# Big List of known Tonewoods.



## Hypno Toad

I've yet to find a very complete list of woods that you can use for guitar construction on the internet. This list is more for the electric guitar spectrum as I'm guessing most of these woods would not be very favorable for acoustic guitars. This thread is almost a complete list of woods in general, but I hope we can give a good explanation of tonal properties for each one, in hopes it'll be informative to those wanting to use an alternative tonewood.



Let me begin with what I've used/heard/read up on.


*Body Wood
*

*- Alder* (body wood) Sample

Most people describe it as balanced, or even a bit "edgy". One of the most popular body woods. Flat closed grain

*-Swamp Ash* (body wood) Sample

A bit more bright than alder; best described as being "crisp" another very popular body wood. Open grain.

*- Northern Hard Ash* (body wood)

Similar to Swamp ash, but twice as dense. Produced a considerably brighter sound than swamp ash.

*- Honduras Mahogany* (body, and neck wood)

A very sought after wood despite trade restrictions. Puts lot of emphasis on the low and mid tones of the guitar, giving it sort of a fatter sound. probably best described as "Round"

*- African Mohogany* (body, and neck wood)

Shares a lot in common with Honduras Mahogany, but has a deeper brown color, and is considerably cheaper than Honduras Mahogany.

*- Basswood* (body wood)

- A very lightweight, light colored wood. Used a lot in some lower end Asian-made guitars. Tone is best described as "smooth" or simply "neutral"

*- Maple* (body, neck, fretboard)

A light colored, dense wood with tight grain. Comes in many different figures. Used mostly in fretboard, guitar tops, and necks. Give a brighter, sometimes twangy sound.

*- Wenge* (body top, neck, fretboard)

A dark, odd looking chocolate colored wood. Diverse tone.

*- Bubinga* (body, fretboard, neck) Sample

A reddish brown colored hardwood. wavy figurative grain. Sound is rich, but snappy.

*- Koa* (body, neck, and fretboard wood)

Rare, beautiful, expensive wood from Hawaii. Favored for figured body tops and sometimes necks.

*- Australian Blackwood* (body, neck, fretboard)

Very rich yellowish brown color. Popular in acoustic bodies, but can (not necessarily should) be used for necks. Though is used primarily for acoustics, it is also sometimes used for guitar tops, and possibly for whole solid bodies if it can be get in quantity. Said to have a tone that puts more emphasis on high notes, with a somewhat "dry" sound.

*- African Blackwood* (fretboard, body top)

The most expensive hardwood in the world. Selling up to $75 PBF on average. The wood is prized for it's use in instruments, and plays a role very similar to ebony. Being use frequently for fretboard. Wood apparently has a dark sound, but causes some high overtones. Prized for use in woodwind instruments, but can be used for fretboards and a thin guitar tops if you want to spend the money. More popular for use in acoustic guitars than electrics. Best saved for luxury guitars (or as I call them, "bling" guitars).

*- American Sycamore* (body, neck, fretboard depending on wood quality)

The wood is a lighter yellowish color with blonde, wavy grain. The sound has been said to be "between mahogany and maple"

*- Mountain Ash* (body, neck, fretboard)

From my own personal experience, this is the single most irritating tree on earth. It makes drunken birds fly into your windows, and it trashes your back yard with millions of berries. What better way to show it who's boss than cut it down and make a guitar out of it? The wood is a bit plain, but still classy looking. The wood is very hard for it's weight, with density and tone somewhat similar to mahogany. Said to have a fairly warm, but clear tone. Wood can come in deeply figured forms.

*- Walnut* (body, neck, and fretboard wood) Sample

Best described as a warmer version of maple. A dense heavy wood. Looks beautiful with clear finish.

*- Black Walnut* (body, neck wood)

Similar to Walnut but slighter heavier, and a darker color. Very porous grain.

*- Satin Walnut* (body top, possibly neck and fretboard)

Cappuccino streaked wood. Not actually a walnut tree, the correct name for the tree is Sweet Gum. The wood is very heavy and tight grained. Has a harsh, deeper tone. Best used for body top as it looks good, but won't influence the sound quite as much. Can possibly be used for a fretboard because It's a very hard, stable wood. Would probably be good for bass guitars. 

*- Pine* (body wood) Sample

There are many variations of pine. Has a soft, but warm sound. Is a very light, resonant wood, and very cheap to purchase. Closely related to spruce.

*- Spruce (Sitka, Norwegian, White)* (body wood)

Not commonly used for solid bodies, but is very popular for acoustic soundboards. The sitka species is very populated and medium grade wood is cheap. It is possible to use for a solid body and get favorable results. The wood is extremely light and very resonant. High grade wood has a very uniform grain. Softer tone, improves acoustics.

