Is maple good for classical guitar?
Like mahogany, maple is usually used for fashioning sides and backs but maple tops can be found. It is a light coloured wood, sometimes almost white, and is very dense and heavy. That density and the high degree of internal damping provide a bright sound with good sustain and great clarity for high frequencies.
What kind of wood are classical guitars made of?
The top plate of a classical guitar is constructed of spruce or western red cedar. Spruce has a generally white appearance, while western red cedar has a reddish tinge. Spruce wood tends to be sticky, and produces a clear, tight sound when used in a guitar.
Do maple guitars sound good?
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.
Is Walnut good for classical guitar?
More and more classical guitarists are discovering the beauty and tone of maple. Walnut wood gives great bell-like trebles, and generaly speaking, sounds a lot like maple, with all the benefits.
Is Ziricote a good guitar wood?
“Personally I find Zircote to be one of the most visually appealing woods on the planet. I find the wood has a more rosewood-ish tone, although it is not a member of the dalbergia family. It has excellent low dampening qualities similar to most rosewoods with a clean resonant reverb-ery characteristic.
Is cedar or spruce better for classical guitar?
Spruce guitars typically have a quite direct sound with a bell-like tone. They seem to be more clear, balanced and sometimes have more sustain. Cedar however, makes the guitar sound darker, warmer and generally fuller.
What wood is a Spanish guitar made of?
Construction. The traditional flamenco guitar is made of Spanish cypress, sycamore, or rosewood for the back and sides, and spruce for the top.
Is maple heavy guitar?
Solid Maple electric guitars are uncommon due to the cost of maple, it produces heavier guitars, and the brightness it imparts on the tone.
How long can a classical guitar last?
If you have a classical guitar, it will help if you know how to take care of it and avoid doing things that may damage or weaken it. The maximum lifespan of a classical guitar is 30 years if you give it proper maintenance.
Can you play chords on a classical guitar?
The answer is yes, absolutely! Classical guitarists use chords all the time, it’s just done in a different way to most pop/rock songs. Because classical guitarists use their fingers to play notes, you’ll often find smaller fragments of chords rather than the full 5/6 string versions you might be used to seeing.
What are the benefits of a maple back on a guitar?
Well, put another way, a maple back stays out of the way of the guitar’s vibrations, allowing you to hear more of what the top itself is up to. Plus, the dampening effect of maple enhances note separation and clarity.
What is the best tonewood for the back of a guitar?
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 is the difference between quartersawn and maple for a guitar?
Most maple guitar back-and-side sets are cut on the slab, which shows off any grain figure to best advantage. This reduces overall stiffness as compared to quartersawn wood, to predictable effect. Personally, I would like to see more plain, quartersawn maple used for guitar construction, boring as that may sound.
Is Maple a traditional tonewood?
Yes, the same Stradivari known the world over as the violin maker’s violin maker. He was using maple for his 5-course Renaissance guitars in the 1600s, and if that doesn’t qualify maple as a traditional tonewood, then I can’t imagine what would.