Special Investigation: Woods

Woods-

There are a few different kinds of wood used to make the body of electric guitars, although other types can be used, most electric guitars will be made out of either alder, ash, basswood, mahogany, spruce, koa or rosewood. I will compare these different types of wood here:

• Alder- Alder is a lightweight wood which is easy to add a finish to. It doesn’t favor any particular end of the tone spectrum, but still gives a clear and rich sound. It is a fairly cheap wood and is very common on solid body guitars. At present day, alder wood is used on Fender Telecasters, Stratocasters, Jaguars and Jazzmasters, and in the past has been used on Gibson Explorers and some Ibanez Jems. Alder has the main advantages of being cheap to mass produce and light in weight which gives it practicality benefits.

• Ash- There are different types of ash wood, with the main ones being swamp ash and hard ash. Swamp ash is lighter than hard ash, and sits in the middle of the tone spectrum, similar to alder. Swamp ash generally loses some of the mid frequencies compared to alder and hard ash. Hard ash is heavier, and generates a brighter tone as well as greater sustain. Heavier music favours hard ash over swamp ash. Both types of ash wood are fairly expensive. Ash has been used in guitars such as Fender Telecasters, very early Stratocaster models, Vox Phantoms, Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstrat and other Kramer guitar models. One main drawback of ash is it being more expensive to use. Due to the brighter tone qualities of ash, it might be favoured by a guitarist looking for more bite in their guitar tone.

• Basswood- This is a relatively cheap wood which is easy to work with in the manufacturing process. In terms of tone, basswood has a warmer tone than many others and tends to have an overall softer tone with the highest and lowest frequencies being softened. Basswood is used to manufacture many Ibanez guitars including the JS and the JEM as well as certain editions of the Fender Jazzmaster. Some players might prefer the overall flatter tone for their style of music, however many would probably prefer certain tones to be emphasised in their sound.

• Mahogany- Mahogany is a durable and resonant wood, which gives guitars a warm tone that really emphasises the bottom end. There are many different types of mahogany, but they all have very similar characteristics. Mahogany is the main wood used for the body of the Gibson Les Paul, Flying V and SG models as well as the Ibanez S. The warm quality of mahogany is very desirable to many players, and lends itself well to both distorted and clean tones. The heavy nature of mahogany does bring some slight practicality issues however.

• Maple- While maple is not normally used as the primary wood in a body, it is sometimes used as a laminate material on bodies made out of more than one wood. Laminate maple bodies can be used to bring a brighter tone where a guitar might be sounding too warm because of the wood used. Maple is also very easy to paint and decorate which makes it easier to make a guitar look better. Many guitars use maple as a laminate wood such as Les Pauls, which use maple to bring out the higher tones left out by the mahogany body.

All of these different woods have different drawbacks and redeeming qualities which is why they are chosen and favoured by different players and manufacturers. For example, some players might be looking for the comfort and convenience of a lighter guitar so may choose a guitar of alder and avoid one made of mahogany, whereas another player might be looking for a guitar specifically for a rich and deeper tone so would pick mahogany over alder or basswood. Overall, there isn’t one superior wood, as it all comes down to personal preference and what the manufacturer or player wants from the guitar.

Much like the body of a guitar, there are several main types of wood used to make electric guitar necks: maple; rosewood; and mahogany. On top of this, different woods are also used to make the fingerboards of guitars. Fingerboards are usually made of either maple or rosewood.

• Maple- Maple necks are very common, and provide guitars with a bright tone and good sustain. It is a very hard and dense wood that has to be laminated for use on a neck. It is the neck wood of choice for Fender, and is used on all five of their main production guitars (Telecaster, Stratocaster, Jaguar, Mustang and Jazzmaster). Maple can also be used to make fretboards, and is commonly used on guitars including Telecasters, Stratocasters, Les Pauls and SGs.

• Rosewood- Primarily used for fretboards but can also be used for making necks, rosewood lends a warm tone to guitars. It is the most popular fretboard used in mass production and is the preference of most players. The natural oily qualities of rosewood mean it doesn’t need a finish, which is considered undesirable by many guitarists. Rosewood is used on a wide range of guitars including the main five Fender models, most Ibanez models and many Gibson guitars as well.

• Mahogany- This neck wood generates a very warm and fat tone. It requires finishing because of the open pore nature of the wood. Mahogany is not used for making necks. It is the favoured neck wood for most Gibson guitars including Les Pauls, SGs, Explorers and Firebirds, as well as on Epiphone guitars like the Casino.

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