*- Cedar* (body wood)

Popular for acoustic soundboards, but can also be used for solid bodies. Similar to Spruce and Pine. Softer, Brighter tone, Improves acoustics.

*
Continued below*


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## rhh7

I met a talented luthier today, and he lives only a few blocks from my house! He showed me 3 Tele bodies, made of alder, mahogany, and sitka spruce, respectively. I was blown away by the Sitka Spruce.

I am going to his workshop tomorrow. Getting a tour, and I intend to order a Sitka Spruce Tele body, routed for a humbucker in the neck.


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## Hypno Toad

*- Redwood* (body wood)

Another wood commonly used for soundboards, but can also be used for solid bodies. Can come beautifully figured. Lightweight wood, very resonant

*- Korina* (body, neck wood) Sample

White Korina is a light beige colored wood, with wavy grain. Black Korina has longer black streaks running through the wood. Tone is best described as "Airy"

*- Launa* (body, neck wood)

Often referred to as "Philippine Mahogany" is not actually a mahogany. It sometimes receives a bad rep for being an imitation mahogany in guitars. It does possess traits similar to mahogany, but is a fraction of the prices.

*- Kohekohe* (body, neck wood)

Often Referred to as "Sipo Mahogany" or "New Zealand Mahogany" Is a close relative to the other genuine mohoganys. Will share similar traits.

*- Zebrawood* (body, neck, fretboard wood. Sample

A very stunning wood, very heavy and waxy. Will be hard on your tools. Probably best used for a guitar top, but can still be used for a full body. Sounds heavy in a somewhat nasal way.

*- Madrone Burl* (body cap, fretboard)

Comes from the _broadleaved evergreen_ Arbutus tree growing exclusively on the coastal cliffs of west coast Canada and United States, as the tree only grows in rocky conditions by ocean water. Best used for Guitars tops and Fingerboards due to the small workable quantities found in trees. Wood is always figured. I'm not sure of the specifics of the tone because very few solid body guitars are made from it.

*- Padauk* (body, neck, fretboard wood) Sample

A vibrant red colored wood, that matures into a rich brown color. The wood is closely related to Indian Rosewood. The wood is heavy. It produces a lot of interesting overtones. The basic tone influence is sort of a bolder sound, with a strong mid range.

*- Pear Wood* (N/A)

Hard, heavy pinkish colored wood. Said to have an almost "Haunting" tone to it.

*- Apple Wood* (N/A)

Wavy grained yellowish wood. Put emphasis on the high end of the guitar.

*- Osage Orange* (N/A)

Dense yellowish wood. Commonly said to sound like Ebony and/or Rosewood.

*- Cherry*

Has a light yellow color, and lightly streaked grain. Very dense wood. it's had favorable results in acoustic guitars, but seems to be frequently frowned upon for electrics due to it's weight and price. Has been said to help with sustain due to it's dense nature.

*- Rosewood* (body, neck, fretboard)

Rosewood comes in different variations from different place. It is a dense oily wood. It has a full rich tone, and is prized for it's rich brown appearance

*- Ebony* (neck, fretboard, body cap)

Ebony is a dark heartwood. It is very waxy and oily, and extremely dense. It is one of the most expensive hardwoods available, being aprox. $30+ per board foot in it's cheapest variation. The tone is a bit brighter than rosewood due to the dense nature, with some tone dampening.

*- Purple Heart* (Body, Neck, fretboard) Sample

A waxy, dense wood. Name is reminiscent of the wood being that's it's a naturally purple wood. Supposedly has a brighter snappy tone, with a bit of boldness. The color reminds me of some 80's pop gig, though the wood looks interesting it's ultimately a tacky color.

*- Bloodwood* (Body, Neck, Fretboard)

Looks quite similar to padauk. Color is slightly less red, and grain is more straight, It's less porous and a bit more waxy. Tone is darker than padauk.

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That's all I got.

Feel free to elaborate on this stuff, or correct me on something if I have the wrong info. If you have a wood to add, by all means write it below, and I'll copy it up here.


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## shoretyus

Walnut and black walnut are the same thing are they not? American anyway.


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## Hypno Toad

No, common "Persian" walnut is "Juglans regia" Black Walnut is _"Juglans *****"_

There's a difference in color and density. The black walnut is bone dry, porous, and somewhat brittle, but still very heavy. Regular walnut is a bit more sturdy looking and light colored.


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## shoretyus

Hypno Toad said:


> No, common "Persian" walnut is "Juglans regia" Black Walnut is _"Juglans *****"_


Or English walnut..


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## copperhead

very nice list hipno toad ,pretty much everything except poplar which is another good tone wood similar to alder in sound & for solid colors ...funny thing what turns a good tone wood to junk is mass production of cheap guitars, like basswood & agathis .pumping out squires so cheap every one thinks the the wood got to be crap in the 90's it was basswood which is one of my favourite tone. lately its agathis in all the cheap bc rich and squires i do believe ,i know the cheap bronze series bc rich have a very heavy sound 
:wave:


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## Hypno Toad

shoretyus said:


> Or English walnut..


