The guitar amp market is undeniably huge. Whether you’re looking for a gigging amp, a home-use practice amp, or anything in between, it can be difficult to know where to start. One of the most important questions you’ll likely encounter is: combo amp or head & cab?

Let’s break down the differences to help you find the right fit for your tone, space, and budget.

What’s the Difference?

Head & Cab (Stack)

A two-part setup with a separate amp head and speaker cabinet. Offers more flexibility, power, and upgrade potential.

Combo Amp
An all-in-one unit with amp and speaker in a single box. Great for simplicity, portability, and plug-and-play ease.

Let’s take a closer look at each option…

A guitar head & cab is a two-piece rig. The head part determines your guitar tone and the amount of power you can deliver to your output. The cab (cabinet) is simply a passive speaker or set of speakers designed to receive the powered signal from an amplifier.

There are plenty of types of guitar heads and cabinets to choose from, meaning there’s a huge level of customisability possible to craft your perfect setup. Different heads offer different tones, levels of control, power outputs (wattage) and connectivity options. Guitar cabs also come in different shapes and sizes; different speaker varieties, number of speakers, even wood types.

Is an Electric or Acoustic guitar better for playing at home?

Any guitar can be a great practice companion – but is an electric or an acoustic better for home use? There are pros and cons of both; ultimately it depends on your preferred playing style and setup.

Electric Guitars

Browse Electric Guitars

• Quiet when unplugged – great for silent practice
• Headphone-friendly via an amp or audio interface
• A vast range of tones available with plugins, pedals and amp modelling
• Record your practice on the fly with an interface and suitable software

Acoustic Guitars

Browse Acoustic Guitars

• No amp required, just pick it up and play
• Full, natural tone
• You can’t turn it down, so silent practice isn’t possible
• No cables, no fuss. A minimal, cost-effective choice that can save space

Choose electric if you want silent play and tone flexibility.
Go acoustic if you prefer simplicity and pick-up, put-down ease.

What is the best wood for electric guitars? Here we’ve put together a tonewood comparison with everything you need to know about the most popular electric guitar wood types available on the market today!

The tone of your guitar is undoubtedly the result of a team effort; pickup types, string gauges, scale lengths and bridge designs are just a handful of things to consider. But arguably one of the biggest contributing factors is the choice of wood for the body, neck and fretboard, not least because they make up 90% of the construction of your guitar! Different combinations can yield different results, and while pickups, hardware and other components can be changed over time, tonewoods stay put and provide the foundation for your instrument’s tonal identity.

Different manufacturers tend to favour different wood choices, and in recent years, we’ve seen a shift toward sustainable and alternative woods. This shift is partly due to past CITES regulations on rare tonewoods such as rosewood, granadillo and bubinga. While restrictions on many (like Indian rosewood) have since been lifted, manufacturers continue to embrace many of the more sustainable options.

Nowadays, builders use a wide range of guitar tonewoods, including both classic and newer, eco-conscious varieties. So, without further ado, let’s delve into the wide world of tonewoods!

How Wood Affects Guitar Tone

While it’s common knowledge that some woods sound brighter, darker or fuller than others, not everyone necessarily knows why!

Because wood is an organic material, it changes shape and density as it grows; with age, wood develops deeper grains that change almost immeasurably during its lifespan. Due to the unpredictable and ever-changing nature of this growth, you can almost certainly expect inconsistencies and imperfections at every level of detail, whether it’s an unmistakable fist-sized knot or a microscopic hole. Different types of wood have different types of imperfections and characteristics in their make-up, and it’s this variation that makes them sound different from each other.

Imagine two rooms, one small and one large. If you strum a guitar in the small room, there’s less space for the sound to move around in, so the sound dies down quicker but is clear. In the large room however, you’ll notice the sound echoes around more, meaning the sound lasts longer but loses clarity. Now apply this to the gaps between the grains in different types of wood: if wood is dense, there will be less space among the grain for the sound to move around in, so you can expect quick attack and bright clarity. If the wood is less dense, the sound will have more space in the grain to move around in, so you can expect a darker resonance with increased sustain!

Electric Guitar Body Wood Types

This is a selection of some of the most commonly used tonewoods for electric guitar bodies; it’s worth noting that many of these woods are also used for guitar necks as well! In some cases, they’re combined to provide a broader tonal palette to compliment particular styles. Read on…

Alder

Alder tonewood is harvested mostly in Europe, Russia and North West Africa and is a popular choice of tonewood due it’s light to medium weight.

The tone of alder is often said to be the most balanced of the regularly used tonewoods. It provides a good balance of low, mid and high frequencies, delivering a full-bodied tone. It has a pronounced upper-midrange due to its dense grain, which makes it a good choice for clarity, and could be described as sitting on the tonal mid-point between dark and bright.

Alder is known for providing a decent spanky blues/rock tone, but due to its full sound, it makes a great adaptable all-rounder for a guitarist who plays different styles. Leo Fender has used alder as the mainstay of the Fender bodies for years since the mid-50s. It is a relatively cheap choice of wood compared to other popular options, and is most commonly used on its own as a solid body option (it isn’t commonly laminated with a different species of wood). Having said that, it can be used for laminate tops, but it isn’t strong or hard enough to build necks or fingerboards with.

It has a tight grain pattern that makes it easy to finish, although slightly less pronounced than ash. The grain isn’t particularly interesting aesthetically, so it’s usually covered with an opaque finish, although it can look good with a dark transparent finish too. In its natural form, it often has a reddish tint, bordering on pink.

Summary: well-rounded tone with pronounced upper-mids, with a reddish tint and understated grain.

Ash

There are two kinds of Ash Tone Wood: Northern Hard Ash and Southern Soft Ash more commonly known as Swamp Ash.

