Ultimate Timber Combo

[Zandit75]

Ok, this is bound to be a contentious subject, but last year when I was building my own acoustic(Full story is here... https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...ghlight=zandit )and when talking with the instructor, he mentioned that every guitarist needs a Rosewood/Spruce guitar in their collection.

As I'm planning on doing another build in the next couple of years, I thought I would ask the collective group what would be your recommendation as ultimate Timber Combo?

You can be as basic as just the Back & Sides paired with a Top, but if you wish, continue with neck, fretboard and bridge options too.

This could get interesting!!

[Rockysdad]

I agree with having a spruce/ rosewood, I’d add a spruce/ mahogany, and a spruce/maple.

[gitarro]

Adirondack spruce with cross silking and old growth quartersawn and tight grained brazilian rosewood.

[pandaroo]

I don't have experience with some of these combos but I am working towards it

Tops:
Sitka
Adirondack
German
Swiss

Back/Sides:
Madagascar RW
African Blackwood
Brazilian RW

[tippy5]

super silk Sitka
IR

[Dafgog]

Originally Posted by gitarro

Adirondack spruce with cross silking and old growth quartersawn and tight grained brazilian rosewood.

This this this

[Wade Hampton]

I like Sitka spruce top with lots of silk, too. But I like all kinds of tonewood combinations.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I like red (Adirondack) spruce tops on dreadnoughts - I have three red spruce-topped dreads now, two square-shouldered Martins and a slope-shouldered Eastman. That species of spruce seems to add some bite and treble response that can otherwise be lacking in that large body size.

But on smaller guitars I seem to like Sitka, European and Engelmann spruce tops better.

I also generally like mahogany, black walnut or koa backs and sides better on these larger guitars like dreads and 12 fret Triple O’s - as opposed to rosewood - because rosewood can be overly bassy and “woofy” when there’s that much air inside the body cavity. But my 00-21 and my 000-42 both have rosewood backs and sides because the rosewood usually has more bass response than the less dense tonewoods like mahogany and walnut.

So when I play rhythm guitar parts on those two I get a fuller, richer sound than if they were mahogany. (That’s with my right hand attack. Your mileage may vary.) By also using John Pearse armrests that lift my forearm off the top and allow it to vibrate to its fullest extent, I get a beautiful, balanced, full tone that is easy to mic.

In other words, what I’ve found works best for me are back and sides woods that have more clarity and livelier trebles on large acoustic guitars, but bassier-sounding woods on the smaller ones.

As a lead vocalist and instrumentalist who plays both solo gigs and with a couple of different groups, with the instruments I own and use to play gigs (not just guitars) I prize clarity, tonal balance and projection. As as result, these informal observations that I’ve made over the years have gradually come to guide my preferences and instrument purchases.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Wolfram]

For me, the ultimate combo is a light, stiff spruce (Colorado blue spruce, European and Engelmann in that order) over macassar ebony.

I find this gives me all the richness of a good rosewood guitar, but with less 'ring', so greater clarity and separation. A good guitar in this combo is absolutely mesmerising!

Cheers,
David

[Athens]

Cedar over walnut in a 000-12 fret.

[musicman1951]

Depends on the size of the guitar and the playing style, but for me (000/mostly bare fingers) the best combination to date is Sinker Redwood over African Blackwood.

Obviously everyone should have a Spruce/Rosewood guitar - Adirondack if it's a dread.

[Rosewood99]

There is no best combo. They all have there strengths and weaknesses. It depends on your playing style and personal preferences.

[jaymarsch]

So many great combos available from experienced luthiers. I am partial to Euro Spruce- German and Engelmann. I like cocobolo and Bois de Rose for back and sides.
I have a German Spruce/ Honduran Mahogany that is a wonderful guitar as well but for Spruce/ Rosewood, I’ll take a German / Cocobolo combo by Kathy Wingert any day of the week.

Best,
Jayne

[Alan Carruth]

Best for what? Bluegrass? Jazz? Fingerstyle? Vocal accompaniment? Renaissance? Etc...

There's so much variation within a species, and so much overlap between, that it usually comes down to what this piece of wood is like. Species doesn't tell you as much as these lists seem to believe.

There is a difference in the average properties between species. In factories, where they can't take the individual differences between pieces of the same species into account the average guitar of a given model and wood tends to reflect those averages. Hand makers tend to get 'their' sound out of whatever wood they're working with.

It may well be impossible to make two guitars that sound exactly the same. I've tried. A good maker should be able to get 'arbitrarily close' to the sound they want with any reasonable set of wood. Obviously it would be hard to make a soft set of mahogany sound like a hard set of rosewood, but I would not want to bet on being able to tell the difference between, say, rosewood and oak B&S. Spruce and cedar/redwood are fairly different in some properties that should matter, but I'm not convinced that there's all that much difference between Sitka and Red spruce if you control for the density. I know I'm an outlier there....

[CoffeeFan]

The ultimate for me is Mahogany/Adirondack. I've always loved that combination...

[davidd]

Plain old Sitka/Mahogany works fine for me. Not a fan of red spruce as much as most around here. The Sitka on my 1990 D16M produces some of the loveliest sweet tones I've ever heard on a D18 style dread. I used to like fancier woods in my youth but these days whatever works is ok with me.