Wood Chat

markburnetguitars
Sep 20
2 min read

Wood is obviously the most important part of the guitar, it is the wood that shapes the sound. Commonly we refer to the wood used for musical instruments as 'Tonewood', essentially it is just wood that we perceive to have good tonal properties.

There is lots of debate as to what is the most important part of the guitar, I believe the top is the main driver and the back/sides help to ascent the tone, with the top doing a good 90% of the work. I don't think the neck plays a crucial role and nor the bridge, although an ill fitting bridge will obviously reduce vibration transfer between the string and top.

Indian Rosewood Back — Indian Rosewood back

Anyway I'm not necessarily here to join in in this debate about woods, it has been done to depth and you can lose yourself in opinions all over the internet. If you want to look at some interesting research, check out the 'Leonardo Guitar Project'. They compare blind listening tests with exotic traditional woods and non exotic woods, the most interesting part of the research is that listeners were unable to distinguish between different woods... but were able to notice changing makers. So the makers influence on the wood has more influence than the wood itself, which I think is fascinating. What I am here to chat about, is if you order a guitar from me what we can do in terms of choice of wood, I am starting to have a rather sizeable collection of wood, the majority being Spruce tops and Indian Rosewood back and sides.

I also have some more unique pieces, some one offs, some aged wood... etc Highlights for me include some Genuine Mahogany from the 1880s, this was sourced from a local gent who had it stored since the 60s, he worked for the local printing press company and when they were moving to more automated processes they got rid of the old print press machines, they had Mahogany frames.. he asked if he could keep the mahogany, he was allowed. These machines were dated in the 1880s, I cut the wood up for backs/sides and necks. I also have some old Redwood for tops although stock is now very low on that. I got a bunch of wood from the widow of a deceased luthier, some of that was dated from the 70s, including some Sitka Spruce tops and Flamed maple backs/sides. I do have some Brazilian Rosewood too... back/sides and bridges/fingerboards. So how it works if you order a guitar, is we start a chat about what you might be looking for, if you have any specific ideas in mind and then I can suggest different woods that might work and we can start to look through what I have available. Either you can visit me and we can go through different woods by hand or I can send you different options. I like to involve the buyer in as much of the process as I can, and selecting your own wood (steered by myself) is a lovely way for you to have a say on the look of the instrument.