Martin Guitar’s Dick Boak

Interview Excerpt

Let’s talk about tonewoods.

The first thing to understand is that a guitar needs to be thought of as a drum. The back and sides of a guitar are the shell of the drum, whereas the soundboard is the skin that stretches across the back and sides.

With respect to tonewoods, Brazilian Rosewood has always been considered the optimum material for back and sides because it’s hard, dense and resonant, as well as tremendously good at reflecting sound (see Figure 16.1). Those are important traits as wood for back and side material, but in the process of absorbing the vibrations from the top, it flavors the tone with a complexity and balance that’s kind of unprecedented. Unfortunately, Brazilian rosewood is extremely rare, regulated, and near extinction at this point so it’s probably a moot point to talk about how wonderful it is. It’s also probably inappropriate because of the devastation of those trees and the illegal trading of it.

Figure 16.1 Brazilian Rosewood

If Brazilian rosewood isn’t available, what do you use instead?

There are many different species of rosewood. East Indian rosewood is the most available (see Figure 16.2). It’s not quite as dense as Brazilian, but it has a nice tonal flavor to it and a nice rich warm bass response. Rosewood is always valued for bass response. In a worst-case scenario, it could be criticized for being muddy or thick, but it typically has tremendous and pleasant low-end.

Figure 16.2 East Indian Rosewood

There’s also a Honduras rosewood (see Figure 16.3), but the tree is quite small and you only occasionally find one big enough to make guitars out of. It’s the primary material for making marimbas (wooden xylophones) since it just rings when you hit it and it’s easy to get xylophone mallets out of small logs. It would be a great material for guitars if only the tree were a little bigger.

Figure 16.3 Honduran Rosewood

You also have Amazon rosewood, which is a close relative to Brazilian but not restricted as of yet (see Figure 16.4). Cambodian rosewood is similar in properties to Amazon rosewood. Madagascar rosewood (see Figure 16.5) has a close visual appearance and even a lot of the tonal properties of Brazilian rosewood, so we are quite encouraged to have acquired some beautiful sets of that tonewood.

Figure 16.4 Amazon Rosewood

Figure 16.5 Madagascar Rosewood

Tulipwood is also a member of the rosewood family, as is Kingwood. The big problem is availability, quality, and sizes large enough to make guitars.

Is there any other wood besides rosewood that’s suitable?

The complete opposite spectrum for back and sides is Mahogany (see Figure 16.6), which is an extremely light weight material. It’s actually not as reflective, but it has an absorptive quality that produces a very light, crystalline and glassine tone. Guitar tone can sometimes be thought of in the same breath as its weight. A light guitar is typically more responsive and vibrant than a heavy one, so mahogany is very underrated as a tonal material since it produces a crisp, clean, bright sound that is really valued in the recording studio. Rosewood guitars might not be as appropriate in the studio because they might be too bottom heavy, depending on the needs of the track.

Figure 16.6 Mahogany Tonewood

Between mahogany and rosewood you have a whole rainbow spectrum of different tonewoods that vary in weight and density. Koa, from Hawaii (see Figure 16.7), is popular for guitar making since it has a density that falls really nicely between mahogany and rosewood.