Tonewood - Business

Tonewoods br Back and sides br Yew once was one of the most prized tonewoods for lutes The advent of firearms rendered unnecessary the yew stocks intended for archery and thus yew became available for use in lutherie In the late 20th century yew became endangered and scarce from overharvesting for medical uses and it is now used very rarely br Brazilian Rosewood Dalbergia nigra Brazil Sometimes called jacaranda this species of genuine rosewood ranges in color from brick red to violet with spidery black streaks known as spiderwebbing The wood smells like roses when freshly cut Brazilian rosewood is endangered and on the CITES convention list Hence it is more costly and difficult to obtain than other tonewoods It is extremely sonically reflective producing full deep basses and brilliant trebles Brazilian rosewood is available in limited quantities and is not commonly used for large production instruments but is rather used by small shop and individual luthiers Stumpwood or B razilian rosewood harvested from stumps of trees cut in the past remains available and may be allowed to pass CITES muster depending on the degree of documentation of its provenance However Brazilian rosewood stumpwood is often flatsawn rather than quartersawn with the grain direction parallel to the wide surface of the wood Flatsawing improves yield and allows the use of wood which might not otherwise be sufficiently large for instruments but the non radial plane of the growth rings increases its vulnerability to humidity and temperature changes and gives the wood a predisposition to crack along the grain br The Martin guitar company famous for its Brazilian rosewood instruments made in the 1920s and 1930s switched from primarily using Brazilian rosewood for guitar back and sides to Indian rosewood in 1969 due to export regulations higher prices and scarcity of Brazilian Rosewood br In addition to its use as backs and sides of guitars Brazilian Rosewood is considered a very good wood for use in fretted instrument fingerboards br East Indian Rosewood Dalbergia latifolia Distinguishing processed i e sanded and lacquered East Indian rosewood from Brazilian is not impossible for somebody in the know Brazilian rosewood can display distinct visual features not found on East Indian rosewood such as spiderwebbing Currently East Indian rosewood in India is controlled by the Indian government Dalbergia latifolia tends to be harvested from tea plantations where it is used as a shade tree Sometimes sissoo shisham etc Dalbergia sissoo is used as a substitute which is similar in structure and tonally similar being reflective and producing a deep warm projective bass response br Dalbergia latifolia is typically richly grained with dark purple red and brown color br Dalbergia sissoo is somewhat similar to latifolia except it is yellowbrown in color only rarely tending towards red or purple This wood can also display dark streaks br Genuine or Honduran Mahogan y Swietenia macrophylla from Central America Yellowish brown to reddish brown in color Genuine or Amazon mahogany is very stable Mahogany is lighter in weight than rosewood koa or maple In spite of its weight mahogany yields a strong loud sound with a quick response and an emphasis on warm round midrange br Figured Mahogany This beautiful and rare often quilted variety of genuine mahogany occurs in a very small percentage of mahogany trees Though more difficult to bend figured mahogany shares the same tonal properties of the unfigured mahogany br Cuban Mahogany Swietenia mahagoni from the Caribbean Cuban mahogany is somewhat similar to mahogany from mainland South America in appearance However it tends more towards reddish brown in color and is denser than Honduras mahogany also the texture is much finer Woodworkers often compare Cuban mahogany to silk and Honduran mahogany to burlap The tone is similar to Honduran mahogany with some feel a better treble response br European Flamed Maple Acer campestre from Germany Curly flamed tiger striped or Fiddleback maple refers to the characteristic alternating hard and soft rippling which runs perpendicular to the grain in some rarer maple trees This particular species of European maple is very hard and reflective producing a loud powerful projective sound br Bird s Eye Maple br Western Hard Rock Maple Acer campestre from Northern America It is very similar to European maple although the figure in the wood can be different The difference between European or Eastern and Western maple can sometimes be identified by small streaks of minerals found only in European maple br Ebony br Koa Acacia koa from Hawaii Golden brown color with dark streaks and a lustrous sheen Koa wood occasionally develops a curly or flamed figure Regardless of any figuring koa seems to have a bass response that is slightly less than that of rosewood and treble response that is slightly less than that of mahogany The result is a very equally balanced instrument br Walnut br Morado Machaerium scleroxylon from Bolivia Also known as Bolivian or Santos rosewood or palisander morado ranges in color from a light violet brown to reddish brown with occasional olive and black streaks Finer in texture than most rosewoods morado is a close visual substitute for East Indian rosewood and has very similar tonal properties br Myrtlewood Umbellularia californica from North America Myrtlewood can be found in the coastal mountain regions of northern California and southern Oregon With coloration anywhere from an elegant whitish straight grained look a blonde mahogany to yellow green with flame the tonal personality of myrtlewood is consistent br Makassar Ebony Diospyros celebica this species is endemic to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia Deeper and richer sounding than East Indian rosewood many would characterize striped ebony as very similar to Brazilian rosewood It is dense has similar reflective properties to Brazi lian and it also has a high specific gravity It has a striking distinctive vertical stripe pattern variegated dark brown black and green It makes a truly exceptional twelve string Status Threatened br Cherry Prunus spp With a density and reflectivity approaching that of