Odd how the people naming it got those confused


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## shoretyus

Hypno Toad said:


> Odd how the people naming it got those confused


Till ya price it :sport-smiley-002:


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## Lincoln

Is maple considered a tone wood? How about Cherry?


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## Hypno Toad

Ah, missed those.


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## bobb

copperhead said:


> very nice list hipno toad ,pretty much everything except poplar which is another good tone wood similar to alder in sound & for solid colors ...funny thing what turns a good tone wood to junk is mass production of cheap guitars, like basswood & agathis .pumping out squires so cheap every one thinks the the wood got to be crap in the 90's it was basswood which is one of my favourite tone. lately its agathis in all the cheap bc rich and squires i do believe ,i know the cheap bronze series bc rich have a very heavy sound
> :wave:


Basswood seems to be the wood of choice for some of the cheap imports these days. How times have changed, I seem to remember $2,500 Jacksons in the mid 1980s were made from basswood.


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## shoretyus

Lincoln said:


> Is maple considered a tone wood? How about Cherry?


Yes maple is a great tone wood. I don't think cherry is that great but is used.


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## Mooh

Lincoln said:


> Is maple considered a tone wood? How about Cherry?


Maple? Millions of violins and violin family instruments, likewise the mandolin family, guitars, banjos, even my autoharp has solid maple.

It is much less common to use hardwoods for top plates, but it's not unusual. I had a Martin all mahogany guitar on loan for a while last year that was simply stellar.

Cherry is a favourite of the Godin made acoustics, though usually as a laminate I believe. At the 12th Fret, I played a Marc Beneteau cherry guitar that was killer. Cherry is hard, stable, pretty, and works well.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Ship of fools

*And some more*

http://guitarbench.com/index.php/tonewood-database/
and then some more for you
http://www.thewoodbox.com/exoticwoods/bubinga.htm
You just have to love the wood.Ship


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## Hypno Toad

Woop, this thread is showing up first page on google now when you look up "list of tonewoods"

My plan is working 9kkhhd


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## Budda

great list! I may copy and paste this crediting you, if you're cool with that?


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## keeperofthegood

Hypno Toad said:


> Woop, this thread is showing up first page on google now when you look up "list of tonewoods"
> 
> My plan is working 9kkhhd



Next is to back edit in sound samples and/or youtube demonstrations of these woods XD


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## Hypno Toad

keeperofthegood said:


> Next is to back edit in sound samples and/or youtube demonstrations of these woods XD


D:

Well, it can be a long term project :smile:

Edit:

oh no, hit the text limit :|

Edit:

Divided the post.


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## Kaillen

Even more information on Tonewoods.

http://www.jemsite.com/jem/wood.htm
http://www.dreamguitars.com/tonewoods.htm

"Tops seem to create a situation where the attack of the notes will be more like the top wood, while the resonance and decay more like the bottom wood. The thickness and carve of a top dictates the degree of its effect on the sound. The glued unit will be more rigid than a single piece, so generally sustain increases."

I am having a custom body built for my current guitar, and I am thinking about doing a figured hard maple top with a cocobolo bottom. I tune to standard B or C, so I need clear lows (which my current alder body can't produce) while retaining my mids and highs. This combo should produce the sound I'm looking for, depending on the ammount of each wood used.


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## Lincoln

I bought a peice of Padeuk this weekend. The discription sounded interesting.
The sawdust is bright red/orange. My shop looks like a crime scene :smile:


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## Phlegethon

this thread contains a lot of information. . .and seeing as I am looking into various information needed to build a guitar for myself it's very useful. 

I would also say that this thread needs a sticky


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## Kaillen

And some more information:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1052639
http://www.soundunlimited.co.uk/article_Guitar_Tone_Woods_39.html


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## Kaillen

*Even more information.*

I am constantly on the lookout for all the information I can find on tonewoods, as the information seems to be a bit sparce and vague in places. Some luthiers have taken the time to write reports on how the different properties of woods affect the tone.

