Tone wood

A shorthand term for the idea that the species and quality of the wood in a guitar audibly affect its amplified or acoustic sound.

The claim is strongest where the wood genuinely moves, as on an acoustic soundboard, and weakest on a solid body, where the strings' energy is mostly converted electrically and the body's job is largely to stay out of the way. Even so, density and stiffness differences do change how a body absorbs vibration, and players reliably hear differences between instruments. The term is often used loosely, and it is the marketing language around it rather than the physics that invites scepticism.

Example: the difference between a dense and a light body of the same shape is audible on a long-held note, even if it cannot be predicted from the species name.

Tone wood

See also