Woods used in guitars
I used to have a chapter on tonewoods in my books (paperbacks), However, the price of Xerox toner forced me to reduce the number of pictures.
As I do think the subject is of interest, here it is on the website. No toner involved.
Quartersawn (kwartiers gezaagd)
First here at the left a drawing how wood is quartersawn - result stable material especially for necks..
Alder (Elzen)
The most frequently used wood for bodies - good overall warmth and sustain. The way it is sawn apart from stability will influence tone. Tone is basically determined by the natural frequency response of the unpainted body, on the finish or paint and depends on whether a body is one, two or three piece. In the latter case the quality of the glue and in general also the age and dryness of the wood will influence tone. And price of course. Alder is generally considered to be one of the "traditional" Stratocaster body woods.
Plain new alder is whitish in color but quickly yellows under influence of light, and there are also reddish variants.
Ash (Es)
Gives a "snappier" tone with a bright edge, but with a warm bass and long sustain. It is often considered as the other "traditional" Stratocaster body wood.
Swamp Ash
The same tree but growing in wetlands. As result the cells in the lower parts of the tree are wider (water filled), when this wood is dried it results in a light wood with as it were built in sounding chambers. A very popular tone wood.
Basswood (Linden)
The principal wood used on many Japanese made instruments. This is due both to its tonal response, (very similar to Alder) as well as the fact that Basswood is much more readily available to the manufacturers in
Mahogany (mahonie)
Gebruik:
Gitaar halzen en soms ook body’s – bijvoorbeeld en de Gibson Les Paul en een aantal Gibson archtops.
Kleur roodachtig bruin.
Gebruikt in akoestische gitaarbouw voor steunbalkjes en dergelijke.
Het achterblad van mijn oude ES125 is van mahonie, deze kleur is aan de binnenkant goed te zien. Ook gebruikt voor Fender bodies, zoals ik toevallig zag in mijn 1963 Musicmaster doordat aan de achterkant de lak mooi was afgesleten. Below a Tele custom mahogany body, cool!
Soortelijk gewicht: (Honduras) 0,53 - (Cuba) 0,70
Birdseye maple (Vogeloog ahorn)
Very decorative used on guitars that are build with a great deal of attention for detail. Used for necks as well as fretboards and bodies.
Volume weight: 0.56 (European) 0.61 (
Tonal: punchy, bright, and has a nice bite on the high end. Often used only as a laminated top instead of an entire body.
Here is flamed maple, used for finishing layers or on more expensive guitars for bodies (PRS use this extensively, have a look as it’s easily recognizable) as well as necks. Very decorative.
Volume weight: 0.56 (European) 0.61 (
Walnut (Notenhout)
The sapwood of walnut is creamy white, while the heartwood is light brown to dark chocolate brown, occasionally with a purplish cast and darker streaks. The wood develops a rich patina that grows more lustrous with age
This is the wood used for the ‘skunk stripe’ which allows the trussrod to be placed in a full maple neck.
Usage:
Rio rosewood is very expensive. It has been used throughout the years to make luxury articles like furniture, cabinets, hair brushes, handles for knives etc. Because of the very heavy rainforest logging the wood is now rare and expensive.
In musical instrument making
A special was George Harrison's Tele (Let it be) with a rosewood body. It was auctioned at over 400K !!
Volume weight: 0.90
Tonal: Not used for bodies. When used as fretboard on a maple neck it will warm the tone compared to a full maple one.
Indian rosewood is a very important wood. Less rare than 
rosewood. Because of the heavy logging it soon will be scarce as well.
In musical instrument making
Tonal: Rarely used for bodies. When used as fretboard on a maple neck it will warm the tone compared to a full maple one. Below a stunning example of a Strat in rosewood.
Spruce (Fichte)
This is very good resonance wood and is used for tops of acoustic instruments, classical flattops as well as carved archtops.
Easily recognized by its structure - clear parallel lines.
There are several similar types with other names, like US Engelmann spruce, depending on the continent of origin all with slightly different qualities - and prices.
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