Custom Acoustic Guitar Options
When looking to build a guitar yourself, or to hire a luthier to build one for you
, you'll discover that there are many more options that you may originally have thought which go into the creation of a custom acoustic guitar. Wood selection, shape, size, binding, purfling, and many other items are part of the decision and design process, and many of these have a profound impact on the sound and tone of the instrument, not to mention the look and feel.
Let's define and examine three of the major choices you'll have when building a custom acoustic guitar.
Acoustic Guitar Tonewood
The term "tonewood" refers to any wood that is used in the making of a musical instrument. Different woods react differently to the guitar construction process, but just as importantly, they react differently to sound, so the selection of tonewood will affect the sound of the instrument.
For the guitar body, common tonewoods are Alder, Basswood, Swamp Ash, Walnut, Mahogany, Koa, Maple, and Spruce. They will each have different tones based on the hardness of the wood, the consistency of the grain, and how porous the wood is, all of which affect the resonance and sustainability of a sound as it reverberates in and around the guitar. For example, a soft wood with tight grains such as Basswood will produce a sound where the highest frequencies are dampened, whereas a hard Maple will produce sharp high notes that are bright and clean.
Guitar Shape
Acoustic guitars come in many shapes, with the "dreadnought" shape being common. This shape of guitar, popularized by the C.F. Martin company in the 1930's, was named after a battleship which supposedly had a similar shape. The dreadnought shape makes for a large-bodied guitar, where sound will be bolder and have more "boom" than you'd find in a smaller guitar.
Other guitar shapes are parlor guitars, which are smaller and curvier, and "orchestra model" guitars, which are more used by fingerstyle players of either classical or bluegrass music.
Fretboard
There is also a tonewood choice involved in the fretboard, because the fretboard doesn't have to be made of the same wood as the body or neck of the guitar. Many players like a rosewood fretboard, which has a little bit of "give" to it, and is naturally oily. Rosewood produces a sound that is cleaner and more pure than Maple, for example, because stray overtones may get absorbed by the oily surface of the wood. Ebony is another fretboard choice, and since it is more brittle, it provides a sound that is more crisp and percussive.
These are just some of the many options you'll find when you start designing a custom guitar. The best advice is to learn about how each wood choice will combine with others, and combine with the size and shape of the guitar, to create the effect you are looking for. Some folks want a small guitar that still produces good low tones, so they will want to take careful consideration when selecting wood and materials. Talk to an expert luthier to learn about these options, and don't work with any guitar builders who do not have experience across multiple types of guitar tonewood. Guitar making requires a variety of experience, and it's not worth hiring someone who only uses the same materials on each instrument.
by: specialist
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