BODIES & NECKS

What wood types are used to make a guitar body?

The most common wood type for a guitar body is alder and mahogany however,  basswood and ash are also very popular. Some guitar or bass bodies are made of a few different wood species. Some exotic wood types are often used to expand the tonal qualities of the instrument as well as for their grain pattern which can look amazingly well.

What wood type will be best for the guitar or bass body?

Every wood has its own characteristics and sound properties. Also, each slab of wood our body or neck is made from will be slightly different as wood is a natural material. Therefore, not all bodies will sound the same even if they will be made of the same wood species. So when you combine different parts together you should take that into account.

Mahogany is known to have a nice, deep, and warm sound. Alder offers a very good all-around tone with a little more hi-mids pronounced. Ash is also very good and wide sounding with a little less in the mids. Basswood is very resonant and almost transparent as it transfers all frequencies equally.

What wood types are used to make a guitar neck?

The most common wood wor guitar necks is hard maple. Mahogany is also very popular and there are some other wood species used from time to time. Some necks have a separate fretboard which commonly is made of maple, rosewood, or ebony. Because the sale of all rosewood species has been restricted lately there are some other similar woods used such as Pau Ferro. There are also some other woods used for fretboards in less expensive guitars.

What wood type will be best for my guitar or bass neck?

Hard Maple known also as Rock Maple is a hardwood that offers a very nice, bright tone. It can be used for the fretboard if you need that extra spank or attack in your sound. The mahogany neck will give a little deeper, darker tone with great lower-mids. Rosewood fretboard will soften the sound a little while ebony will brighten it up even more than maple.