Ibanez Exotic Wood by makelessnoise via FlickrIf you are like me, and you play guitar incessantly, then you have probably wondered why some guitars sound better than others, or why your two favorite guitars are you favorites. What is so special about those two (or, if you are really like me, 12) instruments that makes them distinct? Is it the paint job? Is it the pick-ups? Maybe it’s the age of the guitar, or maybe it’s because it is your first guitar. Maybe it’s the Paul Gilbert autograph on the back plate. Yes, some of those things are a factor (sadly, the autograph won’t give you Paul Gilbert’s picking technique) but if I had to guess the reason, I’d say it’s the wood that makes it good.

Tone woods, as luthiers refer to them, are the woods chosen for their specific tone(s) in order to build instruments such as guitars, violins and cellos. Different woods offer different tonal qualities, and combining these woods can result is some even more killer tones!!! Let’s discuss what makes some woods preferable to others for specific sounds, what to look for when you are looking to buy a new instrument, and what woods will give you the tones you may be looking for in your guitar(s).Different wood = Different tone

As you know guitars are made of wood, and many different of choices of woods produce a wide variety of tones. The body can be a combination of materials: the back, the top, the tone block and all of these different variables can produce different sounds. These are the most common body wood choices; alder, ash, basswood, mahogany, poplar, walnut, and koa. Let’s break these down shall we…what makes these woods so cool?

• Alder: a lightweight wood with tight pores.  Offers a complexity of tones similar to basswood but offers more mid-range Example guitars using this wood: Ibanez Jem, Fender American Standard Stratocaster
• Basswood: a soft and lightweight wood but very easy to work with, easy to cut and sand, accepts finish easily. Offers defined highs and tight lows. Very distinct sound Example guitars using this wood: Ernie Ball/Music Man John Petrucci model, Ibanez JS1200
• Ash:  Now here there are two types that may be used, swamp ash and hard ash. Ash is a combination of hard and soft material in the wood. This makes each body blank sound very different from one another, even if they are cut from the same tree. The coolest thing about ash, since it has both hard spots and soft spots is it that you pretty much get a wide range of tones. The clarity of the low’s, mid’s and high’s are all very pronounced. Example guitars using this wood: Fender American Deluxe Telecaster
• Mahogany:  This is kind of the be-all-end-all of tone woods. Mahogany is used primary by Gibson for many of their models. Chances are good the song that made you want to pick-up the guitar was played on a guitar made of mahogany. For me, it was Randy Rhoads on his Les Paul Custom playing “Crazy Train.” If Slash is your guy, or Jimmy Page, or Joe Perry, or Ted Nugent, or even Hendrix when he was in Band of Gypsies etc, etc, then you have heard the bliss that is mahogany. This is a heavy wood both in weight and in tone.  This wood is very good in pushing out low’s and mid’s. Characteristically it has a “nasal” tone, as evidenced by “Whole Lotta Love” or “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
• Walnut: This wood is dark in color like ash but dense like mahogany. It could be described as a combination of mahogany, ash and alder. It’s pretty stubborn in that it doesn’t really respond to pick-up changes. (I know I haven’t talked about pick-ups at all but this characteristic is unique to walnut).  Used more commonly in bass guitars and in custom made guitars. Good walnut is too expensive for your typical production line model guitar.
• Koa: This wood is very rare and comes from typically tropical climates. As a result is has higher oil content which, as you may have guessed, effects the sound.  The high oil content effects the highs more than anything, as it can limit the range of the higher frequencies.  Again, it’s a bit too expensive for production model guitars and is a pricey upgrade. Often times many companies will have a special line of guitars in limited runs that are made from koa. Gibson and Taylor have both done this in the past.

Now, of course, these are just a sample of some of the woods that luthiers choose when building guitars. We have just barely scratched the surface of this topic.  In part two, we shall discuss adding other woods as a top and tone block (the center of the body where the pick-ups are placed), and how the neck and fretboard woods add to the sound of your favorite axe.