The tonewoods used in the creation of an acoustic guitar are critical to how it sounds, as the instrument’s top, back and sides have the greatest overall effect on tone. The top is the soundboard that pumps air into a resonance chamber formed by the back and sides. “With tops, density and weight are particularly significant, while the weight-to-strength ratio, as well as the shape, are important regarding the reflective back and sides,” explains Santa Cruz Guitar Company founder Richard Hoover. We visited Hoover at his shop, where he was down to play a game: I named popular tonewoods from the list of available options, and he provided the following descriptions.
TOPS
• Sitka spruce A warm tone, forgiving and universal. Sitka spruce is the most popular choice in acoustic guitars for good reason: It fits most people most of the time.
• Adirondack spruce Brighter, clearer, and more articulate, with a faster response than Sitka.
• European spruce The same properties as Adirondack, controlled via density — i.e., the thickness of the cut. All European spruce belongs to the species picea abies, whether it’s Italian, Swiss, Carpathian or Norwegian.
• Moon spruce The same species as European spruce, moon spruce is harvested at night according to the cycles of the moon. It’s generally one of the clearest, most articulate and quickest responding woods.
• Cedar Warmer in tone but faster in response than all other tonewoods, cedar is an excellent choice for the fingerstylist who plays in open tunings because it responds to a light attack quickly and with good volume. It makes up for the loss of energy that comes from playing without a pick on strings that are tuned down