Perhaps the biggest wood question facing a player is what soundboard material to use. Some players sound better with one over the other and usually it is quite evident. Maybe you have made up your mind as to which top wood you prefer. For those on the fence, here are my impressions:

Cedar is lightweight and stiff, which are good qualities for a soundboard. In a smaller room, a cedar guitar will usually sound louder than a spruce guitar. Cedar has a built-in richness or "fatness" of sound that is forgiving of different right hand techniques. There is an explosiveness to cedar's sound that is coupled with a somewhat dry palette of colors. One has to be careful with cedar as it dents very easily, especially with a French polished finish.

Spruce is the other main category of soundboard and consists of several different species, each with its own character. I use spruces from a variety of European sources as well as Engelmann spruce from the Rocky Mountains of North America. It is difficult to ascribe absolute values to each type of spruce as significant variation occurs within each variety. I try to approach each soundboard independently and use my experience to figure the potential voice within. Generally, Engelmann is softer and can act as a bridge between cedar and European. European has a bit more of an edge and a bit higher headroom. Up close, spruce guitars sound more pared down than cedar. The broad resonance, or "fatness" of cedar is lessened, which could also be described as clarity. This is not to say that my spruce guitars sound "thin". It is quite the opposite. One has to think of guitar sound on a continuum, rather than sides of a coin.  Spruce guitars really shine when the player's right-hand technique is optimized for spruce which makes possible a delightful array of tone colors can. Spruce has more resiliency than cedar and in the concert hall, spruce launches the sound in a different manner than cedar and can actually sound louder.

Cedar	European Spruce

Rosewoods are the usual choice for the body of the classical guitar. Brazilian is rare and endangered, although old stocks of wood can sometimes be found. Honduras rosewood is heavy and resonant. Indian is widely used and still abundant. Generally, the heavier rosewoods yield a darker sound with more control over the overtone structure. The heavy rosewoods "polish" the higher overtones with a voice that is unique to each variety. Indian is the lightest of the rosewoods in general use and African blackwood is the heaviest. Indian has more edge than the others, a touch of the Flamenco dryness. On the other end, African blackwood is very lush, with a big bass and smooth and velvety treble. Brazilian and Honduras rosewood fall in between these two. Currently I am using Indian most frequently, followed by Honduras. Indian works very well with the double-side construction, which I am using in all of my guitars. The double-side construction consists of a 2mm thick outer layer of rosewood and a 2mm thick inner layer of mahogany. This dramatically increases the resonance of the rim assembly and reflects more sound back into the top. The increased strength of the double-side also takes up more of the compressive tension from the string that is ordinarily absorbed by the top and permits the soundboard to vibrate more freely. An increase in separation and depth of sound is the result, which makes the guitar sound louder. The "bite" of Indian is controlled in a very musical fashion by the double-side. Another plus is Indian is very stable and never cracks under normal usage.

Brazilian rosewood	Honduras rosewood	Indian rosewood

Spanish cedar is used for the neck. The name is confusing as it is neither a cedar nor from Spain. It originates in the Spanish-speaking countries of South and Central America and is lightweight and fragrant, hence the common name "cedar". I prefer it to mahogany as it is lighter in weight and contributes an immediacy to the sound. It also avoids "neck dive", an all-too-common problem with mahogany necks.