There are plenty of electric guitar body woods to choose from. Laminate guitars can be good for beginners due to their low price, however I’d advise getting a solid top if you can stretch the budget a little. Thanks for visiting! We’ll talk about types of wood later, but the tonewood used for the solid top can greatly affect tone – and price! If we’re talking about acoustic guitars then the answer is that it definitely matters. Mahogany is heavier than other woods. Electric guitars are usually solid … Thanks for sharing this article, it has a lot of good stuffs to teach to people and this will help a lot of guitarist understand better how to make advantage use of their tonewoods. It doesn’t have a huge amount of character but does produce a warm and balanced sound. You can find solid mahogany top guitars from around $300 whereas solid wood mahogany guitars are much more expensive. Furthermore, these components can be of single- or multi-wood construction. We can swap out pickups, we can change an amplifier, or we can even add effects into the mix. You could argue that making a guitar out of an old door is no worse than using Mahogany or Alder. The grain can be quite attractive, making it a good choice for guitars with a more natural finish. That’s reasonable as the top is the first thing to receive the sound when you strum the guitar. They’ll have laminate back and/or sides. It’s a lightweight wood which is fairly dense but does still have a decent grain. The additional weight of the unit will not tip the neck up. As mentioned above many Fender guitars use Alder, from the lower end player series right through to the American made guitars. I know that’s a brave thing to say because it’s an entirely subjective matter. One thing Cedar does well is bring out softer play styles. Fender used poplar in the 90’s but now favors Alder in many of their guitars. The tone of this wood is extremely dependant on the thickness of the billet. Electric guitars tend to have less variety of woods than acoustic guitars. You’ll find Ash being used in mid-range guitars, owing to it’s cost. Broadly there are three types of construction that we need to be concerned with: At the very expensive end of acoustic guitars you’ll find solid wood. It’s very dense which contributes to better resonance and natural sustain. Thinner or lighter gauge strings produce a brighter sound, but they have less sustain and volume and are also much more prone to snapping. Here’s the difference: As I mentioned before, the actual sound your electric guitar produces comes from the vibration of the strings. It’s a general rule of thumb that the more dense the wood, the brighter the tone. Ok Guys and Gals, this is the video that started it all. Early electric guitars of the 1950s and 1960s used very microphonic pickups. Probably the best all round option is a solid topped guitar, but the choice of materials is something that each guitarist needs to decide on based on their preferences. 1. There’s a complex mix of tones produced by Rosewood, which makes it very desirable. The guitar is finished with a solid top. With that said though, most people believe that wood does still have some impact. Clear sound with a balanced tone without excessive bass resonance. How to Sound Like Arctic Monkeys: Amp Settings Guide. With that said though, most people believe that wood does still have some impact. You can see why it’s popular with it’s tonal dynamism. Maple produces bright and punchy tones thanks to it’s coloring and density. Finally you have all laminate guitars. It does affect it, anyone who says that it flat out doesn't is a fool, however the differences are minute between most wood used in guitars. So does tonewood really matter? The wood used to form the back and sides of an acoustic guitar sound chamber does a lot more than simply look good and create an enclosure. They tend to look rather appealing thanks to their darker coloring and grain. Different combinations can yield different results, and while pickups, hardware and other components can be changed in time, electric guitar tonewoods stay put once assembled. They then send a signal to the amplifier which produces the sound via the speaker. Solid mahogany or mahogany top guitars are good for folk music because they’re not as bright as Spruce. It’s commonly used to finish the top of electric guitars due to it’s good looks. The term ‘Tonewood‘ is used to describe wood used in the construction of stringed instruments, chosen for their acoustic properties. When it comes to tonewoods used in the construction of guitars, there are many points that need to be considered. It is usually the choice of body wood for guitarists looking or a lot of sustain, and a warm tone that has a lot of low-end frequency giving a thick sound. For that reason they’re not really suited to accompany you when out on the road and not ideal for live performances. For acoustic guitars, the materials and how they are used in the guitar are critical to the guitars tonality; the “voice” it will have. Mahogany can be found across a range of guitar brands from Gibson and Epiphone to Gretsch and Ibanez. There are several factors which affect your strings: gauge, material and age. It’s not so clear cut when talking about electric guitars. Hence, with acoustic guitars, the wood is a lot more important as it is what actually amplifies the sound and picks it up. Not only do your actual pickups affect your tone, but your pickup selector does too. It’s harder to work than basswood or poplar, which inevitably adds to the manufacturing cost. Electric guitar wood can affect tone, but not much at all. Another benefit of Spruce is that tone improves with age. As such, I am glad to have come across this guide, because this will help me know what to consider when buying him the guitar and to know which is best to buy for him. Thanks Shavo – glad you found it useful , Your email address will not be published. With electric guitars, the vibrations caused by the strings, which are the source of the sound, are detected by the pickups. The older the strings, the duller the tone. Then you have different varieties, a single coil sounds much different to a humbucker. Head over to our post on the 4 ways your strings impact your tone for more information. The question is simple, does wood make a difference in the tone of an electric guitar? Instead it produces warm bass with a rich tone. We’ll then move on to talk about tonewoods in acoustic guitars. Once the unit is mounted, it does not interfere with playing. Okay, so now you know more about body, neck and fret board wood and how it affects the tone of your guitar. The first, and most significant question is whether tonewood actually matters? It’s also a very durable choice. Put simply that means the tone will even out if you play harder and bring out more of the subtleties when