Форум гитаристов

I know it may sound strange and for sure it is a challenging concept who few people will agree with, but I’ll explain. The most important thing in making a guitar which sounds good and feel good is the luthier, the craftmanship, the knowledge of the whys an instrument sounds a particular way. Bob Benedetto, one of the most important and praised luthier of our time, once built an archtop guitar out of the woods from a bench of the park, and it sounded amazing, as much as the guitars he built from the most prestigious woods. This should be enough in explaining why woods should not not be very important for the player in the end. On the contrary woods are very important for guitar companies. The voodoo about magic woods and the supposed “rarity” of beautiful woods is what keep those companies alive and running. They charge fortunes to have a beautiful 3D quilted “tubular” top for a solid body guitar, a thin layer of wood which, if you go around wood shops to buy one yourself, you will pay 80 dollars for it. When exotic woods are used, they can go crazy with prices. They charge literally fortunes. The guitar will not benefit that much from those woods, only aesthetically. But they will let you believe that WOW that Tasmanian Blackwood neck which looks out of this world will sound million dollars and way way better than your common mahogany one. It’s all marketing in the end. Just be aware of that. Having said that of course, Tasmanian Blackwood, Hawaiian Koa, Oregon Myrtlewood, American Black Walnut, Brazilian Rosewood, Bolivian Pauferro, American Buckeye Burl, African Black Korina Limba or PurpleHeart just to number some of the most beautiful woods around, they looks amazing and exotic on a guitar and sound pretty good if well combined, but they are not key for a good sounding instruments. More common ash, mahogany, alder, spruce which are the woods which have been used for centuries for the tonal qualities will make a fantastic if not better instrument and you will not pay the overcharged exotic prices of exotic woods. But, … who can’t agree on the outstanding beauty of Mother Nature best creations? =)