Top Woods
The unique acoustic properties of top woods help color a body shape’s fundamental sound. The key is to find the wood that matches up best with your playing style, like the warmth of a cedar top for fingerpicking and the feeling of responsiveness in your hands. In the end, our goal is simple: to help you find the ultimate tone.
The soundboard choice for most guitars, Sitka spruce produces a broad dynamic range and accommodates a versatile range of playing styles.
As a top wood, walnut’s natural compression blends with an open, airy midrange to yield a versatile response suited to a range of musical applications.
This natural hybrid of Sitka and White spruce also shares characteristics with Adirondack spruce, responding with power, richness and volume.
Treated with our special roasting process, torrefied spruce tops deliver all the clarity, balance and projection you’d expect from a traditional spruce top with an extra dash of warmth and played-in depth.
The hardwood top produces strong fundamentals with clarity and focus.
Though mostly known as a body wood, maple offers a dry, midrange-centric tone profile when used as a soundboard.
A koa top's visual beauty is instantly inspiring, while its sonic rewards unfold over time, as warm, sweet overtones gradually emerge.
A true performer for those with a lighter touch, cedar tops yield extra warmth and pair nicely with mahogany and rosewood.
Tight grain structure and cross-grain stiffness produce a bold and brilliant response with warm overtones. Think cedar on steroids.
Engelmann has a mature tone and yields a slightly richer midrange than Sitka.
Similar to Engelmann spruce, with extra headroom and overtone warmth for a robust, mature sound.
Known for its high volume ceiling and dynamic, lively response, Adirondack spruce retains exceptional clarity even with an aggressive attack.