Is maple a good tone wood?

Is maple a good tone wood?

In addition to its stunning visual appeal, maple is also a highly regarded tonewood. The tone and sound maple instruments produce are unique because the tonewood has amazing strength and is quite dense. The unique curls or strips in the bigleaf maple wood make it visually appealing and desired by instrument builders.

What tone is maple wood?

What Color is Maple Wood? Whereas many trees are prized by woodworkers for their heartwood, it’s usually the sapwood of maple that’s used in fine wood furniture. It tends to be a white hue with pitch fleck and mineral streaks adding some reddish-brown tints to it, though the color will deepen some with age.

What are 5 examples of tone woods?

Guitar Tone Woods

• Body Woods. Alder.
• Basswood. Inexpensive tone wood, which is easy to work with in the factory, easy to cut, sand and finish.
• Mahogany. Mahogany, mainly used in the acoustic world, for back and sides.
• Swamp Ash. Ash is available in two types: Northern (hard) or Southern (soft).
• Walnut.
• Koa.
• Maple.
• Rosewood.

Is maple good guitar wood?

Maple is a very hard type of wood with good tonal qualities and good sustain. Maple is also often used as a top for the guitar body, partly because it is beautiful (think flame or quilted maple tops), and partly because it can give a bright sound that would otherwise be murky.

What is the best tone wood?

Top Woods. Arguably the most common tonewood, Sitka Spruce is a well-rounded tonewood, one suited for many styles of playing. It’s known for its tight grain pattern and its high stiffness and relative lightness, translating to a broad dynamic range that stands up well when strummed heartily.

Is Maple heavy guitar?

Also, due to its density, it’s heavy. It also reflects resonance really well so if a non-vibrating guitar body is your thing then have at it!

Does a maple top affect tone?

So it seems the Maple top is just for looks and imparts nothing tangible in the way of tone alterations.

Is Oak a tone wood?

Oak can be used as a tonewood and is somewhat commen for acoustic guitars but when compaired to other tonewoods it’s hard to work with. It’s also a bit heavy and dence for electric guitars so if you use it, it won’t sound “normal”. That may or may not be a good thing.

Is maple heavy guitar?

Which is harder maple or rosewood?

Rosewood is known to be much mellower, and usually makes it’s way on mahogany bodies and necks. They definitely feel different too. A maple neck is harder and feels very smooth under your fingers, while rosewood has some sponginess to it due to the porous properties of the wood.

What makes a good tone wood?

Rosewoods. Rosewood, which takes the name from its characteristic floral scent, is an ideal tonewood for backs and sides. “Rosewood is dense and heavy compared to other woods—almost so heavy that it sinks in water,” Boak says. “And it produces extremely warm and resonant tones.”

What kind of maple is used in tonewood?

An extreme version of this is the bubble maple that Gibson once used on archtops to great effect. The more extreme grain figures can definitely have an effect on tone, as the re-sawing process necessarily creates short grain and runout in the blank.

Which is the best tonewood for a guitar back?

I am speaking of maple, a frequently overlooked choice for the tonewood of the backs and sides of fine acoustic guitars. Often thought of more in the context of archtop backs (or Les Paul tops), maple has been used to great effect on some of the greatest flat-tops in history.

What’s the difference between a tonewood and a spruce?

We’ve already touched on the fact that a tonewood’s characteristics can accentuate different frequencies. Mahogany for instance accentuates the mid-range frequencies. Spruce on the other hand tends to offer a wider dynamic range due to its lightness and ability to vibrate freely.

What is thermal modification of tonewood ( TMT )?

Thermal modification of tonewood (TMT) is an exciting new development in the guitar world. TMT uses a specialized kiln… PRT’s work with maple was recently featured in Wood & Steel, the magazine for Taylor Guitars. Volume 81/Winter 2015.…