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#1
05-08-2024, 08:55 PM
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Mixing Hardwoods question for the Luthiers
Hi everyone, I have a quick question for the luthiers here.
I've seen plenty of builds where hardwoods have been used for Back, Sides & Tops, but they generally are all from the same species of timber. Has anyone mixed it up with a top from a different hardwood? I'm toying with the idea of commissioning a build, and I really like the idea of a Crelicam Ebony body, but the luthier also uses an invasive species called Camphor Laurel, which he builds a number of guitars with full back, sides & top from. If anyone has played with this idea, what was the outcome? Good, great, bad or terrible???!! Thanks in advance!
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1995 Maton EM725C - Solid 'A' Spruce Top, QLD Walnut B&S, AP5 Pickup 2018 Custom Built OM - Silver Quandong Top, Aussie Blackwood B&S, Fishman Matrix Infinity Mic Blend Pickup 2021 Faith Neptune Baritone - Solid Englemann Spruce Top, Solid Indonesian Rosewood B&S, Fishman INK3 Pickup 2022 Yamaha SLG200S Silent Guitar 
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#2
05-09-2024, 02:32 AM
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It has been done, but generally is not due to aesthetics more than anything else. But if you think it would look good, and your builder thinks they can get your sonic goals met, go for it. But it might be a hard re-sell if you decide it’s not your ideal -
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More than a few Santa Cruz’s, a few Sexauers, a Patterson, a Larrivee, a Cumpiano, and a Klepper!!
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#3
05-09-2024, 04:33 AM
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It all comes down to does it meet your criteria for looks and tone?
I've built from a wide varieties of woods and combinations over the last 41 years as a luthier. There are some delightful and unusual combinations that can yield interesting results. I'd inquire if there are any examples of that combination he's made that are available to see before starting the commission.
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#4
05-09-2024, 07:43 AM
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Many/most hardwoods remain too heavy to be adequately responsive when they reach their ideal structural thickness. Only a few are even close to the ideal which many conifers seem close to. Of the several hardwoods I have used for tops, Catalpa stands alone for me as better than adequate, and I have mixed it with other hardwoods with great results. If Koa were not such a strong statement on its own, it could top other Tonewoods, but it is often visually overpowering. My most recent all Koa will hold its own with just about any guitar, and might be even better with a more robust back and sides despite the odd appearance it would hold for many of us.
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#5
05-09-2024, 02:40 PM
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A dear friend and mentor named Wade Lowe, who has gone on to his reward, used to experiment with different non traditional tone woods. He made a beautiful violin out of Brazilian Rosewood but it did have a spruce top. It was too strident IMHO. He made a classical guitar with Brazilian rosewood back and side that had a padouk top. That was also very striking in appearance but tonally it was inhibited. My first guitar had walnut sides and a narra back with a cedar top. A real Frankenstein of an instrument. It did not suffer tonally but it was an odd looking duck. I wouldn't do it again. BUT at a recent guitar show I saw a guy making resonator guitars that had ebony sides (or at least they were black) and a very white maple back and top. Since it was a resonator guitar it did not matter much what the top was made of. They were striking instruments, the resonators and grill were solid black so you can visualize the color scheme.
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Kinnaird Guitars
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