Classical Guitar

[kencierp]

From a published interview with Tim McKnight -- number three on my list of "guitar heros" right behind inovators Bob Taylor and Charles Fox:

TT – And the domestic tonewoods are just as good as exotics?



TM- I believe it was Torres that built a guitar (back & sides) from paper Mache’. Then Bob Taylor built some guitar (back & sides) out of pallet wood. All were reported to sound much like a guitar J Back and sides add tonal color to the main sound producer [the top]. Some backs will dampen and some will be a lot less dampening reflecting nearly as much energy as is imparted to it.

A neighbor of ours had cut down a Shag Bark Hickory tree many years ago and he gave me a section of the log, which I had milled into back and sides. The wood had a decent tap tone and I thought it would make a good guitar. I posted questions on about every guitar forum I could find and asked if anyone was aware of anyone building guitars from Hickory and the response was a resounding no. I figured I would give it a try since the price was right (free). Much to my surprise, the guitar sounded fantastic. We built several more with the same results. Later we built one for the very first Healdsburg Guitar show we exhibited at and it was the first guitar that we sold and it sold a few hours into the show.

In my opinion some domestic tone woods are just as good as some exotic tone woods. The player and builder alike just need to realize that each piece of wood is unique and each one brings its own tonal palette to the table. It is up to the builder to bring out the maximum potential of each piece of wood so the player can experience the greatest benefit possible for their playing enjoyment. -Brazilian Rosewood and Honduran Mahogany will probably always be the two bench mark tone woods that all woods are compared to. We have all experienced stellar guitars built from both woods and we have all experienced some less than stellar guitars of the same woods from the same companies.

Is it the wood or simply the law of averages? In my opinion, both are true. When a large company produces 100 guitars or more a day using the same specs for each piece of wood you will get a few fantastic guitars, the bulk will be the average mean that the company is aiming for and then there will be a few lemons in the batch as well.

Wood is infinitely variable within the same tree, within the same billet and even within the same piece. No two pieces of wood will ever have the same weight, same stiffness, same density, same dampening properties, etc… That is why production guitars are all over the place in terms of responsiveness and tone. Large production companies simply do not have the time to voice each piece of wood to its [maximum] potential. It takes too much time which adds cost to the end product.

Large scale manufacturing is all about volume and quantity if they want to stay competitive in the market place. Anyone who has ever worked in a factory will tell you that this is true regardless if they are producing silicon widgets, automobiles or guitars. Advertising campaigns may paint a different picture to the potential buyers but it’s simply economics 101 in the most basic form

Domestic woods are a viable alternative and I believe you will see more and more use in the near future. We are already seeing Domestic woods used today such as: Maple, Cherry & Walnut. The likes of Birch and Oak were used in turn of the century instruments and have withstood the test of time for over 100 years after the fact. White Oak is a tremendous tone wood but it looks a lot like furniture instead of tone wood so that may hold a potential buyer back. Put a blindfold on them, hand them a domestic wood guitar and their ears will be fooled more often than not.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I've got some pecan I was hoping to use for a classical, but it is a bit worm holey. It seems to have a great bright tap tone.

Kevin

[Ken C]

Very nice, Dave!