bois

Rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)

The vast majority of premium steel string guitars
and classical guitars made over the past thirty years have been
made in Rosewood. Many major classical guitar makers prefer
Rio Rosewood for many reasons. It is a magnificent wood, it is abundant
and durable, it is easy to work with and the sound produced by these guitars is superlative.

This wood is the wood par excellence for the back and sides
Rosewood is a hard and very dense wood. It is mainly used for the backs,
sides and fingerboard. Darker in color and fairly oily texture, it has the advantage
to resist humidity without having to be varnished.
Very little used in soundboards due to its difficulty in working, it usually comes from India.
Its endangered Brazilian version is sometimes highly sought after for its veined appearance.
very particular, luthiers also sometimes replace it with Madagascar rosewood.

Cocobolo (Dalbergia Retusa)

Cocobolo Rosewood grows in southern Mexico
and in Central America. It is a beautiful wood which, freshly cut, shows bright yellow colors and
Orange-red.
Over time, it blends into a rich reddish-brown color with black streaks.
It is probably the closest to Rio rosewood for its beauty and sound quality.
These visual and tonal characteristics make Cocobolo a premium choice for many
builders. .

Mahogany (Mahogany)

Mahogany, this exotic reddish wood, is one of the species
most commonly used woods for the neck, back and sides. It is appreciated for its tones
round and warm. High density, it nevertheless loses brightness and clarity of the sound.
This is why it is found in musical genres such as Rock or Blues for
its excellent sustain and depth of sound. Note that the korina has, more or less,
the same provenance and my same characteristics as mahogany. .

L'Acajou du Honduras (Swietenia macrophylla)

Instruments built with Honduran mahogany feature
nice midrange, excellent punch and good sustain. It is prized for its beauty and color
rich ranging from pinkish brown to dark reddish brown. The grain varies from straight and tight, flamed and wavy,
visually stunning and highly figurative. .

African Blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon)

The African Blackwood, of the rosewood family, has long been recognized
by builders of classical guitars like the "holy grail" of the woods.
With a strong acoustic response (taptone) that even surpasses Brazilian rosewood,
it can bring a lot of volume, power and shine to a guitar.
The African Blackwood is difficult to work with and can be difficult to bend, but it is incredibly beautiful.
It is very thin, very stable when dry (more stable than most Ebene), .

Ebony (Diospyros celebica)

Ebony is just as exotic as mahogany.
Its black color makes it a very popular wood species for its appearance! With warm sound,
it increasingly replaces rosewood for the manufacture of keys and bridges.
Relatively stable, hard and dense wood, it resists temperature changes well.
It is found on both electric and acoustic guitars.

Ziricote (Cordia dodecandra)

The Ziricote is the most "Figured" in appearance,
similar to Rio Rosewood but in shades of gray and olive green with black rather than
red with black.
Heavier than most rosewoods, it functions much like ebony and tends to
be brittle, but what it lacks in terms of handling is more than made up for
by the dial tone.

Walnut (Walnut)

Walnut, is yet another species of wood but
less common.
It is used in the manufacture of sides and bottoms and even sleeves.
To compensate for the extinction of mahogany or rosewood, luthiers are increasingly turning to
walnut which brings, moreover, a stronger projection and an even rounder sound, almost
heavier than its two big brothers, less exotic..

Mapple (Acer macrophyllum)

Maple is mostly used for the necks.
It is also found in its function of "plating" the body of certain guitars, in version
laminated.
A high density and relatively heavy species, maple is also used for the fingerboard and
conducts string vibrations very well. This last function obliges the luthier to varnish this wood.
who would suffer from moisture from sweaty fingers. Sustain, roundness and warmth of the sound constitute
its qualities appreciated on electric guitars. It is also used on acoustic guitars.

European Spruce (Picea excelsa)

European spruce is a wood species found in Europe and Scandinavia.
Light in color, it is used in the manufacture of soundboards.
It offers bright and powerful tones, ideal for guitar lovers folks.
The wood used is extracted from adult trees, the age of which gives more strength to classical guitars
top of the line.
Over time, the spruce continues to work and will add more sound quality to your guitar.
in getting older !
In short, what happiness!

