People who don't play an instrument often think that an electric guitar or bass is actually just a block of wood with strings on it.  While that may be true from a certain point of view, musicians know that instruments come to life in their hands. Each instrument has a unique voice and feel, and two are rarely the same, even when they sound similar.  Every part of an instrument is important. Strings are important, hardware is important, type of paint is important. The wood is especially important. The type of wood and how it is treated in the factory determines how the instrument looks, sounds and plays.

What types of wood are used for guitars?

Not all woods are suitable for use in all parts of a guitar. For example, spruce wood is often used for tops in acoustic guitars, but is not an ideal material for electric instruments. Each of the major tonewoods has its own place and is chosen for its specific characteristics.

To qualify as a good guitar wood, a wood must be strong enough to hold up structurally, but also have the tonal characteristics that a luthier is looking for for a particular project. As such, each project requires its own approach.

Maple

Flame Maple on the back of an acoustic guitar – image by Josred Handmade Guitars.

Maple is a very hard wood with good sound qualities and good sustain. Guitar necks are traditionally made from maple, partly for its strength, and partly because the material can accentuate and strengthen the wood in the body. Maple is also often used as a guitar body top, partly because it is beautiful (think flame, or quilted maple tops), and partly because it can brighten a sound that would otherwise be muddy.

Mahogany

Mahogany used as the body and top wood on a Gibson Les Paul

Many guitar and bass bodies are made of mahogany. There are 49 varieties of mahogany, but many are virtually extinct due to the wood's popularity for furniture and musical instruments, and the types used today are not the same as the mahogany used in guitars in the 1940s or 1950s. Mahogany gives a warm timbre with a lot of bottom end. Les Paul type guitars often combine a mahogany body with a maple top for a totally balanced look.

Basswood

Basswood used for the guitar body of an Ibanez RG7

Basswood comes from lime trees and is soft and easy to work with. A side effect of being soft is that it also dents easily. Because it does not have much grain or color, it is most commonly used on instruments with an opaque paint finish, although this is not always the case (as in the photo above). Basswood has a warm, balanced sound with a great midrange and good sustain.

Alder

A Stratocaster body made of Alder

Alder was very popular in the 50s and 60s, and many Fender guitars from that era were made from Alder. Nowadays it is relatively more expensive to make wood and it is not so common. It is lightweight, has beautiful grain patterns and produces a warm sound with plenty of treble. An instrument made from Alder is likely to have less midrange and bass than instruments made from other woods.

Swamp Ash

A Telecaster body made from Swamp Ash – image c/o chrisbewick.com

Many American guitar factories use Swamp Ash because the wood is lightweight, beautiful and has a pleasant timbre. Swamp Ash has good sustain, solid bass, bite in the midrange and airy highs.

Other popular guitar woods

Other popular guitar woods include Korina, which was popularized by Gibson in the late 1950s. It is beautiful yet light, providing a warm and balanced sound with good sustain.

Japanese Ash is not really related to any other form of Ash, but it is similar. This is an expensive guitar wood with clear highs and mids, good bass and great sustain.

American Tulipwood (Poplar), Wenge, Phoenix, Paulownia and Agathis are other woods commonly used in guitar bodies, each with its own specific tonal qualities.

In addition to the wood type, individual pieces or blanks each have their own unique characteristics in terms of feel and tone. It depends on where the tree grew, how fast it grew and how the wood was treated after the tree was cut down.

Fretboards are important

The material in the neck and fingerboard is also important. Some guitars have both a maple neck and fingerboard, and they usually have a bright and open sound. Rosewood is traditionally used for fretboards, usually paired with a maple neck, because it is a hardy and oily wood that can withstand intensive human Contact. Rosewood gives a darker tone than maple alone.

In later years, restrictions have been seen in the import and use of rosewood, and other materials are becoming popular instead. Today, many luthiers have started using woods such as Pau Ferro and Cocobolo in place of rosewood, with good results.

Ebony is a beautiful and very hard wood that is popular for keyboard instruments, although it is not seen as often because it is both rare and expensive. Ebony is especially popular in fretless guitars, where it is more durable than softer materials that are easily worn by the strings.

Has the wood used in guitar making changed over time?

There are differences between the woods used in many old guitars compared to what today's luthiers use, but whether the sound is better or worse is subjective.

Some wood species that were widely used in the 1950s are almost extinct today and can no longer be used for mass production. For example, import and use are restricted for certain types of mahogany, rosewood and ebony, and major guitar manufacturers in the US have been raided by law enforcement on suspicion of using illegal materials.

Are all guitars made of wood?

There are guitar manufacturers that do not use wood. Some instruments are made of aluminum and some use aluminum for the necks and fretboards. Others use carbon fiber and others take yet another route, away from traditional woods. Danelectro, for example, makes a frame from Poplar and covers it with Masonite.

Every instrument is different – that's part of what makes them so great. You may have to try many before you find one with a voice that suits you.