and found on many guitars being built today. Due to it’s better resonance at mid and high frequency, Basswood has the ability to produce great sustain and a consistent tone without any dead spots.