Swamp ash tonewood is taken from trees that have their roots growing below water level, and is a relatively lightweight, porous wood found in the swamps (typically the Louisiana Bijou) in the Southern USA. It is generally creamy in colour, and with a bold open grain pattern that is visually more appealing than alder, it lends itself well to translucent finishes. Swamp ash tonewood is highly resonant across the entire frequency spectrum, but does tend to feature slightly scooped middle frequencies which results in a balanced but bright and sweet sound. It tends to be slightly more pronounced at the top-end when compared to alder, with a quick attack and an articulate dynamic range. It works really well with single-coil pickups, producing a clean, transparent sound that’s easily tweakable.

Swamp ash was used on Fender guitars until the mid-50s when alder was chosen as its successor. Although swamp ash is harder to come by than alder (and therefore more expensive), it is still possible to buy a new ash-bodied Fender.

As you might expect, hard ash tonewood is relatively hard, dense and heavy compared to swamp ash. Although it looks very similar, it’s greater density makes it brighter sounding with a little extra sustain. Hard ash tends to be a better choice where brighter and harsher distorted sounds are required. It’s usually used for single wood slab-bodied guitars but is occasionally used for laminate bodied guitars, where another wood is placed on top to give the guitar a different appearance and tone.

Summary: resonant across all tonal frequencies, but with slightly scooped mids, and a bold grain that works beautifully as a natural finish.

Basswood

Basswood (with bass pronounced like the fish, as opposed to the instrument) is harvested in the USA. Although there are four varieties of the species, with both Northern and Southern varieties, it is mostly the Tilia Americana of the Northern Great Lakes states that is used for guitar construction.

This variety provides the tighter grained and finer textured slabs that make it ideal for machining. Basswood is a lightweight tonewood that is relatively soft compared to other woods listed in this article, but it’s abundant and therefore relatively cheap. Because of its soft and lightweight nature, it’s never used as a laminate material, or on necks or fretboards. Aesthetically, it is usually white in colour, although it can feature unique green mineral streaks from time to time. There isn’t much in the way of visible grain, so basswood often comes with an opaque finish.

Basswood has proven to be a divisive issue among guitarists; some think of it as cheap and lacking in character, while others see it as the ideal balanced tone leaning more towards warmth than brightness. It’s worth noting that it’s been used on signature models for the likes of Guthrie Govan, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai in the past, which suggests that it’s doing something right!

Summary: one of the most affordable options on the market, offering a simple, transparent tone that delivers enough warmth to compliment a good set of humbuckers.

Mahogany

Mahogany is a name that is used to describe a whole range of hardwoods from around the globe, but true mahogany is only found in the Americas, ranging from southern Mexico to the upper Amazonian regions.

It’s highly resilient, with excellent resistance to wood rot, so it’s been used by furniture and boat makers for quite some time. As a result, it’s also proved to be a very popular choice for both acoustic and electric guitar construction. Here, the most commonly used variety is known as Honduras mahogany, a relatively plentiful and cheap wood thanks to extensive plantations intended to maintain stocks. Mahogany tonewood is a relatively heavy choice, and you’ll feel the weight of it more than basswood, alder and ash around your shoulder, though it’s not as dense as some brighter-sounding woods. Its colouring ranges from a yellow hue when fresh, through salmon pink, and on to deep rich red or brown when it’s aged and matured. With a fine grain similar to ash, but with a more even grain pattern, its reddish-brown colouring tends to make it a good choice for a translucent finish.

Having been the favoured tone wood of the Gibson family of guitars for years, it produces a warm, mellow tone with excellent low frequencies, pronounced lower-mids, and a smooth but subdued higher end. Mahogany is a tonewood that produces a punchy growl with excellent sustain, generally favoured for punchy rock music. Good quality mahogany tonewood will age really well and sound better as it matures. It’s also very stable, and is less likely to warp than most other species of wood.

Summary: warm tone with excellent low-mid and bass emphasis, with a reddish-orange colour and an even grain pattern.

Maple

Like ash, there are two types of maple: ‘hard’ and ‘soft’.

Also known as ‘eastern maple’ and ‘sugar maple’, hard maple used in guitar construction is harvested mostly in the northeast USA and Canada. It’s known for being a hard and heavy wood that’s the wood of choice for bowling pins and butchers blocks. Because of this, hard maple tonewood is more commonly found in guitar necks rather than solid-body construction because of its undesirable weight. However, it is often found as the laminate material for multi-wood bodies where it adds brightness to other body woods that may contribute a darker tone.

It is a very light-coloured wood (often appearing almost white) with tight pores and thin grain lines. Because of its density and weight, hard maple tonewood is bright and snappy, with reasonable sustain to boot. It pronounces the upper-mids and high frequencies most evidently, although the bass frequencies do tend to be clearly articulated, and the right pickup will amplify them extremely well. Maple tonewood also provides excellent separation allowing each individual note in a chord to sound clear without blurring together.

Because it is such a strong wood, hard maple can be used for solid bodies, laminate tops, necks and fingerboards. It has also traditionally been the wood of choice for the back sides and neck of violins, violas, cellos and double basses.

Soft maple does not refer to just one variety, but is used to clarify the wood in question as being different to ‘hard maple’. It can refer to a variety of different species such as ‘western maple’, ‘silver maple’ and ‘big leaf maple’. Because of its softness, it’s generally lighter than hard maple. Although it often looks much the same, it does tend to have more intense figuring (it can look stunning) with the grain often resembling waves, stripes and other naturally occurring patterns.

Tonally, it provides a good bright attack and sustain, but does not sound brittle like some harder woods can. The wave pattern in the wood (often referred to as ‘curls’) reduces the stiffness, and this in-turn means that the wood can vibrate more freely. Soft maple tonewood is still relatively bright compared to other wood types listed here, but not quite as bright as the hard maple variety.

Unlike the hard variety, Soft maple tonewood is not dense or strong enough to be used on guitar necks, but it is often used for laminate tops and occasionally very heavy bodies.

