Acoustic back and sides

[Jonesy]

hia guys

Im looking for an acoustic gutiar but im not too sure on th etonal characteristics of, say, rosewood, mahogany and koa...does anyone have any descriptions or ideas of what they either opf th ewoods excell at?

Ive tried a few different guitars but would just lik eto get a general overview...

Cheers,

[Twinfan]

Mahogany = warm and middy
Maple = bright and trebley
Rosewood = somewhere between maple and mahogany

That's what I've found anyway.  The top makes the most difference to the tone as that's the soundboard.  Spruce is most popular, but I prefer mahogany.  Maple is also used on big jumbos.

[shaman]

twin is right on...also, are you going to be using some type of pickup?just pluckin' around the campfire? recording?I have a Taylor with ovongkol(a cousin of rosewood sort of..) ,which is not the loudest of my acoustics,but it RECORDS the best-very well balanced,which makes rec. with a mic so much easier-there are endless debates between mahag and rosewood(check MArtin forums..)-I was in this dilemma-a martin d 28(r wood or a d18(mahog)..found an 18 used, so I am going to try-will find out for myself in a few days... :P

[Peter Antal]

Rosewood back and sides tend to have a deeper bass and brilliant highs. Mahogany sounds maybe more balanced and 'woody'. That's not a general rule, though, as neck and top woods, body shape (!!!), bracing, saddle material, neck dimensions etc. are all important.

[Jonesy]

ye i heard that mahogany tends to be more of a 'woody' sound where as rosewood may be  more metallic...

Im looking at a pure acoustic, mostly for campfire type situations, buut im sure ill use it for recording in the future.

I tend to play a lot of alternate picking arpeggios and lead lines, so im guessing rosewood back and sites with a sitka spruce top may be the best option...grand auditorium body.

[38thBeatle]

If it is campfire situation I would avoid spruce as it might have very flammable sap in it.

[Twinfan]

In that case, avoid wood altogether.  Get a National  ;)

[Jonesy]

Thanks for the heads up...i wont actualy be by any campfires...more beaches and just relaxing with mates

[MDV]

If its for beaches and capfires and what have you, may I suggest:

Dont care. Just get a really cheap peice of cr@p that you dont mind dragging around a beach in the company of fire, sand, water and drunk people and save the tone wood choices for a serious guitar.

[Antag]

If its for beaches and capfires and what have you, may I suggest:

Dont care. Just get a really cheap peice of cr@p that you dont mind dragging around a beach in the company of fire, sand, water and drunk people and save the tone wood choices for a serious guitar.

+1

If you're carting it round outdoors, then there are likely to be big changes in temperature & humidity.  A nice Taylor/Martin/SantaCruz/Brook etc will be sensitive to these & may suffer cracks, warpage, as well as accidental damage.  It would be a wicked waste :(

Just get a £400 Takamine or something - will be more than enough guitar.

[Joe Dorcia]

I would go with a rosewood or mahogany OM size guitar, with a spruce top. European spruce too, not sitka, nice intimate feel from that. Have a good search around for some guitars that aint too big, an OM is around 15" at the lower bout, so go for that sort of size, anything bigger will start getting very brash. Hope the search goes well

[Jonesy]

Cheers for th eimput guys. Siz eis an issue so thats another thing to take into acount...OM it is i think, or perhaps grand concert

[Elliot]

In all reality a £400 guitar on beach is going to be ruined quickly - I have a Washburn £150 job that I use for DADGAD playing - solid cedar top (don't bother with acoustics without) and ebony laminate sides - I also have an expensive Martin that's way to good for my playing (and I inherited in the 80s from a relative who gave up the guitar after spending lots of dough).  I would add the tonal difference is noticeable but not by the value of the Martin.  So get a good solid top guitar, but if its for bumming around don't spend too much on it.

[Jonesy]

Cheers elliot, do you mean dont botrher getting an acouistic without a solid top?...or a cedar one?

[Peter Antal]

Cheers elliot, do you mean dont botrher getting an acouistic without a solid top?...or a cedar one?

a solid top :)