Tone woods matrix

[sachi]

I always wondered why we have ALL Koa, Hog, etc guitars.  Has anyone ever had or seen an all EIR guitar?  Would it work to have rosewood as a top etc?

There have been a few, jj, and there have been some posts about them over on the AGF. They apparently don't work all that well. Rosewood is a hard wood and reflects sound well, but it does not move much so does not suit as a topwood.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

I always wondered why we have ALL Koa, Hog, etc guitars.  Has anyone ever had or seen an all EIR guitar?  Would it work to have rosewood as a top etc?

You can certainly use Rosewood for a top but tonally you would not gain anything over Spruce. About ten years ago I had Breedlove build me an all Walnut CM that was truly a work of art but tonally my standard Walnut/Spruce CM was superior in every way.

[Scriptor]

Tradional wood pairings have become traditional for a good reason ... in general Rosewood with Sitka or Englemann have always appealed to me ... I have also become fond of Walnut with Sitka.  I'm sure an all Rosewood guitar would be pretty but I doubt if it would really sing with the soundboard/top being Rosewood.  It might be a darker tone that some would like ... I say this having been surprised by an all Mahogany guitar a couple of years ago.  It would not be my only guitar, but that all Mahogany had something special ...

[michaelw]

I always wondered why we have ALL Koa, Hog, etc guitars.  Has anyone ever had or seen an all EIR guitar?  Would it work to have rosewood as a top etc?

whatever top that has been used on a T5 could  likely be used
on an acoustic, but it may not sound 'the greatest' played acoustically -
rosewood, cocobolo, macassar ebony, maple ...
tasmanian blackwood & walnut are good, as is imbuia &
i imagine ovangkol (like on the T5-X) would be pretty nice on a GS

myrtlewood & satinwood are not currently on the BTO 'menu' &
aa-quilt maple has been absent for a while, but if it ever comes back
i'd like this kind of top on a GS-c BTO

[Picken Pappy]

These are the tonewoods I could find. Let me know if I missed any. And certainly don't worry if you are not familiar with any of these. We'll just rate what we know.

There is one tone wood that is very seldom seen. Guild guitar used it for a short time in the early to mid 1980’s with fantastic results, the D46. Solid Ash back and sides with a Sitka spruce top. It gives you the lows like rose wood and the mid and highs like maple. I know Washburn uses ash in a few guitars; I’ve played them and was disappointed. They just don’t seem to have it right IMHO. But also having a D46, I know what beautiful tones Ash can give.

[cigarfan]

There is one tone wood that is very seldom seen. Guild guitar used it for a short time in the early to mid 1980’s with fantastic results, the D46. Solid Ash back and sides with a Sitka spruce top. It gives you the lows like rose wood and the mid and highs like maple. I know Washburn uses ash in a few guitars; I’ve played them and was disappointed. They just don’t seem to have it right IMHO. But also having a D46, I know what beautiful tones Ash can give.

Pappy ... that is one purdy gitar!

Ash has been added to the list.

In addition I have added quite a few more. The current list is:

African Satinwood
Alder
Ancient Kauri
Ash
Basswood
Black limba
Blackheart Sassafras
Blackwood
Bocote
Bubinga
Butternut
Canalete
Chechen
Cocobolo
Granadillo (often referred to as Black Cocobolo)
Hormigo
Hormigo
Imbuia (also called Brazilian Walnut)
Koa
Korina (Black)
Korina (White)
Lacewood
Macassar Ebony
Mahogany
Makore
Maple (Big leaf)
Maple (Birds Eye)
Maple (European)
Meranti
Monkey Pod
Muira Piranga
Myrtlewood
Oak
Ovangkol
Padauk (African)
Padauk (Andaman)
Pau Ferro (also known as Morado or Bolivian Rosewood)
Pear
Poplar
Poplar (Tulip)
Purple Heart
Rosewood (Amazon)
Rosewood (Brazilian)
Rosewood (East Indian)
Rosewood (Honduran)
Rosewood (Madagascar )
Sapele
Snakewood
Sycamore
Teak
Walnut (Black)
Walnut (Claro)
Walnut (White)
Wenge
Zebrano
Zebrawood
Ziricote