Summary: highly desired for its tonal brightness and luscious aesthetic in equal measure; the many different varieties can be found in the necks, bodies and laminate tops of guitars across the spectrum.

Korina

Korina is an alluring term in the guitar world; renowned for being the tonewood choice for the original Gibson Flying-V and Explorer models, it’s undoubtedly left its mark on the industry. Ask a luthier, however, and you may get a different reaction!

Korina has similar tonal and grain qualities to mahogany. It’s resilient and weighty, and delivers a warm, bass-friendly tone, though many argue it’s more desirable for its sweeter, more responsive midrange. Despite this, mahogany remains the more commonly used option for a number of reasons. Firstly, korina is quite hard to come by in large quantities; this is because it’s mostly found outside of the US, and many guitar manufacturers simply don’t want to fork out or go through lengthy import processes.

Secondly, it’s a difficult wood to work with! All tonewoods need to be drained of moisture before they can be used, and korina happens to drain very quickly – this means that the wood is susceptible to splitting during the process. It’s also prone to staining while growing in its natural habitat. Once the wood is dried, any stains are impossible to remove, which is considered unsightly.

Having said all of this, korina is still considered to be a gem in the tonewood world, reminding people of a golden era in guitar making when manufacturers were taking bold steps years ahead of their time. Nowadays, korina is notably used as the choice body wood for Reverend Guitars!

Summary: warm tone similar to mahogany but with a sweeter midrange and a bolder grain.

Honourable Mentions

• Poplar – a similar tone to alder, though some say it has a better upper-midrange. Generally understated in appearance, although occasionally pieces can feature stunning grain patterns.
• Koa – grown in Hawaii, koa is caramel-colored with bold, contrasting grain. Tonally comparable to mahogany and korina, with slightly enhanced high-end sparkle.
• Walnut – similarly hard to maple, but oilier, resulting in a smoother tone. Offers strong midrange and a soft brown hue. A very heavy wood, meaning it is not a common choice for solid body electric guitars although it can be fantastic on semi-acoustics or hollowbody instruments.
• Bubinga – dense tropical wood with a bright and articulate tone. Less commonly used in production models today but prized for its strength and striking appearance.
• Ovangkol – increasingly used as a sustainable alternative to rosewood. Offers warm lows and bright highs with a balanced response.
• Pine – It’s lightweight and resonant, often used on vintage builds for its warm, airy tone. Pine was used for early Fender Telecasters but is a less common choice for modern instruments.

Fretboard Tonewood Choices

These are the most common tonewoods used for fretboards. As with the body & neck wood choices, they’re often chosen to complement each other.

Rosewood

Rosewood has arguably been the most common fretboard wood for quite some time, although it took a dip under CITES restrictions – but will no doubt grow in popularity once again. As mentioned earlier, there are two types most commonly used: Indian and Brazilian. Indian rosewood is far more widespread, but the CITES restrictions mean that it’s quite rare to see Brazilian rosewood in use on a production guitars nowadays – if you’ve got one, count yourself lucky!

Having said all of this, a huge percentage of guitars made during the past 60+ years feature rosewood fretboards. They’re favoured for a number of reasons, but primarily it’s their durability that stands out. Rosewood isn’t susceptible to staining or wearing out like some softer tonewoods can be, so it’s perfect for fretboards – the most frequently attacked bit of your guitar!

Tonally, rosewood provides a rich warmth that’ll compliment any instrument, and it’s known for it’s ability to even out harsher, snappy frequencies for a smoother overall sound. The wood is also naturally oily so it doesn’t need its own finish, meaning it feels extremely soft and natural under the fingers. Rosewood fretboards are usually attached to a neck made from a different material, though it’s not unheard of to see a neck made entirely out of rosewood.

Summary: rich, warm tone that smoothens harsher frequencies, rich brown aesthetic and natural smooth feel.

Ebony

Ebony has also been a staple fretboard wood choice for years, with its instantly recognisable dark appearance being both subtle and striking at the same time. There are two varieties used in fretboard construction; African and Asian. The Asian variety often features brown stripes that many players find ugly or distracting when they are looking for frets, which means that it’s the African alternative with its uniform colour that is more commonly found on guitar fretboards. Ebony is a particularly popular choice amongst metal bands where its blackness is always appreciated, but is commonly found on high-end acoustic models too.

Ebony is a very dense and heavy but smooth tonewood. It differs to Maple in that is has a higher natural oil content, and this means that it can be left unfinished. This is an appealing trait to many players who tend to refer to it as playing ‘fast’ because of its naturally smooth, solid feel. It also wears very well and will hold up to years of playing, even more so than some of the less dense options available like rosewood.

In many respects, Ebony offers a blend of the qualities of Rosewood and Maple. It is dark in appearance with natural oils like Rosewood so it doesn’t need finishing and its porosity means that it favours the fundamental tone. However, the hardwood density trait that it shares with Hard Maple favours overtones, so its tonal properties are a balance of both worlds. Ebony provides a very responsive bright, ‘snappy’ and ‘crisp’ attack coupled with a smooth sustain.

Summary: ebony delivers a bright, consistent tone and an organic, smooth feel with an alluring black appearance.

Maple

As we mentioned earlier when looking at body wood choices, maple is a dense, heavy wood that’s known for its bright, biting tonal quality and striking light appearance. The same qualities apply when it’s used for a fretboard, though unlike rosewood, a maple fretboard usually means that the entire neck is made of maple; one piece of wood with two purposes.

It’s favourable for adding crystalline clarity to the tone of your guitar, often nicely complimenting any body wood or hardware choice. Due to its light appearance, it does age organically but noticeably. You’ll see marks appear on the fretboard over time if you don’t carefully maintain it, but some people like the aesthetic character of this effect. It’s why so many vintage guitars have blotchy fretboards!

