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Understanding Tonewoods when purchasing an acoustic guitar:

Many factors affect the acoustic guitar’s sound quality. Among the most important are the tonewoods that are used to produce the soundboard (top), sides, and back. The sound quality is produced by 4 major things in general, assuming the player is skilled:

• The strings
• The tonewoods
• The craftsmanship
• and finish of the acoustic guitar

For this particular article, we will focus on the tonewoods. Whether you are a beginner looking to buy the best beginner acoustic guitar, or more experienced player, be sure to understand more about tonewoods before making the commitment.

The top or soundboard of the guitar is perhaps one of the most influential pieces. The top of the guitar is made of different kinds of woods, but a few are very popular:

Sitka Spruce is the most popular tonewood used for guitar tops because of its straight grain pattern, strength to weight ratio, and abundance. Sitka produces a well-balanced sound in the bass, mid-range and treble or high frequencies.

Engelmann Spruce is like Sitka Spruce, only it is less in supply and fewer soundboards can be produced from a single tree based on the tree’s girth. Englemann is the choice in some higher priced guitars, and has unique tone qualities that rival Sitka Spruce, yet not producing quite the same sound velocity and therefore a reduce output or sound projection.

Cedar is the most popular tonewood for acoustic classical guitar tops. Cedar is another straight, finely-grained wood and provides a more mellow, rich tone when compared with Sitka Spruce.

Mahogany is more widely used in the necks, sides and backs of many acoustic guitars because of it’s strength and sound qualities. It is not the most popular top or soundboard wood used but has been used in many acoustic guitar models.

Maple is the lowest in sound velocity, and is used for specific instances when a guitar with a more muted tone is desired.

Although the top of the guitar is the most important piece

The sides and back of the acoustic guitar are the next most important permanent part of the guitar that affect the overall tone quality and sound profile of the guitar, affecting 4 factors of the sound profile:

• High range (treble)
• Mid range
• Low range (bass)
• And overall projection

Two of the most popular tonewoods for the sides and back in higher quality guitars are:

Rosewood and Mahogany.

There are different species of both, but we will simply talk about how the general characteristics of the two affect and shape the tone of the acoustic guitar.

Rosewood (common types are East Indian and Brazilian), give the acoustic guitar a full sound with projection in all 3 ranges, and more so in the bass range than Mahogany and other tonewoods.

Mahogany projects more in the mid range and high range. When played next to an acoustic guitar made with Rosewood sides and back, a discerning ear can certainly notice the fuller, bass balanced sound from a Rosewood acoustic guitar.

Other woods that are also commonly used in making the back and sides of the acoustic guitar include:

African Sapele – giving a brighter tone similar to Mahogany

Nato (cheaper species of Mahogany)

Koa (Hawaiian exotic wood) giving a lush, richer sound similar to Hawaiian steel slide guitars

Maple – giving a brighter, higher end sound with lower projection qualities due to the reduced sound velocity of the wood.

Composite – man made materials that have been used in producing the sides and back of many guitars in attempt to produce guitars with less wood materials, being cheaper in manufacturing costs.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of tonewoods (and other materials) used in guitar making, as luthiers continue to experiment with different species of woods. However, using this simple checklist when researching and compiling information will help anyone make a more informed decision when purchasing an acoustic guitar.

To learn more on “how to buy an acoustic guitar” visit strumviews.com. Aaron Schulman is the publisher and has been an avid guitar player and musician for over 20 years.

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