Guitar build: tonewood

toescantalk · March 2021

Looking at getting a small acoustic built and researching tonewoods. I like warmth of mahogany but it looks like it should be used to make sideboards. Any recommended tonewood on warmer side, a bit less sideboardy and easily available in uk? Koa was another idea that fails on availability / cost on looking into it.

malcolmkindness · March 2021

I think the first thing to do is ask the builder what he thinks will produce a warm sound given his style of building. Personally I would suggest a cedar top with mahogany or walnut back and sides. Surely the sound is more important than the look?

Tannin · March 2021

Yes, ask the builder. But Blackwood is a very close relative of Koa, not threatened or overharvested, readily available, and inexpensive. A great-sounding tonewood too.

earwighoney · March 2021

Tannin said:

Yes, ask the builder. But Blackwood is a very close relative of Koa, not threatened or overharvested, readily available, and inexpensive. A great-sounding tonewood too.

Nothing wrong with wanting a back and side set with some pleasing aesthetics to the eye.

A good call on Australian Blackwood, sounds a lot like Koa and isn't too expensive.

English Walnut crops up in figured sets now and again, Prime Timber in the UK occasionally get some stunning sets now and again and it's about as sustainable as it gets (they source most of their walnut from people's gardens!). I think WezV off this forum has some of their very nice stuff which I think he's using for one of his most recent builds.

In terms of sound to my ears English walnut for acoustic guitars is up there with the very best, I played quite a few Brooks (5-10?) and they were stunners.

BingMan · March 2021

I'd be going for the tone I want before looks personally... especially given it's the back and sides we're talking about here!
A lot of the overall tone of the guitar will come from the combination of top wood choice and back and sides... not to mention bracing material, scalloping and position, body size, 12 fret/14 fret, neck etc... so the builder should be able to help here.

And mahogany isn't always super plain looking, some can be visually stunning - do a google of fiddleback mahogany (kinda looks koa-ish), sinker mahogany and 'THE TREE'. Definitely up there in the looks department. Might not be so available mind you... especially 'THE TREE'!

I will say I don't think Koa will typically give you the warmth you're after IMO

Ultimately you gotta ask yourself though, do you want a guitar to look at or do you want one that sounds amazing when you play it?

toescantalk · March 2021

Thanks lots for advice, blackwood and walnut will look into now. Having something built also seems opportunity to at least explore getting something a bit different.

toescantalk · March 2021

BingMan said:

I'd be going for the tone I want before looks personally...

Agree. But worth looking into having both at least.

DavidR · March 2021

Australian makers use Bunya Pine quite a lot. Sustainable and popular. Grows all done their east coast. I played some Bunya topped acoustics out in Australia in 2019 and was impressed. Nice and bright.

There must be hundreds of suitable tonewoods out there. Why we stick with the Spruce/Cedar/Mahogany triumvirate and just a few variants is largely fashion and caution IMHO. Based on experience of course, but with CITES and as the large specimen trees for some woods decrease in number, we as buyers should push for different woods. Well done Taylor with their Urban Ash, Breedlove with their Myrtle and Lowden with his enthusiasm for Walnut for example.

As a complete aside, does anyone know how many quartersawn bookmatched tops come out of one large e.g. Sitka Spruce? How much is wasted? What's done with the bits of the tree not used? Often wondered.

Sammy · March 2021

If you want a lovely looking wood that looks and sounds good and won't cost the earth, have a look at Imbuya ( Also known as Brazilian Walnut). Its not that well known, but I had guitar built by Rob Aylward who use to live in Bexley many many years ago and he recommended the wood, as I wanted a warm mellow sort of sound not too bright. The guitar was stunning and sounded wonderful, but unforunately it had too stiff an action for me, being an electric player using 009's, so from 12's to then trying 11's I had to drop to 10's, which just lost some of the tone, which you do get with going too low on gauge of strings on acoustics. So after a couple of years I sold it onto our singer at the time who really wanted it. I actually took it first into a well known shop in Worthing and was going to p/ex with something else, the owner really liked it so much he actually offered me without knowing, the same price bar £50 less than I had bought it for in p/ex.and was gutted when I rang our singer who said he definately wanted it, as he loved it and said it was one of the nicest OM guitars he had ever had in his shop, made by a UK builder.

Anyway, I see you live in Scotland, Rob moved there many years ago, so I presume hes still building guitars, so you may want to look him up as he is a lovely person and I know will give you free advice. He may even offer to build one for you as he is very reasonable, but it could take a while, knowing Rob!

toescantalk · March 2021

Thanks for this. In touch with luthier already but researching tonewoods etc. has been fun. I think listening to less common woods demos opened the ears a bit more too than the spruce vs mahogany demos on youtube.

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Guitar build: tonewood

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