As well as this, maple has a lot of varieties in its grain, each one having a distinctive character that’s often visually striking; this includes flame maple, quilted maple, birdseye maple and more.

Summary: snappy tone that adds brightness to less dense wood combinations, with a light and sometimes beautifully figured appearance.

Pau Ferro

Pau Ferro is a sustainable wood species that’s increased in popularity in the wake of the CITES regulation changes.

It’s very similar to rosewood – so much so, that Fender have opted to use it to replace rosewood fretboards in their entire Mexican-made range! There are a few differences that set it apart however. Firstly, the grain is tighter than rosewood, meaning a snappier tone with more immediate attack. It delivers a similar warmth but with extra brightness. It’s also noticeably lighter in colour, often with rich caramel-brown figuring running through it, but it has a similarly smooth feel under the fingers to rosewood and ebony.

Summary: a sustainable alternative to rosewood with a slightly brighter tone.

Richlite

Richlite is a manmade material that was created as a substitute for wood where harder, more durable materials were required. That already sets a pretty good precedent for its use as a fretboard material!

It was pioneered by Gibson in the mid-90s, who desired a fretboard material that was more hard-wearing, consistent and sustainable than traditional options. Although richlite is actually more expensive to produce, the results are undeniably more consistent and arguably superior to the organic woods that have been used for decades.

It’s scratch, heat and stain-resistant, as well as being non-toxic and non-warping; this means that your guitar neck is less likely to fluctuate in terms of its curve because you don’t have different organic materials interacting with each other. It’s made from resin-infused paper – yes, paper! It can be coloured in numerous ways, but for guitar fretboards, it’s most commonly seen with a black appearance similar to ebony.

Summary: synthetic, durable material with a balanced tone and consistent feel that doesn’t wear out.

Multiple Woods Vs. Single Woods

Although you often see guitar bodies and necks made of a single piece of wood, it’s just as common to see them comprised of multiple tonewoods for a number of reasons. So, what difference does using multiple tonewoods actually make?

There’s a tendency among the guitar world to prefer the idea of a single-piece body or neck on a guitar; something about the purity of it speaks to guitarists. Having said this, many guitar bodies and necks are made of 2 or more pieces of wood, and there has always been both arguments and evidence that it doesn’t make a huge difference, at least negatively.

Many even believe that due to the tight-bond glueing processes of guitar manufacturing, the guitars are even stronger than if it was just the organic wood, meaning they last longer and possibly even resonate better. Some manufacturers are even said to take a single piece of wood, saw it in half, then glue it back together to reinforce it! This goes for necks too; they require the strength to withstand a lot of tension over long periods of time, so ensuring that they’re reinforced is pretty crucial. Because of this, it’s pretty common practice to find multi-piece necks.

Other common examples of multi-piece concepts include the neck-thru, where the neck piece extends down through the entire body, forming the ‘core’ of the guitar – the body then consists of two or more parts attached either side of this core piece of wood to form the full body. There’s also the hollow-body concept, which is similar to the neck-thru but with top, back and side parts assembled separately, similarly to an acoustic guitar.

A guitar body that consists of a single piece of wood is often more expensive, as the manufacturing process requires close attention to detail and careful treatment of the wood to avoid damaging it. Due to lack of reinforcement, these single pieces are often more susceptible to warping and imperfections; all of this having been, they’re still highly sought after as boutique, carefully crafted instruments!

Electric Guitars

Want to learn more about tonewoods? Check out our ‘Acoustic Guitar Tonewood‘ guide!

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Just like with electric guitars, the type of wood used in your bass guitar can – and will – make a subtle yet significant difference. Yes, pickups, strings, and amplification all play major roles in your end product, and as such, the impact of bass guitar tonewood remains a hotly debated topic among players and luthiers alike. But if you’re chasing a specific sound, like vintage warmth or cutting-edge clarity, then taking the time to understand the tonal tendencies of different woods could make all the difference when it comes to finding the right match for your playing style.

In this guide, we’ll break down some of the most popular tonewoods used in bass guitar construction and examine what each one brings to the table!

Tonewoods

• Alder
• Ash
• Mahogany
• Basswood
• Maple

Alder

With a tight and hard grain pattern, alder is very easy to finish and is found lurking under the lacquer finish on hundreds of different bass guitar models. It’s commonly harvested in Europe, Russia and Northwest Africa, and it’s a popular choice for bass guitars due to its light to medium weight.

The tone of alder is often said to be the most balanced of the regularly used tonewoods. It provides a good balance of low, mid and high frequencies, delivering a full-bodied tone. It has a pronounced upper-midrange due to its dense grain, which makes it a good choice for clarity, and could be described as sitting on the tonal mid-point between dark and bright. For basses, it’s particularly great for that old school honk made famous by the blues and soul bassists of old.

Alder’s grain isn’t particularly interesting to look at, so it’s usually covered with an opaque finish, although it can look good with a dark transparent finish too. In its natural form, it often has a reddish tint, bordering on pink.

Summary: Well-rounded tone with pronounced upper-mids, with a reddish tint and understated grain.

Ash

There are two kinds of ash tone wood: northern hard ash and southern soft ash, more commonly known as swamp ash.

Swamp ash tonewood is taken from trees that have their roots growing below water level, and is a relatively lightweight, porous wood. Found in the swamps of the Southern USA (typically the Louisiana Bijou), it’s generally creamy in colour, with a bold, open grain pattern that’s visually more appealing than alder. As a result, it lends itself well to translucent finishes.

Swamp ash tonewood is highly resonant across the entire frequency spectrum. That said, it does tend to feature slightly scooped middle frequencies, which results in a balanced but bright and sweet sound. It tends to be slightly more pronounced at the top end when compared to alder, with a quick attack and an articulate dynamic range. Its sound is often described as transparent, which makes it an excellent tonal platform for tweaking – great for session players or those keen to experiment with their sound!

