I'm thinking about purchasing a Martin guitar.?

Question

Is there really any difference in sound quality when the body & sides are made of maple vs. sapele or. Indian rosewood?

Answer 1

Yes, but first you have to go a little deeper. Please bear with me as this is going to be a bit long.

We are going to assume that, since you are talking about Martin that all the tops are of solid spruce.

Backs and sides can be of different types of construction, but with Martin- if they use wood (they sometimes use HPL or High Pressure Laminate- plastic!) they employ 2 types. These are:

Laminated- Thin veneers of the stated wood are glued to a core of cheaper wood, usually nyatoh or other "construction type" material. Our acoustics use select mahogany as a core. Anyway, this tends to modify the sound by making the structure stiffer which often provides a brighter sound with a little more volume, but a less rich tone.


Solid- Backs and sides that are solid are made from a single thickness of the stated wood although there might be a seam joining the 2 halves of the back. Solid material is MUCH more expensive- sometimes 10 to 20 times the price- and harder to work with but gives a very rich and gratifying tone, but sometimes at the expense of volume and clarity. In my opinion (and I know a lot of people disagree) Martin rosewood instruments are flat sounding.

If the guitar does not SPECIFICALLY say it is SOLID, you can bet it is laminated. A lot of times it will say something like "Solid Spruce Top with Rosewood Back and Sides"... this means a solid top with laminated back and sides. Sometimes they say "Solid Top and Back"... this means the sides are laminated. Many cheaper guitars use this "loophole" to imply that their instruments are better quality than they really are, and use plywood which is a big step down from laminated and a GIANT step down from solid. They simply don't say anything except the species.

OK, that being said we can move onto the different materials. Maple is going to be a very bright sounding wood with a lot of volume. It is a great material for playing acoustically with some electric instruments as a rhythm instrument or sitting around outside and playing. Sapele is essentially plantation grown mahogany. This provides for a very consistent color and sound and tends to have a fuller voice with less volume than maple. Sapele is fast becoming a favorite of builders. Rosewood is the mother of all acoustic woods and is extremely beautiful and extremely expensive. Because of the high oil content it lasts practically forever but it also tends to lack the brightness, instead it is a dark, rich tone that some people like but I personally find kind of dead. We build a rosewood guitar with laminated sides and back which helps us to be able to tailor the tone, but it ain't easy.

Answer 2

Every guitar has a unique sound. All you can do is play different guitars and find the one that you like the sound of.

Answer 3

Yes the different densities of the woods contribute to different vibrations with each one, hence slightly different tones. Some can be characterized as "fuller" or "warmer" than others

Answer 4

check it all out at a guitar center and get all the answers you are asking there to begin with.