[kooldood1]

Ok i know theres many woods that acoustics are made out of and they all produce somewhat differfent sounds. I have an alvarez acoustic that has a solid spruce top and i think mahogany sides. I like it a lot and its nice for gigging but its just not as wide as id like it to be to produce a fuller and thicker sound when recording. I play a lot of rock stuff, some blues and some laid back rhythm open tuning stuff. What would be a good wood to help get me a full thick sounding acoustic. I know it also depends on the width of the guitar as well. I was wondering about wookds like koa, spruce, cedar, etc. Thanks

[MakoMako]

Taylor's Wood Page

I know this is from the Taylor website, and may be biased or a bit off in some information, but this is the only site I know of that really describes the woods a bit.

[matt_theripper]

I like spruce tops and I like mahogany tops.

[dogpoo]

Spruce tops make the guitar have a very bright sound. Not my favourite sound, too tingy for my liking, but then I play a classical. My guitar has a cedar top and rosewood sides and back; very round, warm, mellow tone.

[PingerFicker]

The way that I have been taught about tone woods is this. There are three main types of back tone woods, and they are rosewood, mohaganey, and maple. In the tonal spectrum, on the far left, there is a deep tone with lots of rich harmonics and less fundamentals. This would be the rosewood, it is desired by lots of fingerstyle players and sorts. On the other sie of the tonal spectrum, the far right, there is a bright tone, with lots of fundamental tones and less harmonics. This would be the maple, and I would say that many jazzers prefer the maple sound over anything else. Then there is Mahoganey. Mahoganey falls right in the middle of the spectrum, it is a fairly balanced wood. It is not too strong on harmonics, or on fundamentals. There are many other back tone woods that you might be wondering about, and too that I like to compare all the other woods to the 3 main tonewoods. Like Koa, I would say it is in between mahagoney and rosewood, but is a little more mahoganey than rosewood.

As for tops, they make even more of a change in the sound than the backs. There are two predominant tops, with lots of subspecies. Cedar is the first. I really love a cedar/rosewood kind of guitar for fingerstyle. It is a fairly soft wood, and gives the sound a mellow kind of tone. Whereas spruce, (of which there are many subspecies) gives again, a more brighter feel as it is a stiffer wood than that of cedar. There are also lots of other less commonly used tops like redwood koa, and even walnut, and I again like to compare those too the predominant two. I must say that I am not as knowledgeable about tops, as I am backs, so i can't say that I am completely correct here.

I know that I am spelling mahoganey wrong here, but i am too lazy right now to go find the right spelling. I think that I spelled it 3 or 4 diferent ways too.

Well anyway, this is kind of what I have learned over the years. Someone correct me if I am wrong. I really love tone wood though, I think it is amazing how a person can take a piece of wood, and know what the guitar will sound like before it is built.

Taylor's Wood Page

I know this is from the Taylor website, and may be biased or a bit off in some information, but this is the only site I know of that really describes the woods a bit.

I didn't see this site earlier, this is a cool site to learn more about the woods. Thanks MakoMako.

[BByrdman]

Great Info!!! With Mahogany back and sides, being neutral, then the top would dictate which direction the sound would go... My Takamine has mahogany sides and back with a Bear Claw(whatever that is) spruce top and it sound bright and full. It's nice to know why.