As you might expect, hard ash tonewood is relatively hard, dense, and heavy compared to swamp ash. Although it looks very similar, its greater density makes it brighter sounding with a little extra sustain. Hard ash tends to be a better choice where brighter and harsher distorted sounds are required. It’s usually used for single wood slab-bodied guitars, but is occasionally used for laminate-bodied instuments, where another wood is placed on top to give a different appearance and tone.

Summary: Resonant across all tonal frequencies, but with slightly scooped mids and a bold grain that works beautifully as a natural finish.

Mahogany

Mahogany tone wood is a relatively heavy choice – you’ll certainly feel its weight on your shoulder more than you would basswood, alder and ash! With a fine grain similar to ash, but with a more even grain pattern, its reddish-brown colouring makes it a good choice for a translucent finish, and it tends to have a reddish sheen when polished.

Having been the favoured tone wood of the Gibson family of bass and electric guitars for years, it produces a warm, soft and full tone with bold low frequencies, a tendency to pronounce the lower-mid frequencies, and a smooth but relatively subdued higher end. It’ll produce a punchy growl with a good sustain, which is why you’ll often see a mahogany bass in the hands of those who play rock styles. Epiphone, Gibson, and Ibanez are just a few of the brands that frequently employ mahogany in their bass guitars, among others.

Summary: One of the heavier choices available, but it produces a warm, smooth tone. Reddish tint with a distinct, fine grain.

Strum an electric guitar, and a number of different design aspects all work together to produce the sound you hear: pickups, hardware, electronic components, and yes, the tonewoods used to construct the guitar. But swap that electric for an acoustic guitar, and it’s all about the wood. The wood choices for the body, neck and fretboard form upwards of 90% of the construction of an acoustic guitar – and if you take electronics and hardware out of the equation, they’re almost entirely responsible for how an acoustic guitar sounds!

Different manufacturers tend to favour different wood choices, but in recent years, the industry has seen a shift in trends. This is partially due to changes in regulation that restrict the circulation of certain rare woods, most notably affecting rosewood, granadillo and bubinga. These changes were implemented by CITES (short for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) to protect species from drastic reduction in numbers, and it meant that any guitar using these woods required CITES certification to be traded across borders – naturally, building guitars became a lengthier process and increased prices. Restrictions on many of these woods (most notably rosewood) were lifted on 14/12/19.

Nowadays, acoustic guitar manufacturers use a wealth of different wood types, with exotic and alternative woods being used more commonly to avoid hefty fees and maintain consistent output; so, without further ado, let’s delve deep into the world of acoustic guitar tonewoods!

Tonewoods

• Rosewood
• Mahogany
• Sapele
• Maple
• Koa
• Walnut
• Spruce
• Cedar
• Ebony
• Micarta

Why do acoustic guitar tonewoods sound different from each other?

While it’s common knowledge that some woods sound brighter, darker or fuller than others, not everyone necessarily knows why!

Because wood is an organic material, it changes shape and density as it grows; with age, wood develops deeper grains that change almost immeasurably during its lifespan. Due to the unpredictable and ever-changing nature of this growth, you can almost certainly expect inconsistencies and imperfections at every level of detail, whether it’s an unmistakable fist-sized knot or a microscopic hole. Different types of wood have different types of imperfections and characteristics in their make-up, and it’s this variation that makes them sound different from each other.

Imagine two rooms, one small and one large. If you strum a guitar in the small room, there’s less space for the sound to move around in, so the sound dies down quicker but is clear. In the large room however, you’ll notice the sound echoes around more, meaning the sound lasts longer but loses clarity. Now apply this to the gaps between the grains in different types of wood: if wood is dense, there will be less space among the grain for the sound to move around in, so you can expect quick attack and bright clarity. If the wood is less dense, the sound will have more space in the grain to move around in, so you can expect a darker resonance with increased sustain!

Laminated Wood vs. Solid Wood

Wood can be arranged and utilised in a number of ways when it comes to building acoustic guitars. One of the most common comparisons is that between laminated and solid wood.

Naturally, the pieces of wood that are used to make acoustic guitars are thin, as they need to be manipulated into a shape that works with the intended design. As the term may suggest, laminated wood comprises multiple thinner layers of wood that are stuck together with adhesives and pressure to form a sheet. One of the most common reasons for this practice is so that the guitar can feature an attractive natural grain on the surface without needing to use a thicker piece of wood. The luthier simply takes the thinnest possible piece and reinforces it with cheaper materials, meaning that the attractive piece of wood can be used for a range of instruments.

Solid wood is the opposite approach. You simply use the thicker, more expensive piece of wood. In some cases (particularly for guitar tops), the solid piece of wood is divided into two and mirrored – you’ll often notice a distinct divide in the middle of a guitar top when this is the case. While employing solid wood is more expensive, it arguably yields superior results. Laminated wood is often quicker to warp or mark due to its compound nature. Many argue that solid wood also offers a more resonant tone, again due to the uniform grain and thickness. Better vibration means better sustain and better tone!

Different manufacturers have different approaches to this. Companies like Alvarez, Sire and Taylor are proud to offer solid tops on all of their acoustics, while Ibanez aren’t afraid to use laminates to offer stunning aesthetics and durability at reduced cost.

In short, solid wood tends to age better, resonate more naturally, and offer a fuller sound, though laminated builds often provide great value and durability.

Acoustic Guitar Tonewood – Back & Sides

The wood used to form the back and sides of an acoustic guitar’s sound chamber does a lot more than simply look good and create an enclosure. Through eliminating or amplifying different frequencies produced by the strings, these tonewoods can have a considerable effect on the overall tone generated by any given guitar. As a result, it’s important to carefully consider which woods you combine, and it’s for this reason that acoustic guitars often feature different woods on the back and sides than they do on the top. Let’s take a look at some of the most common choices for acoustic guitar backs & sides:

Rosewood

Rosewood is, without question, one of the most popular and enduring tonewoods known in acoustic guitar construction. It’s been used to very good effect for decades, and there are two main varieties that have been employed throughout this time: East Indian rosewood and its more elusive and expensive alternative, Brazilian rosewood.

