Woods
Top Tone Woods
I build in a variety and combination of woods of various species both for Tops and back and side Sets.
The Tops I build in, are selected, by me, for relative stiffness and tonal response, the selected combinations thereafter, depend to a large extent, upon the requirements of the Client, bearing in mind ,that the top wood is responsible for approximately 80% of the Acoustic sound of any instrument. Accordingly the end selection becomes a careful balance between back and side sets and the top, for tone, strength and projection, the beauty of the combination and the Wow Factor.
Arranged in order, top to bottom,of relative stiffness and tonal response, (there is a significant overlap between Species), I set out, those”Top Woods” in stock, at the moment:
Bear Claw Spruce
Red or Adirondack Spruce
Port Orford Cedar
Sitka Spruce
German Spruce
Italian Alpine Spruce
Alaskan Yellow Cedar
Englemann Spruce
Western Red Cedar
Redwood
It may well come, as a surprise to some, that Bear Claw Sitka Spruce wins the race ,as to relative stiffness and tonal response, ahead of Adirondack, however the lateral wood figure reinforces the stiffness of the Sitka and this stiffness and strength yields pure round root notes which have a “punchy and clear” tone that cannot be beaten, even by the finest Adirondack Top.
Adirondack Spruce or Red Spruce is a powerful Top, it’s high strength to weight ratio, make it great for hard -driving and flat-picking styles and red winter lines create interesting aesthetics.
German and Italian Alpine Spruces are the “ringiest” of all of the Spruces, producing a clear and bell-like tone, with an abundance of overtones. These tops are the preferred tops for many Finger-style Players. Of the Two I prefer Italian Alpine to German Spruce, a fine Master Grade Italian top is a sight for sore eyes. Its straight even grain running through pristine white timber almost preempts the Tone that will emanate from these Tops.
I have to admit that my two favorite Top Tone Woods to work with are Italian Alpine and Redwood.
Redwood I was privileged to obtain a quantity of outstanding Master and AAAA grade sets of this remarkable timber ,salvaged from a log known as the LS or ‘Lucky Strike Log’ salvaged by Craig and Alicia Carter harvested environmentally, (as none of the trees were harvested live). Tonally Redwood compares to Cedar BUT possesses more of the qualities associated with Spruce, so you can expect a bolder,crisper,punchier tone than Cedar but with all the rich,strong,overtones intact. The colour of this timber is stunning ,rich and unique, for me, nothing compares to this superb tone-wood, which brings to the Guitar the majesty of the dwindling old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest.
Engelmann Spruce is more flexible than Sitka and rings with clear overtones. In appearance it’s like German Spruce but unlike German,is more uniform in consistency. Engelmann has a beautiful Ivory sheen and has many of the traits desirable in a good German top, but is more economical.
Alaskan Yellow Cedar is not a Cedar but closely related to Cypresses and is very closely akin to Port Orford Cedar,another Cypress like timber.Tonally the wood is especially well suited to flat-picking steel string Guitars when a strong tone and a bright attack is required.This timber produces instruments with a chimey,clear,articulated tone with great sustain.
Back and Side Sets
Over the past few years I have been diligently and selectively stockpiling Suitable back and side sets to match the Top Timbers I have collected. I am pleased to be able to offer the following Timbers, all the Timbers offered are either Master or AAAA Grade:
Brazilian Rosewood
Cocobolo Rosewood
East Indian Rosewood
Koa
Lacewood
Madagascar Rosewood
Honduran Mahogany
Malaysian Black wood
Maple European & Bigleaf
Oregon Myrtle
Paulo Escrito
South East Asian Rosewood
Walnut
Ziricote
In my view the argument that back and side woods play little or no part in the overall sound or tone of the Guitar is clearly ill founded, laboratory testing has been able to establish, without doubt, that the back and side set Timbers, colour the Acoustic tone of the instrument by resonating at their unique or particular frequencies, thus blending with the vibrating Top to stamp a signature, for that particular instrument. No two instruments sound the same even when constructed with similar materials, however generalisations can be applied to each wood species as a means to voicing the Timber used.
For example Indian Rosewood, probably the most used Timber today, would be voiced by me, as having a deep, warm yet punchy, piano-like voice, powerful and rich, with a clean mid and treble. This Timber has been described by a respected American Luthier as,”a good all-round player’s choice”. I doubt that anyone would argue with that.
Walnut, on the other hand, an excellent exotic tone wood, has a unique warmth and tonal depth. I would describe it as having the textured woodiness of Mahogany, blended with the rich depth of Rosewood.
Maple and Myrtlewood resonate in the “Pure Tone”, treble frequency range with a balanced clarity and great string to string separation, with a depth of penetration peculiar to this tone wood and clearly recognizable as this wood type, to the trained ear.
Mahogany resonates as a ‘Textured Tone” rather than a “Pure Tone” on the borderline of the treble and bass register, whilst Walnut, Ebony and Ziricote all resonate as a “Textures Tone” but in the bass register.
Indian Rosewood, Cocobolo and Brazilian Rosewood resonate as a “Pure Tone” but in the bass register.
There are charts available that set out Tone woods and their relative frequency ranges, these are both interesting and informative, but usually only to Luthiers . I don’t propose to include a chart here or take the Topic any further, than the generalisations that I have made. I may however, at some later date, open up the Topic under the “Instruments of Special Interest” category, when discussing a particular Instrument of interest or significance or some aspect of that instrument that I think warrants a Blog.