Swamp Ash: Popular in the 50's for electric guitars, this wood is alive and lightweight. Swamp ash just wants to vibrate. Bright and sweet at the same time with excellent grain patterns, all transparent finishes look great on Swamp Ash. One-piece Maple neck is a natural for Ash. Pau Ferro fingerboards also work well. Rosewood fingerboard on Ash body may have a little too much high-end presence for some players. We only recommend such a combination if you are positive that this is what you want.

Mahogany: A popular wood used in set-neck guitars and acoustics, Mahogany is strong in the mid-mids with a good high-midrange bark. Contrary to popular belief, Mahogany is not dark – just strong in the mids that gives it the aural illusion that it's compressed. Mahogany body is best when mated with Mahogany neck.

Basswood: Strong in the midrange, Basswood has a balanced tone and is lightweight. Light in color with almost no grain patterns, Basswood is best suited for solid colors or is excellent as a backing wood for a Maple top. All types of neck wood combinations work on Basswood but Indian would be on the woollier and warmer side.

Basswood Back / Quilt or Flame Maple Top – Okay, this may be the Holy Grail of tone. The Basswood response is extended by a 3/16" Maple top adding more clarity and grind to the fatness of the Basswood, this combination is our favorite! Usually colors chosen will be opaque on the back with transparent colors on the top – LP style. It's most excellent with a one-piece Maple neck.

Ash Back / Quilt or Flame Maple Top – Auditioned with a Madagascar Bois de Rose fingerboard, John used to think that the Alder Body / Pau Ferro fingerboard was one of the best overdrive tones... The Ash back has that open ring with good clarity. The Maple top seems to add another dimension – not harsh at all but very alive sounding in both clean and dirty modes. Also, it's an excellent look for transparent colors both on the back and front. This combination makes for a light guitar as well. It has a nice punch with scooped mids. One-piece Maple neck is also a killer tone for this combo.

Mahogany Back / Quilt or Flame Maple Top – This is another killer combination when mated with a Mahogany neck with various species of Rosewood for fingerboard material. Maple extends the range of Mahogany with more brilliance and punchy lows. The Mahogany back and neck combination works well in the bolt-on design and is highly recommended for those seeking a thick woody tone.

Korina: “Super

Koa: Highs present, but compressed, slightly subtle or dampened in attack. Highs are more omnipresent and more in the upper midrange. Very musical sound for in the fundamental, or a less expressive or complex sound for someone into playing hard picking blues.

Walnut: A darker wood with Ash-like grains, but like mahogany, the density is uniform. It is harder and denser than Mahogany so the tone is brighter, but the open grains make for a complex midrange that seems to be compressed in some frequencies, but dynamic in others. There’s a nasal response to rhythms, while solo notes jump out. It has a lot of advantageous features of the other main guitar woods. It has a snappy attack and solid lows like Ash, but with smooth highs like Mahogany, and textured mids like Alder. The drawbacks are that it’s heavier, and more stubborn in its sound. It doesn’t respond to random pickup changes. The pickups have to be well suited to the guitar. A Walnut body will dictate the tonal signature of the guitar more than the other main woods. A heavy piece will dampen the mids to produce an overly nasal and lifeless sound, so it needs to be light and open grained enough to resonate the main guitar frequencies.