Brazilian rosewood has a luxurious appearance and rich, sparkly tone, making it highly sought-after. Due to the aforementioned changes in CITES regulations, it has become less common, with the East Indian variety being used more often in acoustic guitar construction. East Indian Rosewood (often referred to as EIR) is easier to produce and therefore considerably cheaper.

The Brazilian variety tends to have the more striking appearance of the two, with a dark brown complexion with rich orange hints, and fine black lines in the figuring. EIR is generally pretty easy to spot as being different, although the colouring is often a similar dark chocolate brown. It has a straighter grain pattern than its Brazilian counterpart with less striking figuring, and it can include hints of purple, red, and grey highlights.

Both varieties offer a clear, bright sound with a fairly even response across all frequencies. Some observe a slight mid-scoop with slightly enhanced lows as well as highs. Its resonance could be described as dark and complex, with notably rich overtones and a metallic zing that’s difficult to replicate with other woods!

Summary: rich sound with complex overtones and crystal-clear high frequencies. A dark, luxurious appearance with fine black lines in the grain.

Guitars with Rosewood Back and Sides:

• Taylor GS Mini-e Rosewood Plus Electro-Acoustic Guitar in Natural Finish
• Sigma 000 All Solid 1 Series Spruce Top – Solid Indian Rosewood Back and Sides
• Gibson Montana Acoustic L-00 Rosewood 12-Fret in Rosewood Burst

Mahogany

Made popular by Martin and Gibson in the pre-war era, mahogany was seen as a cheaper alternative to rosewood. But don’t be fooled into believing it’s a lesser quality wood; it’s just different.

With a rich, dark reddish-brown colour, mahogany is very easy to spot. It’s a stiff, hard and dense tonewooƒd that provides a distinctly woody and warm tone. Denser sets of mahogany can start to take on some of the sonic characteristics of the rosewood, but generally, it’s a tonewood that will provide a punchy and balanced tone with a relatively emphasised midrange, certainly compared to the enhanced highs and lows that rosewood will generate.

As mahogany matures, its tendency to produce a focused fundamental tone will start to give way to make room for more prominent overtone content. This results in a more characterful and colourful tone, and the quality of tone generated by a mahogany guitar will therefore change through time.

Because of its rich heritage and place in guitar history, mahogany backs and sides can be heard on loads of old school recordings, and the inherent character of the tone lends itself well to blues and roots music to this day. In summary, it provides a punchier and darker tone than rosewood, with a prominent midrange.

Summary: warm tone with excellent midrange and bass emphasis, with a reddish-orange colour and an even grain pattern.

Guitars with Mahogany Back and Sides:

• Martin X-Series Remastered D-X2E-MAH Acoustic Guitar with Spruce Top and Mahogany High Pressure Laminate Back and Sides
• Sigma DME Dreadnaught with Mahogany Back & Sides
• Alvarez Artist Grand Auditorium Cutaway & Bevel Spruce Top Mahogany Back & Sides

Sapele

An African tonewood closely related to Mahogany, Sapele is similar in both look and sound. Sapele trees are protected in such a way as to prevent over-harvesting, which makes this a relatively sustainable wood that is being harvested responsibly. The deep, pronounced grain is very reminiscent of mahogany, but sapele tends to be a little lighter red/amber coloured and can often be striped between large dark and light patches (sometimes an inch or more in thickness).

With sapele, you’ll notice a strong low-end and midrange bark, very similar to mahogany, but it delivers more top-end definition than its African counterpart. That makes it a highly versatile wood for an acoustic guitar, ideal for several styles. It largely depends on how you play it; the midrange and warmth will lend themself nicely to strumming and softer playing, while that added sparkle makes it great for contemporary styles, lead playing and fingerpicking parts alike!

Summary: similar tone to mahogany but with a little extra high-end definition, with stripy red colouration.

Guitars with Sapele Back and Sides:

• Taylor GS Left-Handed with Mahogany Top and Sapele Back/Side
• Martin SC-10E-02 Road Series Sapele Electro-Acoustic Guitar
• Martin Road Series GPC-11E Sapele Grand Performance Electro-Acoustic Guitar

Maple

Although maple is frequently employed as the back and sides tonewood for violins, it’s not quite as common in acoustic guitar building. There are several reasons for this, but its appearance certainly isn’t one of them; maple tonewood can boast numerous different figuring patterns, all of which can look absolutely stunning! Many people have been charmed into spending their hard-earned cash on a guitar with maple back and sides almost purely thanks to its spellbinding aesthetics.

Curly maple (also known as flamed Maple) and quilted maple are the two most commonly seen, although birdseye maple does make an appearance every now and then. It’s important to note that although the quality of the figuring in the wood can have a bearing on the price tag, it will not have any impact on the tone of the wood. That said, the density of each particular piece will, to a certain extent.

Maple is a very dense hardwood, and this physical characteristic results in a relatively quick note decay. This makes it a good choice for live performance because the clarity of tone cuts through the mix well, and feedback is less likely to be problematic. It is well known for making an instrument sound bright and loud, and it generates a tight, focused tone with little overtone presence.

As a tonewood, maple provides excellent separation, where every note sounding at the same time has clear definition. In other words, maple makes it possible to identify each individual note in a chord relatively clearly compared to some other varieties of wood that will provide a more blurred, overtone-heavy sound. ‘Transparent’ is a word commonly used to describe the inherent tone of maple, and it will frequently provide considerably more treble than the rosewood or mahogany alternatives mentioned earlier.

Summary: bright, immediate tone with excellent projection. Light, golden colour with a rich variety of distinct grain types.

