HOME ABOUT US CONTACT US 608-785-7704 MY ACCOUNT 0 ITEMS CHECKOUT

Search...

JUST IN VINTAGE ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITARS AMPLIFIERS PEDALS & ACCESSORIES

Home Blog Guitar Anatomy Acoustic Recent Posts

ACOUTIC GUITAR TOP Guitar Top Wood What does it do?
WOOD WHAT DO IT New to Daves Collection: 1956 Gretsch Chet Atkins
Hollow Body 6120
DO? Guitar Lessons
by TylorF on March 7, 2012 in Guitar Anatomy Thank you for a great 35 Years! Giveaway update!
DGS 35th Anniversary Celebration Schedule of Events
So back to the world of Acoustic Guitars this wonderfully confusing world can be more than complicated. Previously we DGS 35th Anniversary Celebration
have talked about tone wood on Acoustic Guitars and the sound difference that this makes. Now we take a look top wood
and the difference that this makes on sound. So the big question that everyone should know is: what does the top of an
Categories
acoustic guitar really do?

The best way to think about the top on a acoustic guitar is to think of a billows. When a acoustic guitar is strung and tuned Dave's Collection
to pitch there is roughly 180-200lbs of Tension on the guitar. When you strum the guitar the sound waves, generated by the Gear Guru
strings, are transferred into the top causing it to move in and out. This flexing acts as a billows and push the sound waves General
throughout the guitar body and out the sound hole generating the tone that we hear. Because of this function the most Guitar Anatomy
sought after quality in Acoustic Guitar tops is elasticity/strength/weight ratio. Hello World! Life Inside DGS
Tours
Spruce The Age Old Stand By.

By-and-large Spruce of some variant is the most common top wood. Walk in to any acoustic Archives
guitar room anywhere in the country and you will see that at least 80% of the guitars hanging
on the walls have some sort of spruce top. The reason for this is that Spruce has a very high August 2017
strength/weight ratio and it also has a significant amount of elasticity to it. The Function of a July 2017
guitar top requires a large amount of strength and elasticity and thus spruce has always been a June 2017
popular option. March 2017
January 2017
Sitka Spruce Types of Spruce December 2016
October 2016
There are a number of different types of spruce you will find on acoustic guitars. The most
January 2016
common type is Sitka Spruce. Sitka spruce, from the area in Alaska with the same name, is an incredibly popular and a
December 2015
affordable topwood. There is currently an incredibly large supply of this wood and it can be purchased at very reasonable
November 2015
prices so it is the most commonly used wood. Sitka spruce started to be used as a substitute to the more popular
October 2015
Adirondack Spruce during the late 21st century after Adirondack spruce became increasingly rare from over use. Adirondack
September 2015
spruce is commonly seen on pre-war guitars and is still used today on many high dollar
August 2015
Acoustics. The grain patterns and propertys of Adirondack Spruce give it a even higher
June 2015
Elasticity/Strength/Weight Ratio. This is partially due to the wider grain pattern that is common
May 2015
October 2013
in Adirondack Spruce.
August 2013
Spruces composite consists of dark hardwood and lighter softwood. The lighter lines in July 2013
spruce are a very flexible light material with the consistency roughly equal to that of Styrofoam. May 2013
By having wider grain Adirondack spruce has more flexibility and elasticity to it making it a March 2013
Adirondack Spruce
more responsive and brighter wood than Sitka spruce. Generally speaking spruce is known for July 2012
its durability and its clarity. It does not compress or distort when played aggressively and can June 2012
act as a great sound board wood. May 2012
March 2012
Ceder The Finger Picking wood February 2012

Ceder is on of the most popular alternatives to spruce. It is softer, not as strong or as elastic as
spruce. It is, however, more stable with changes in moisture content. Colors range from light
brown through reddish browns to chocolate brown. It has a powerful fingerstyle tone with
much brilliance and sustain, wonderful clarity, and focused bass, with a dry sound. Cedar does
have a tendency to compress if you play it aggressively with a flat pick. Cedar is very common
on classical guitars but is seen on steal string guitars.

Cedar Mahogany and Koa The Other Options

When working with warm tone woods it is not uncommon to see guitars built with the same top
as the back and sides. This is because the warmer, more elastic woods work as soundboard woods and

provide builders with unique options to expand tonal quality. The tonal characteristics, as
outlined in our previous post, of these woods hold true when they are applied as top woods.
Generally these guitars will have less overall volume due to the less elasticity in the wood but
have great variety in tone.

Koa

About TylorF
View all posts by TylorF

Gear Guru: 1902 Martin 1-30 Say hello to our friends Coalition Drum Shop

Comments are closed.

RCNT NW LOG
NEW TO DAVES COLLECTION: 1956 GRETSCH CHET GUITAR LESSONS
ATKINS HOLLOW BODY 6120 August 3, 2017 by Josh Walker

August 15, 2017 by Josh Walker

We get asked a lot around here at Daves if we offer lessons. And
the answer to that questions is yes! We have some really great
teachers who rent space from us READ MORE

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT 35 YEARS!

GIVEAWAY UPDATE!
July 19, 2017 by Tylor

Thanks to all of you our 35th anniversary party was a huge

success! It was truly humbling watching throngs of people come through the store, celebrating
the last 35 years READ MORE

DGS 35TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
June 29, 2017 by Josh Walker
Were happy to be able to unveil the newest addition to Daves Collection: a 1956 Gretsch Chet
Atkins Hollow Body 6120 Heres the story: According to the Gretsch 6120 book READ MORE

STORE HOURS & LOCATION

GIVE US A CALL SEND US AN EMAIL 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM MON-FRI
608-785-7704 INFO@DAVESGUITAR.COM 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM SAT
CLOSED SUN
La Crosse, WI

Copyright 2015 Dave's Guitar Shop - All Rights Reserved. Wordpress Theme and CMS by Sleeping Giant Studios.