Look for solid woods when buying an acoustic guitar - Entertainment - Music

One of the biggest factors in the sound of an acoustic guitar is the kind of wood that is used in its construction. Spruce, mahogany, maple, rosewood and others are used in different combinations and in different designs to create each acoustic guitar. If you want a great sounding guitar, look for these and similar tone woods when choosing your next acoustic. And be aware that solid woods create the best sounding guitars.

Lower quality and lower priced guitars sometimes use laminated wood in their construction. Laminate means that there are very thin layers of wood glued together to create the sides, back and top of the guitar. This is done to save money during construction and to make the best possible use of the guitar maker's current inventory of tone woods because lesser quality wood and wood with imperfections can be hidden within the laminate layers.

Some guitar makers will use the words "rosewood back and sides" for example, without mentioning if they mean a piece of solid rosewood is used. They may in fact use laminates but simply fail to say so. There is nothing wrong with this, and it's not false advertising in any way. They are simply leaving out some details about their guitars. Here's a tip: guitar makers that use solid woods almost always say so when describing their instruments. Be sure you know the difference before laying down your hard earned dough.

The sound of an acoustic guitar is dependent a great deal on how the wood vibrates. Laminates vibrate in a much different way than solid wood and the characteristics of the sound are noticeably of less quality. Guitars made of solid wood are more consistent and balanced. The reason? Laminated wood uses glue to hold the pieces together and the glue actually keeps the wood from vibrating fully, leading to poor tone.

Some guitars have a combination of solid wood and laminate and can sound great that way so don't rule them out when trying to find an acoustic that sounds great and still fits into your budget. And there are guitars that feature laminate construction that can sound even better than a solid wood guitar in some cases. The only way to really tell is to play them (and that's the fun part).

As you shop for your next acoustic guitar, keep this information handy and pay close attention to the way a guitar is constructed and the materials used. And buy solid woods whenever possible.

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