playing softly. We’ve met mahogany before when we discussed electric guitars earlier. You’ll find quite a few solid wood mahogany models out there. Some of the finest tonewood comes from the US Pacific NW and our guitar wood is hand-selected to be highly resonant, beautifully colored and figured - … That amazing guide you just provided there is extremely appreciated. The right choice of guitar wood will effect the tonal qualities, amplitude, weight, stability, playability and appearance of your next guitar. “They simply absorb certain frequencies, which in turn affects the string vibration in a subtle way. In fact, it’s a pretty intense debate. Laminate is produced by sticking thin layers of wood together, similar to ply-wood but much finer. Wood is not completely uniform, it has grains and gaps which affects the vibrations produced by the strings. The sound that’s being produced is directly affected by the design of the guitar, including the tonewood used. Neck-through electric guitars offer the best sustain and resonance, but they are the most expensive choice. The wood the guitar is made from affects the way the sound resonates that is detected by your pickups. The short answer is that nearly all the parts of an electric guitar affect the tone in some way. It’s a well balanced wood that produces a warm and smooth tone. The softer form has more gaps and pours which looks great. It’s another matter entirely when considering acoustic guitars. The type of wood of an acoustic instrument has a huge influence on tone, but what about electric guitars? If you want to achieve the classic Arctic Monkey's tone, then you'll need to nail the amp settings. If we’re talking about acoustic guitars then the answer is that it definitely matters. With an electric guitar, though, the pickups and amps significantly affect the overall tone. If you buy a very cheap guitar it’ll likely be all laminate. It’s got a nice grain so it’s used for guitars with a natural finish. There are two main types: Brazilian and Indian, with the latter being a lot more common. There are a ton of videos where people have experimented with different tonewoods in electric guitars and the conclusion is always that there doesn’t seem to be an objective difference between each wood used. Poplar is another relatively inexpensive tonewood. Due to the density of the wood if you play hard it might sound like it’s distorting due to the lack of brightness. The age of your strings also impacts the tone. Although tonewood leads you down a certain tonal path, things like the body shape, pickups, nut and bridge material will also have a bearing on tone. Everything including the pickups, size, and weight of the guitar, wood, construction and overall setup of the guitar can potentially affect the tone of the guitar. This is probably the most common fret board wood choice. You’d be unlikely to find a solid wood guitar made from Spruce. This is because the wood itself is mimicking the string’s vibration at two separate points: Mechanical energy transferred from direct contact with the string (at the bridge and nut). $\begingroup$ In an acoustic guitar, violin, etc., the body does two main things: (1) it efficiently couples the instrument to the air, and (2) it has a Helmholtz resonance of the air "breathing" in and out through the hole(s). Solid wood guitars tend to have a richer tone, which improves with age. Hard ash is a lot denser which gives it more sustain. In terms of tone you can expect a warm and vibrant tone. Many players ask: shouldn’t a solidbody electric guitar be immune to the acoustical properties of its materials? We’ll talk about neck wood and fretboard wood on other articles. This causes whatever is hit to vibrate as well. Dense, strong, and beautiful it's used as a top, sides, back, neck, and for headstocks. It’s very smooth which is great for playing quick riffs and is also incredibly durable. This is where the back, sides and top of the guitar are all made from the same solid wood. This is what causes it to have a more scooped sound with more emphasis on the treble. I installed the magnetic X-brace into my 2017 Taylor GS Mini-e Koa (which does not have any factory bracing at all on the back), and it vastly improved the sound of the guitar -- in terms of resonance, sustain, and tone. These tend to be the cheapest to build and therefore lighter on the wallet. You might also see a solid Spruce top combined with Rosewood back and sides on a much more expensive guitar. The argument here is that the top material is responsible for much of the tone that the guitar produces. Yes, but not for the reasons you would think. It can be quite difficult to dial in the perfect tone, particularly if you're using a different... How to Sound Like Green Day: Amp Settings Guide. There are two mains types of ash wood: hard and soft (aka swamp ash). The heavier the gauge, the thicker the strings which produces a darker and heavier tone. It’s harder than basswood, but can still be classed as reasonably soft. The way it’s cut, for instance, will affect both its workability for a guitar maker and its sonic performance. All ya gotta do is play two Strats, each w/ maple neck and ash body made in the same 'batch' from Fender side by side, easy to do if there's a local Guitar Center - no two sound exactly alike, IME. Now this is quite different than with an acoustic guitar. In the following article we’re going to explore the world of acoustic guitar tonewoods, and explain how different characteristics of timber such as density, moisture, strength and flexibility influence how an acoustic guitar sounds. Softer woods will have a darker tone with less bite. Koa is exceptionally common for recording because of the tighter tone control. Although it can be a bit thin sounding if you pair it with single coil pickups. You should be changing your strings after every 100 hours of playing in most instances. They offer a balanced sound with a lot of sustain and it gives you plenty of versatility in terms of the different genres its suited to. For that reason Cedar suits those who predominantly play finger picked styles. Well, there isn’t a definitive answer to this of course, but here’s a quick guide to guitar tone woods to give you some more information. eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'prosoundhq_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_5',152,'0','0']));Okay, so now you know how electric guitars produce their sound, where does the wood come into play? Not only does tonewood affect the tone of a guitar, each individual piece of wood affects the tone. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. The color of the mahogany depends on the variety. The Impact of Tonewoods on Electric Guitar Tone. Electric guitars are usually solid bodied, relying on pickups to produce the sound. In fact it’s classified as protected.