What contributes to overtones in a guitar?

[birdsong]

Most fascinating discussion indeed. I too wish to thank Alan C and Five Fourths for some great reading.

jmagill and zmf touch on "the other" important aspect of this topic - our own ears and brains. And as you would expect, there are numerous people working in this area. Some are interested in the human anatomy, others the psychology; and how these relate to our perception of music. You can get a reasonable primer at this Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_music

Years ago, I read a couple books on the more mental aspect. Oliver Sacks is one well-known author and his Musicophilia was a fascinating read. Another I enjoyed, albeit even more tangential to the original question here, is Music, the Brian, and Ecstasy, by Robert Jourdain.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by birdsong

You can get a reasonable primer at this Wiki page:

Good choice for the basics. It's easy to get deep into the weeds very quickly when these topics come up.

[247hoopsfan]

It would be great to hear from James Goodall on this subject. His guitars are known for their complex overtones and sustain. My 1990 Rosewood Standard always amazes me with its combination of crystal clarity and rich overtones.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by John Arnold

Stiff top and/or a hard back. IMHO, a Brazilian RW back tends to produce more overtones than Indian rosewood because it is harder. Curiously, both are about the same density, on average. Honduran RW is harder and denser than Brazilian.

I have great deal of respect for John, but my worst guitar for overtone content, belies that statement. Reading it more carefully, i end up confused: do you mean Honduran is harder than BRW, which in turn is harder than Indian?

[mercy]

Hardness:
Less hard harder
Indian RW Palo Escrito Brazllian Honduran Cocobolo Blackwood
Density:
Less dense denser
lndian RW Palo Escrito Brazllian Brazilian Honduran Cocobolo Blackwood
Elasticity:
more elastic less elastic
lndian RW Palo Escrito Brazllian lighter Brazilian Dark Honduran Cocobolo Blackwood