As you go about this article you will find some of the best guitar back and sides for your next musical project. You might be inspired and motivated to undertake new projects. Many questions that arise while undertaking a project, will be answered. Your inner musical genius will awaken to new ideas, and making your own guitar just helps you understand your music a little better. In the end what we are trying to do is to help you make up your mind on what type of wood to get and to provide you with that wood exactly. Let's move on to the list.
Top 5 Woods for Guitar Back and Sides
1. Rosewood
Common name
Some common names in English include rosewood, Bombay blackwood, roseta rosewood, East Indian rosewood, reddish-brown rosewood, Indian palisandre, and Java palisandre.
Scientific name - Dalbergia latifolia
Dried Weight ( average ) - 52 lbs/ft3 (830 kg/m3)
Rosewood has a stunning rich range of brown and purple colors. India and Madagascar are some of the biggest rosewood growers. This rough, thick, oily wood can have very tight or coarse grains and can be very uniformly colored or very striped. Rosewood is known for its robust nature and sweet, warm tone. It is also used occasionally for neck blanks.
With an impressive sound, these necks have a classy, speedy feel to them. With great help, warm but not muddy. It makes a guitar set that sounds warm and rich with great resonance and volume. The heights are just singing. This wood can, however, also be used as body wood for the guitar.
2. Purpleheart
Common name
This tree can also be known by the following names Purpleheart and Amaranth.
Scientific name - Peltogyne spp.
Dried weight (average) - 56 lbs/ft3 (905 kg/m3).
Not only is the purpleheart guitar back and side wood admired for its physical characteristics, it is also appreciated because it is a very thick and tough wood and also because it has a very similar, but much warmer, brilliant tone to Hard Maple wood.
This wood is desired by many luthiers for color that will change the whole outlook of your acoustic guitar set. It's rough, heavy and thick wood. The feeling is less "glassy" with a tone similar to bubinga, more like rosewood.
3. Flame maple
Common Name
Curly maple, fiddleback maple, tiger maple, flamed maple, rippled maple
Scientific name - Acer spp.
Dried Weight - 30.2 to 44.0 lbs/ft3
Flame Maple produces bright and beaming sound, when the rigid wood reflects against sound waves. The sounding quality is noticeable in flamed maple guitar back and sides. The wood has a stunning appearance with undulating wa vase tiger pattern shines well after the final finishing process.
Since the tonewood has amazing strength and is quite dense, the tone and sound maple instruments generate are unique. In the maple wood, the unique curls or strips make it visually appealing and desired by instrument constructors.
4. Black Limba
Common name
Limba, Black Limba, White Limba, Korina, Afara, Frake, Ofram, Limba Clair, Limbo, Noyer Du Mayombe, Light Limba, Akom, Dark Limba, Chene Limbo.
Scientific name - Terminalia superba
Dried weight - 35 lbs/ft3 (555 kg/m3)
The Limba is a "deluxe Mahogany" timber, since its sound is very similar to Mahogany, but with a sweeter variety of media sounds and a much higher response. The Limba is a wood that is soft, resonant and balanced. It also offers great clarification, sense and sustainability.
Some of the most famous guitars in history are made from this wood, a very hard and stable acoustic guitar wood set wood. Fender, for instance, has chosen Limba to give its timeless Telecaster a breath of fresh air. In addition, the Limba was also used for the production of Gibson Explorer and Flying V guitars.
5. Figured Pale moon Ebony
Common Name(s):
Black and White Ebony, Pale Moon Ebony
Scientific Name: Diospyros malabarica (syn. Diospyros embryopteris, D. peregrina)
Average Dried Weight - 51 lbs/ft3 (825 kg/m3)
The Figured Pale Moon Ebony wood is dense and heavy, but to many guitar players it's a smooth tonewood with attractive characteristics. Guitar lovers are attracted by the visually stunning impact. For years, Pale Moon Ebony has been used as guitar drop-tops.
The wood has excellent working properties; it does well with machines, glues, turns and finishes. The timber has a natural oil content that leaves the item finished.
Now before completely fixating on your decision on what type of wood you would like to use for your guitar, we have a whole other article for you which you probably should have read before this.
If not, visit our blog understand what characters you should be looking for in a good guitar back and side.
This article also talks about the different types of guitar and what each guitar adds to the musical world. So do be sure to check it out before finalizing on your ideas.