Guitars with Maple Back and Sides:

• Alvarez Artist Jumbo Cutaway Spruce Top Maple Back
• Sigma Modern Series Gace-3-SB+ Flamed Maple Cutaway Electro-Acoustic Guitar
• Alvarez Artist Elite Grand Auditorium Cutaway & Bevel Spruce Top Tint Flame Maple Back

Koa

Koa hails from Hawaii, where it’s known as the traditional wood of choice for ukulele construction. It certainly isn’t a cheap wood to get hold of, which accounts for it generally only appearing on special or limited-edition guitars; Taylor are one of the few manufacturers that offer Koa on a wide range of models.

Its stunning appearance is one of the main reasons that Koa is so sought-after, but it has more than a little to do with tone as well. Koa can sound very bright right out of the box and needs a good amount of ‘playing in’ before the tone reaches its sweet spot. Many argue that it’s well worth the effort and the wait to get it there, though! In time, the brightness mellows, resulting in a warm, rounded sparkle and rich low end. Koa will not necessarily suit plectrum players due to its pronounced brightness, but fingerpickers who use the pads of their fingers or those who like to strum with their thumbs should definitely consider Koa. If you do buy a Koa guitar, bear in mind that it will seem very bright at first and will need some attention and use over time to mellow out.

Summary: extremely bright tone that mellows over time, resulting in a well-rounded high and low emphasis. Caramel colour with contrasting patterned grain.

Guitars with Koa Back and Sides:

• Martin Road Series SC-13E Cutaway Electro-Acoustic
• Taylor Academy Series 12E Grand Concert Acoustic, Koa Back & Sides
• Taylor GS Mini-E Koa Plus Electro-Acoustic Guitar

Walnut

Much like koa, walnut is a dense wood that delivers a sparkly brightness. The midrange is where it differs, however, with a healthy bark that puts it somewhere in between rosewood and mahogany. It’s worth noting that, similarly to koa, the tone of walnut will become warmer and softer with age.

Walnut is a popular alternative to koa; it’s often easier to source and work with, resulting in more common usage and a more affordable price tag. Its tonal brightness, woody midrange, and dark, rich appearance have proven popular among numerous luthiers; for many, it’s something of a departure from the usual suspects, resulting in a uniquely beautiful instrument that remains versatile and playable.

Summary: bright, sparkly tone with slightly boosted low and mid frequencies compared to koa. Dark, stripy appearance.

Guitars with Walnut Back and Sides:

• Taylor Academy Series 22E Grand Concert Walnut Electro-Acoustic Guitar
• Taylor Academy Series 10E Dreadnought Electro-Acoustic Guitar

Acoustic Guitar Tonewood – Tops

The top wood of an acoustic guitar isn’t just the first bit that you notice; it also plays a pivotal part in your instrument’s sound. The top wood vibrates the most in response to string movement, acting almost like a speaker cone. As such, the properties of your guitar’s top wood will hugely affect tone, projection, and dynamic response.

The top (also referred to as the soundboard) is one of the components that stands in between your strings and the bulk of the guitar’s body, so the wood used must be carefully considered. It also has to look great, right? Here’s a breakdown of some of the most popular choices for acoustic guitar tops:

Spruce

If there is such a thing as an industry standard top tonewood, then spruce would have to tick that box. It has become a perennial favourite and features on the comfortable majority of steel-string acoustics available today. The main reason for this is that it suits just about any and every style of playing. You’ll see several species of spruce used in acoustic guitar construction, the most common being Sitka, Engelmann (also known as European) and Adirondack (also known as Eastern Red Spruce).

Overall, spruce delivers a broad dynamic range, with a crisp and immediate articulation of sound and little harmonic complexity. You’ll get a consistent sound regardless of your style of playing; some consider this to be lacking in character, but it does mean that spruce could be considered versatile in terms of its sound. Engelmann tends to be marginally lighter and less stiff, which results in slightly less projection, while Adirondack is generally slightly heavier and stiffer, resulting in a louder guitar – but they are all relatively loud top woods.

Spruce is generally creamy white to a pinkish light brown in colour, depending on the variety in question. Engelmann, for example, tends to be a little whiter and creamier than Sitka, but all Spruces are in the same ballpark ‘creamy white’ category. It’s worth noting that Spruce does tend to tan over the years, with older Spruce top guitars taking on more of a yellow hue.

Summary: immediate, balanced tone with little complexity. Light and unassuming in appearance.

Guitars with Spruce Tops:

• Alvarez Masterworks Dreadnought Cutaway & Bevel Spruce Top Rosewood Back Shadowburst
• EastCoast G1S Grand Auditorium Satin Natural Spruce Solid Top
• Sheeran By Lowden “Tour” Edition Signature Electro-Acoustic Guitar in Natural

Cedar

Although spruce is the most commonly employed top wood, cedar comes in at second place. Traditionally used on classical guitars, cedar is becoming increasingly common in steel-string instruments.

It’s a less dense wood than spruce, providing you with a slightly darker tone. Cedar tends to produce slightly richer overtones, and this results in a tone with less sparkle but more character. Because there is less stiffness along the grain, it’s also relatively quiet compared to some other tonewoods. It tends to lose clarity when it’s driven hard, so it’s not the number one choice for those who play hard with a pick. On the other hand, the relative prominence of the overtones in the sound it generates results in cedar being a favourite among fingerstyle players who value the quality and character of tone above volume and clarity.

Ranging from cinnamon, through honey brown, and onto light chocolate in colour, cedar is relatively easily identifiable as being a darker brown than spruce.