Here is an excellent article on that;
http://www.esomogyi.com/tonewoods.html

Inside the book linked below is even more information on how the different properties of wood affect the tone of the guitar. Many people say that 85 to 90% of a guitar's sound comes from the pickups. I completely agree and disagree at the same time. The quality of a pickup and its ability to accurately reproduce sound wholy affects the guitar's sound, and a good set of pickups can make cheap guitars sound quite nice. There are tons of different pickups that favor some frequencies and do different things (humbucking), so I would tell you that the sound of your guitar is only as good as the pickups. The combination of woods used between two different guitars, with the same pickups, will make the two guitars sound completely different however; this is why pickups are only half of the equation.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=CJB...&cad=1#v=onepage&q=brittle woods tone&f=false

I recently changed the neck of my guitar to one with the following properties; ebony fretboard, 0 fret, upside-down (making the lowest string longer) Sperzel machine heads and no truss rod. It was custom made by Seppo at frankinsteinguitarworks over a year ago and it has not warped or bowed, stored in various temperatures and humidities. This completely changed the way my guitar sounded, even after I had already switched to EGM 89, SA, SA on my fat strat. Harmonics ring forever, the sound is bright and the twang is gone due to the oilier nature of Ebony. 

The only thing left to do is to upgrade the body to something other than Alder, which is producing muddyness when I use a lower turning (C). I am currently thinking Spruce (excellent mids and highs with great projection) on top of Cocobolo (excellent lows and mids, with massive sustain and resonance) to round out my sound. Remember that high frequencies to not travel through dense objects as easily, so it is better to put the heavier piece of wood on the bottom for the extended range and sustain, while not sacrificing the highs and mids.


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## Hypno Toad

The wood doesn't shape the whole sound, you're not going to have an absolutely dramatic effect. It just adds to the character, mostly in dampening and brightening certain tones. I've got a few guitars made out of different things, and when played acoustically there is quite a large difference. Just out of rationality, I'd say

Hardware 20%
Headnut 20%
Wood 30%
Pickups 30%

I'm sure the difference between aluminum, brass, and steel hardware would be quite noticeable also. And of course the headnut material also greatly influences the sound. Change a graphtech headnut to a steel locknut and you'll notice a very large change in sound.

I'd say pickups go more towards shaping the quality of the sound. Punchy, Fat, "Bite" and all those terms are used to describe the sound a pickup might give the guitar.



Lincoln said:


> I bought a peice of Padeuk this weekend. The discription sounded interesting.
> The sawdust is bright red/orange. My shop looks like a crime scene :smile:


Haha, I've permanently stained a lot of my clothing mostly thanks to padauk. It's very intrusive to work with, but I love the results it gives. of course there's also the big mystery of how it's spelled and pronounced. I spell it padauk and pronounce it like (pah-dauwk)


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## Kaillen

Hypno Toad said:


> The wood doesn't shape the whole sound, you're not going to have an absolutely dramatic effect. It just adds to the character, mostly in dampening and brightening certain tones. I've got a few guitars made out of different things, and when played acoustically there is quite a large difference. Just out of rationality, I'd say
> 
> Hardware 20%
> Headnut 20%
> Wood 30%
> Pickups 30%
> 
> I'm sure the difference between aluminum, brass, and steel hardware would be quite noticeable also. And of course the headnut material also greatly influences the sound. Change a graphtech headnut to a steel locknut and you'll notice a very large change in sound.
> 
> I'd say pickups go more towards shaping the quality of the sound. Punchy, Fat, "Bite" and all those terms are used to describe the sound a pickup might give the guitar.
> 
> 
> 
> Haha, I've permanently stained a lot of my clothing mostly thanks to padauk. It's very intrusive to work with, but I love the results it gives. of course there's also the big mystery of how it's spelled and pronounced. I spell it padauk and pronounce it like (pah-dauwk)


I never factored hardware into the mix, but I think you've got it pretty well nailed. I think the point I was trying to make is that the sound of a guitar isn't 90% pickups; the wood definitely matters. One of the articles I read suggested to play the instrument without an amp and listen to each piece separately to see how each piece reproduces the sound. Play different chords and see which ones sound great and which ones are lacking. On my current guitar, the Alder body does not reproduce bass worth a ****; so drop tunings start to get really muddy past C. This is one of those cases where a different body wood will make all the difference; I guess it's all in what tuning you play and how sensitive your ears are to the tonal differences that come with each piece of your guitar.


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## Hypno Toad

Bit of a bump.

Got everything all sample'd up in the OP.


If you want something added, It'd be nice if you could format it like the ones in the first posts, like so:



> Wood (body, neck, fretboard)
> 
> Wood can be used to build guitars


That way I can easily just add it in.


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## Lincoln

Hypno Toad said:


> Haha, I've permanently stained a lot of my clothing mostly thanks to padauk. It's very intrusive to work with, but I love the results it gives. of course there's also the big mystery of how it's spelled and pronounced. I spell it padauk and pronounce it like (pah-dauwk)


How ever you say it or spell it, it's nice wood. The pores are so interesting, I'm not sure if I want to fill them completely or not. Kinda adds to it. Here's an update.


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## Hypno Toad

Wow, that's a pretty dark piece of padauk.

I left the pores open on one of mine.










I quite like grain patterns on a high gloss finish. I'm not sure why everybody fills them in all the time :|


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