Epicea Engelmann (Picea engelmannii)

He's from North America. Just like his European brother,
it grows in the mountains, near streams and rivers.
Priority is given to trees located at very high altitudes, such as the peaks of the Rockies.
This makes it particularly resistant to frost and humidity. Its appearance is
very similar to European spruce. Although it has been commonly used for less time than Sitka,
the Engelmann has grown to match these woods.
Nowadays, many manufacturers use Engelmann instead of German spruce
(German Spruce).
In addition, it is more economical with much better overall quality. In appearance, it looks like
German spruce, but unlike German spruce, it seems to have a more
uniform and it has a beautiful ivory shine. The tables are often more homogeneous, the rings
of early and late growth being less distinct than those of Sitka. It is stiffer than the Sitka

Sitka Spuce (Picea sitchensis)

Sitka also comes from across the Atlantic, from Canada and Alaska.
Another type of wood which resists very low temperatures. Its appearance is clearly
darker than the previous two. This material is prioritized in folk guitar rather than classical
for its clear and brilliant tones combined with powerful bass.
Preferred for its strength and elasticity, Sitka spruce can withstand aggressions to which
other soundboard materials are less immune, such as dust spots on
the workbench and the brutal manipulations of the player.
Sitka spruce is very stiff. Due to its strength and toughness, it is well suited for guitars
acoustic steel strings. It has even been used successfully for classical guitars.
The color of Sitka spruce varies from white to pink to light brown. .

Adirondack Spruce (picea excelsa)

The Adirondack has been the choice of bluegrass players for decades.
If you want power, Adirondack is for you. It is even more dynamic
than the Sitka, and has a higher cap for volume. You can play very aggressively
without having any distortion or loss of clarity. For the aggressive player who wants volume and clarity
without distortion or the player or collector who wants the vibe of a pre-war guitar.
Like the Sitka, it has a solid foundation and responds well to a light or firm touch, but it has a
higher resonance and exhibits more complex harmonic content. The Adirondack
is relatively heavy, with a high speed of sound propagation, and has the rigidity
the highest of all woods.

Alpine Spruce (Picea abies)

Alpine spruce is probably the wood with the longest reputation
in the manufacture of musical instruments, having been used in the manufacture of guitars, violins
and pianos for centuries.
At present, alpine spruce is becoming an exclusive wood, as it is increasingly difficult to find
superior quality wood to ensure the manufacture of a soundboard.
The alpine spuce has a very light color and with a very tight grain

At the tonal level, it is, for me, "THE" optimal wood for a soundboard..

Cedar (Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana)

The cedar, in English or red cedar is a species of wood used in the manufacture
acoustic guitars.
Coming from Canada, it is popular for the construction of soundboards.
More common and less expensive than spruce, cedar is nevertheless more fragile.
It is especially appreciated for its round, warmer tones and stronger projection.
This is the gasoline used by default for classical guitars. The only downside is that,
once amplified (in electro-acoustics), it lacks sound stability, the equivalent of "sustain",
finally. Which makes it a wood limited to single player rather than group play. .

Ash (Ash)

Ash is one of the strongest wood species,
the densest but also the most expensive. Despite its weight, its qualities are exploited
on generally high-end models. Sustain and brilliance of the sound constitute
the qualities of ash, a very hard but easy to work wood.
Native to Europe, America and Japan, it is relatively veined and sometimes merges
also with oak. Its appearance is another of its strengths.

Alder (Alder)

Alder is the most common wood species
often in the solid-body of electric guitars, in particular, for its ease of being worked
by luthiers.
Usually coming from the North and rather accessible at the budget level, it is very appreciated for its
neutral, low, mid and high tones are balanced and provide harmony
true to your electric guitar.

Basswood (Basswood)

Also called basswood, it is a species of wood that can be found
both in Europe and America. Widely used for the bodies of electric guitars, the basswood is renowned
for its warm tones. Its color remains very clear and is perfect for an instrument
that will accompany you for a lifetime.
Its strength improves with age, making it a relatively recommended wood.

Poplar (Poplar)

Poplar is a wood widely used for
the manufacture of electric guitar bodies. Inexpensive, its color sometimes tends towards green but the tones
remain clear. Its low density compared to other wood species specific to solid-body reduces weight
of the instrument.
Its flexibility brings it the disadvantage of "moving" over time and deforming
areas near the knuckles, for example, with the vibrato lever arm.
It is sometimes used in the making of acoustic guitars.