Best Wood For Acoustic Guitar Back And Sides

Top or back and sides can influence the entire sound of the instrument.

Best wood for acoustic guitar back and sides.

Spanish cedar acoustic guitar back sides set cedrela sp. The top back and sides of professional grade guitars are made of meticulously gauged cuts of solid wood while beginner and intermediate models are built partly sometimes entirely with pressed plywood. Mahogany is a fairly dense hard wood and is relatively heavy and strong ish. Also called cigar box cedar because of its aromatic scent and its wide use in tobacco humidors.

Most maple guitar back and side sets are cut on the slab which shows off any grain figure to best advantage. Cherry is a superb tone wood. A bit more on the mellow side of half way. Once again having a solid top should be the minimum requirement for anyone wanting a nicer acoustic and should be within everyone s budget.

Rosewood for example is a hardwood that is often used for the back and sides of acoustic guitar bodies and under some circumstances will accentuate note articulation or clarity. It resembles the wood of south american mahogany to which it is related. East indian rosewood seasoned dark. Changing one tonewood for another regardless of the component e g.

Mahogany back and sides often emphasize bass and treble with more overtone coloration and a woody sound as opposed to the more metallic sound of say rosewood back and sides. Maple is a very light coloured wood. The colour of the wood will darken in time with exposure to light into a gorgeous rich amber colour. When used as back and sides it is sometimes stained to produce a darker color particularly when used with a spruce top to add contrast.

They have been set aside for their exceptional color match of the back and sides and the dark color of the sets. It is fairly light in weight. All guitars are at risk of extreme climate temperature swings and dryness so you still have to be careful with a 500 guitar or a 5000 all solid wood rosewood acoustic. Highs are typically soft and not overly pronounced.

Mahogany is a wood that is used for both acoustic guitar tops soundboards and for back and sides. Heartwood color varies from a light pinkish brown to reddish brown. When used as a top it produces a warm earthy mid range dominant sound with subtle overtones. Personally i would like to see more plain quartersawn maple used for guitar construction boring as that may sound.

These sets have been seasoned for over 25 years. Mahogany as a guitar top dense mahogany has a solid punchy tone with low overtone content and good high end response. This reduces overall stiffness as compared to quartersawn wood to predictable effect.