maple cherry produces a rich projective midrange and balance without favoring the bass or treble frequencies br Alder Alnus spp It has a full and rich sound with a fat low end and nice cutting mids and good overall warmth and sustain It has less bite and lesser highs than ash Alder is the most common body woods used by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and is usually found in Stratocasters br White Ash It exhibits a snappy loud tone with a bright edge but with a warm bass and long sustain It is more aggressive sounding than alder Ash is considered as the traditional Fender Telecaster body wood The tonal character of ash is surprisingly loud and bright with a strong midrange and a crisp bass Ash is not us ed very often for acoustic guitars br Poplar Populus spp One of the softer hardwoods nicely resonant with a meaty tone This wood is being used by many electric guitar manufacturers as a substitute for alder as it is quite similar in tone br Basswood The principal wood used on most Japanese made instruments since it is the best available tonewood in Asia although customer demand made the Japanese builders turn more to ash since 2004 It is a very light wood but it also isn t very sturdy and has no real grain Its tonal response is very similar to alder br Akoum also called okoum A highly flamed central African hardwood with the tonal properties of maple br Pear is commonly used for lute pegs br Topwoods soundboard br Sitka Spruce Picea sitchensis from Northwest Canada and Alaska Sitka spruce is the primary topwood for Martin and Gibson acoustic guitars It is chosen because of its consistent quality as well as its straight uniform grain longevity and tensile strength Tonally Sit ka spruce is extremely vibrant providing an ideal diaphragm for transmission of sound on any size and style of stringed instrument br Bear Claw Sitka Spruce Not a separate species but a relatively rare configuration of Sitka Spruce The wood is randomly figured due to genetic or environmental factors to look like a bear has clawed across the grain of the wood Once discarded by guitar manufacturers this particular variety is now highly coveted for its unique patterns From the Pacific Northwest br Engelmann Spruce Picea engelmannii from North America Engelmann spruce is prized for its similarity in color to European German White spruce as well as its extreme lightness in weight which seems to produce a slightly louder and more projective or open sound than Sitka spruce citation needed Engelmann spruce grows in the alpine elevations of the American Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Cascades It is considerably more limited in supply than Sitka spruce and therefore mainly used for t op of the range acoustic guitars such as in Yamaha s highest offerings br Adirondack Spruce aka Red Spruce Picea rubens This legendary wood that Martin used for its tops throughout its golden years came from the East Coast from the Southern Mountains into New England and upper New York State Called both Appalachian and Adirondack spruce it has a creamy white color Similar to Sitka Adirondack responds well to either a light or firm touch It has more overall resonance than Sitka citation needed Interesting grain color variations make this another visually desirable top Adirondack has been unavailable since the mid 1940s Virgin growth has been fortunately preserved in national parks the rest is all second growth plentiful but too small to be usable for guitar tops until recently Guitar makers have started finding second growth of at least 100 years old that is big enough to be used for tops again Adirondack is like Alpine spruce very expensive and mainly used for top of the ran ge acoustic guitars br Norway Spruce Picea abies from Europe The ringiest of all spruce species citation needed Extremely clear and bell like with the versatility of Sitka Exceptional sound for light to very firm techniques citation needed Very white in color br Western Red Cedar Thuja plicata from Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest of the United States Coloration runs from light almost as light as Sitka to a very dark reddish brown br Redwood from North America It has more richness in the bass than cedar citation needed Redwood responds to subtle playing with a crisp balanced sound citation needed The bass response is particularly round and full with a piano like crispness citation needed Lacquer and glue do not bond quite as well as the spruces Because of this as with cedar some Luthiers Goodall recommend light gauge strings only on guitars with these tops Originally from Northern California many luthiers i e Breedlove get redwood from recycled lumber and timber salv age br Western Larch Larix occidentalis from North America Western larch has clearly marked annual rings and a fine uniform texture Larch is harder and stronger than most conifers including spruce br Koa Acacia koa from Hawaii Historically koa tops have appeared primarily on small bodied Hawaiian guitars and ukuleles although recent koa dreadnoughts and custom guitars have been popular Koa produces a predominately bright treble response with less volume than spruce but the slight loss in volume is overshadowed by the extreme beauty of the grain Koa tops are available on special order and custom instruments br Genuine Mahogany Swietenia macrophylla from Brazil Mahogany was first introduced as a topwood in 1922 on the less expensive guitars Tonally mahogany is less projective than spruce producing a subdued response that is crisp and delicate with emphasis on the midrange citation needed Mahogany tops are usually available only custom instruments but has recently become a stan dard top br External links br Tonewood preparation and grading br Guitarbench s database of tonewood species br Rivolta s list of tonewood species br Violin tonewood page at Eastman Strings br Macassar ebony conservation status br Categories Lutes Guitars WoodHidden categories Articles lacking sources from July 2007 All articles lacking sources NPOV disputes from August 2009 Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2007 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from February 2007

Griffbretter Gitarre