Most overrated tonewood?

[RustyAxe]

Originally Posted by ikravchik

Through personal experience I have come to a conclusion that Adirondack is really a one trick pony, it works well only with heavy plectrum picking.

Aw nuts, here I am playing my Adirondack guitars fingerstyle. What was I thinkin'?

[ukejon]

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

Aw nuts, here I am playing my Adirondack guitars fingerstyle. What was I thinkin'?

You stop that right now, young man! Get thee a thick plectrum...

[jumbomumbo]

European spruce harvested on a full moon during the tuesday of the 3rd week of February on an odd numbered year is HIGHLY overrated.

[piper_guitarist]

Most overrated? In my opinion, that title goes to BRW. BRW guitars can sound great, but a guitar being made of BRW is not a guarantee that it will.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by piper_guitarist

Most overrated? In my opinion, that title goes to BRW. BRW guitars can sound great, but a guitar being made of BRW is not a guarantee that it will.

A guitar built out of any type of wood is not guaranteed to sound good. But some of them do...

[JimB1]

Originally Posted by Bowie

Actually, I'll change that. Koa. Looks great but I don't care for the sound.

this... I have never found a Koa guitar I particularly liked...
-Jim

[Alan Carruth]

Ed-in-Ohio wrote:
"All of them.

In my opinion, when it comes to instrument quality, we assign way too much importance to tonewoods, and not nearly enough to builder and instrument design."

Bingo.

This is the inverse of the usual 'magic wood' thread, but the answer is the same: just as there is no 'magic' wood that will always make a great guitar, there's no one wood species that will always make a bad one (HPL is not 'wood'). As Tim McKnight pointed out, it's possible to make a disappointing guitar out of highly regarded wood if you use it wrong. Similarly, a good maker can make a good guitar out of almost any wood.

As for 'Adirondack' (Red spruce), it's spruce. If you control for density, all the spruces are pretty much the same. Red spruce does tend to be denser than, say European, but that's only an average. To make a great guitar you have to 'work to the wood'; figure out what this top is like, and thickness and brace it accordingly.

It would be interesting to figure out where these legends get started.

[Taylorplayer]

Originally Posted by Alan Carruth

Ed-in-Ohio wrote:
"All of them.

In my opinion, when it comes to instrument quality, we assign way too much importance to tonewoods, and not nearly enough to builder and instrument design."

Bingo.

This is the inverse of the usual 'magic wood' thread, but the answer is the same: just as there is no 'magic' wood that will always make a great guitar, there's no one wood species that will always make a bad one (HPL is not 'wood'). As Tim McKnight pointed out, it's possible to make a disappointing guitar out of highly regarded wood if you use it wrong. Similarly, a good maker can make a good guitar out of almost any wood.

As for 'Adirondack' (Red spruce), it's spruce. If you control for density, all the spruces are pretty much the same. Red spruce does tend to be denser than, say European, but that's only an average. To make a great guitar you have to 'work to the wood'; figure out what this top is like, and thickness and brace it accordingly.

It would be interesting to figure out where these legends get started.

Can it really make that much sense? What about all the [seemingly] endless debates?

Thanks, Alan - I always find your posts / replies to be very informative.

[mymartind35]

It's all determined by the build. You can put two of the same model together and they will sound different. A builder that can consistently build a guitar using Adirondack is what is the determining factor. A mansion and a little cabin are made of the same materials. It is still the craftsmanship.

[OddManOut]

Cocobolo. It has a brittle and very glassy tone which, to my ear anyway, is nothing like BRW (to which cocobolo is often compared). Beautiful stuff, spendy, not my fave.

[ukejon]

Originally Posted by Alan Carruth

Ed-in-Ohio wrote:
"All of them.

In my opinion, when it comes to instrument quality, we assign way too much importance to tonewoods, and not nearly enough to builder and instrument design."

Bingo.

This is the inverse of the usual 'magic wood' thread, but the answer is the same: just as there is no 'magic' wood that will always make a great guitar, there's no one wood species that will always make a bad one (HPL is not 'wood'). As Tim McKnight pointed out, it's possible to make a disappointing guitar out of highly regarded wood if you use it wrong. Similarly, a good maker can make a good guitar out of almost any wood.

As for 'Adirondack' (Red spruce), it's spruce. If you control for density, all the spruces are pretty much the same. Red spruce does tend to be denser than, say European, but that's only an average. To make a great guitar you have to 'work to the wood'; figure out what this top is like, and thickness and brace it accordingly.

It would be interesting to figure out where these legends get started.

All part of the bizarre thing called the World Wide InterWeb.

[usb_chord]

Ed-in-Ohio effectively ended this discussion.

[blacknblues]

Originally Posted by Teleman52

i think collings actually sound better with sitka tops. They have a sort of strident tone thats sometimes made to sound TOO strident when paired with an adi top

I agree with this, Collings Mahogany back/sides with adi top is a bit to 'shrill' for my tastes. I generally like Sitka because in my experience it sounds 'warmer' than adirondak.

[patchmcg]

I've been told a few times that lyrachord is over-rated.

Of course, that's just their opinion...

[jumbomumbo]

Paraguayan zozo wood is entirely overrated.
Uraguayan zozo wood is entirely underrated.