Woods...

[CoreyR]

could anyone give me suggestions on what different woods sound like, which have better tone. im not only asking about the soundboard but the wood for the back and sides as well. any information will be helpful, the guitar i currently have is a hirade H5, it has cedar soundboard and rosewood back and sides, im planning on buying a new guitar soon and i just want to know what woods i should order. once agian any information will be helpful!!!!

[M. Stephenson]

This is a good place to start:

http://www.lmii.com/Default.asp

On teh left side of the screen go to the "Mostly Wood" pull down and select "Backs and Sides". you can also go to the "Tops" section for information about tops.

From a fellow North Carolinian

[Pepe Vergara]

Check my website. I have a link to a site that explain what to look for in terms of sound in a guitar.

[Miguel Angel]

In www.zavaletas-guitarras.com you will find a very good article on woods. :)

[cdikland]

Check my website. I have a link to a site that explain what to look for in terms of sound in a guitar.
Pepe,

The links on your main page do not seem to work. All I get is a blank page. For example, clicking the link "About Us" places the link http://www.guitarrasvergara.com/ into the address bar. The status bar shows "index2_files/page0003.htm" but is never loaded. When I "refresh" the page, the main page with your picture is displayed.

:shock:

[cdikland]

Pepe,

Just tried your site with "fireFox" browser.... Except for a few missing images no problem there. Seems MS Internet Explorer will not work on your site. Ironic... Looks like your pages were created with MS FrontPage and the MS browser wont load them. Leave it to Bill. :shock:

[jeremy]

Corey,
The thing you should first work out, is what top wood you are interested in. The top wood will have the most effect on the sound of guitar that you are after. The back and sides will have an effect, but not so large an effect as the top.
Spruce, Cedar and Redwood all have their own distinctive sound and you should be familiar with the differences before you start the search for a new guitar. Once you have sorted out that part, the back and sides selection in simple.
I think of recordings like those of Julian Bream when I want to picture a spruce sound, and JW when I want to get a Cedar sound. Spruce has this beautiful majestic, almost regal sound that is not possible with Cedar, but you need to be familiar with these sounds and be able to tell the difference before you make an educated decision.
________
lambo tech (http://www.lamborghini-tech.com/)

[Pepe Vergara]

Pepe,

Just tried your site with "fireFox" browser.... Except for a few missing images no problem there. Seems MS Internet Explorer will not work on your site. Ironic... Looks like your pages were created with MS FrontPage and the MS browser wont load them. Leave it to Bill. :shock:

Can you try it now? I checked and I was having too many hits. I had to contract for more space with my server. I did. Let me know.

Regarding woods, many people says back and sides are not as important for sound. Torres even constructed a paper mache back and sides guitar that some said it sounded good. GSI sold a book with a cd that supposedly contains a song played with that guitar. If you have the chance to see the paper mache guitar, you will notice that it has a lot of wood reniforcing the papaer mache, so it is not just papermache. I believe the back and sides are very important in contributing with color to the sound. I do not stop there, timbre is also affected by the back and sides. I would say that back and sides are equally important part of the sound produced by a guitar. I do believe that solid back and sides are a lot better than laminated back and sides. Of course, the top is the main contributing part.

[NGiorgio]

Pepe,

Just tried your site. I only get the home page. Everything else comes up blank.

[Pepe Vergara]

Pepe,

Just tried your site. I only get the home page. Everything else comes up blank.

I think I fixed already. Please try again clicking on the two first links. Thank you for the input.

[cdikland]

Pepe,

Works fine now :D

[Frank O'Keeffe]

I agree with Pepe, the back and side's are very important. I've just taken delivery of an Aparicio AA100 which has spruce top and solid indian rosewood back and sides. My previous one had cedar top and laminated rosewood back and sides.The difference is unbelievable.The cedar is very percussive and to me seems more suited to flamenco rather than classical styles. The sustain is so much better with the solid back and sides.
And Pepe, if you read this , you were right in everything you said about Antonio Aparicio, this guitar is superb.

[Pepe Vergara]

And Pepe, if you read this , you were right in everything you said about Antonio Aparicio, this guitar is superb.
Frank:
Congratulations you got a real nice guitar. Few years ago, when I met Antonio Aparicio Sr. I was starting to make guitars and asked him about certain things. He was absolutely generous explaining me the why of every little detail in guitar bracing. That is how I found out that his AA100 is one of the best guitar around. How do you like the compensated saddle?

[Frank O'Keeffe]

Hi Pepe,
I tell you this guitar is just so easy to play I can not believe it.I'm hearing sound's I never thought I would be able to make,the sustain and control are magical.It's even so comfortable just to hold,but, enough of ranting,I could keep writing all day about this guitar and I've only had it a week.So let's just say I'm very happy with my guitar and thank's to you for all the advice, I'll keep in touch.
Frank.

p.s. The compensated saddle is amazing, it's the first time i've ever seen or played this setup.Maybe you could explain about this a little bit more.