Guitars with Cedar Tops:

• Alvarez Artist Elite Grand Auditorium Cutaway & Bevel Cedar Top Acacia Back Shadowburst
• Cordoba C5 CD Solid Cedar Classical Guitar
• Sheeran by Lowden W01 Acoustic Guitar with Walnut Body & Cedar Top

Mahogany

Mahogany-topped acoustic guitars are not especially common but have been around since the 1920s. Although Mahogany is more commonly found being employed as a back and sides wood, it is used as the soundboard on some models. The Martin 15 series is a good example of modern mahogany-topped acoustics

As mentioned earlier, mahogany is relatively easy to spot, with a distinct reddish appearance. Mahogany tops are often left unpolished so that the natural aesthetic of the wood can be enjoyed. As we touched on earlier in this article, mahogany is a stiff, hard and dense tonewood that provides a distinctly woody and warm tone. You’ll get a punchy and balanced tone with a relatively emphasised midrange, certainly compared to the enhanced highs and lows that rosewood will generate.

Summary: rarely used as a top but produces a warm tone with excellent midrange and bass emphasis, with a reddish-orange colour and an even grain pattern.

Guitars with Mahogany Tops:

• PSR SE P20E Parlour Electro-Acoustic Guitar in Tobacco Sunburst
• Taylor GS Mini Acoustic Guitar with Mahogany Top
• Taylor Builder’s Edition S24CE Mahogany Top in Kona Burst

Maple

We’ve already touched on maple in this article; in acoustic guitars, it’s more commonly used for the backs and sides, but its attractive patterned grain varieties make for beautiful tops too.

Maple is known for its dense brightness and definition. As well as looking great on the top of an acoustic, it lends itself very well to plugged-in performances thanks to that quality note definition. The brightness and clarity respond brilliantly to instrument microphones or pickup systems, allowing you to sit nicely in any mix.

Summary: bright, immediate tone with excellent projection that suits amplified performance. Light, golden colour with a rich variety of distinct grain types.

Guitars with Maple Tops:

• Ibanez Altstar Series Electro-Acoustic Flamed Maple Top Red Doom Burst High Gloss
• Ibanez Altstar Series Electro-Acoustic Flamed Maple Top Blue Doom Burst High Gloss

Acoustic Guitar Tonewood – Necks & Fretboards

For the most part, acoustic necks consist of either maple or mahogany. That’s because they’re easy to work with and respond well to tension. The fretboard is where you tend to get a broader variety, as this is one of the main parts that you’re in contact with when playing your instrument. Because of this, the choice of fretboard wood is one of the most important things to consider. But unlike the top, back, and sides, here, the differences are often more about feel than sound.

Here’s a selection of some of the most common options and their characteristics:

Rosewood

Rosewood has arguably been the most common fretboard wood for quite some time, although it took a dip under CITES restrictions, but will no doubt grow in popularity once again. As mentioned earlier, there are two types most commonly used: Indian and Brazilian. Indian rosewood is far more widespread, but the CITES restrictions mean that it’s quite rare to see Brazilian rosewood in use on a production guitar nowadays – if you’ve got one, count yourself lucky!

Rosewood is popular for fretboards thanks to its smooth feel, but its durability is also crucial. Rosewood isn’t susceptible to staining or wearing out like some softer tonewoods can be, so it’s perfect for fretboards – the most frequently attacked bit of your guitar! The wood is also naturally oily, so it doesn’t need its own finish, meaning it feels extremely soft and natural under the fingers.

Guitars with Rosewood Fingerboards:

• Gibson Montana J-45 Special in Satin Vintage Sunburst
• Sire Larry Carlton A4 Grand Auditorium Electro-Acoustic Guitar in Natural
• Gretsch G5034TFT Rancher Electro-Acoustic in Savannah Sunset

Ebony

Ebony has also been a staple fretboard wood choice for years, though it’s more commonly seen on electric guitars. Its instantly recognisable dark appearance is both subtle and striking at the same time. There are two varieties used in fretboard construction: African and Asian. The Asian variety often features brown stripes that many players find ugly or distracting when they are looking for frets, which means that it’s the African alternative with its uniform colour that is more commonly found on guitar fretboards.

Ebony is a very dense and heavy but smooth tonewood. It has high natural oil content, meaning that it can be left unfinished. This is an appealing trait to many players who tend to refer to it as playing ‘fast’ because of its naturally smooth, solid feel. It also wears very well and will hold up to years of playing, even more so than some of the less dense options available, like rosewood. In terms of tone, ebony provides a very responsive, bright, snappy and crisp attack coupled with a smooth sustain.

Guitars with Ebony Fingerboards:

• Taylor 414CE-R Tobacco Sunburst Top ES2 V Class Bracing Acoustic
• PRS SE A60 Angelus Electro-Acoustic in Cobalt Blue Burst
• Taylor 2025 Catch Custom Collection No.19 – C14CE BS019

Maple

Maple is known for its density, resulting in a loud, bright and transparent tone as we mentioned earlier. It’s not a particularly common fretboard wood for acoustic guitars, more often seen on electrics. Darker woods are generally considered more attractive, aesthetically at least, for acoustic guitar fretboards. Maple might make a good option for a fingerboard if your body wood offers a darker, warmer tone; the maple will balance it out and deliver a more balanced tone.

Walnut

Walnut is a resilient wood similar to rosewood. For this reason, as with rosewood, it makes a great choice as a fretboard, although it isn’t as common. As with maple, this could be a cosmetic issue; acoustic guitars are widely perceived to look better with darker fretboards. As discussed earlier, walnut has a striking, rich appearance when used for acoustic guitar backs and sides and would stand out in a similar fashion if used for the fretboard.

Walnut offers smooth playability and a bright tone, but with just the right amount of low and mid emphasis to sound balanced and relatively transparent.

Guitars with Walnut Fingerboards:

• Fender CC60SCE Concert-Sized Electro-Acoustic Cutaway Guitar Natural
• Fender DE FA-135 Concert All-Mahogany Acoustic Guitar in Natural
• Ibanez TOD10N Tim Henson Signature “Tree of Death” Nylon-String Electro-Acoustic Guitar in Transparent Black Flat

Micarta

Micarta is also worth a mention to wrap up our guide to fretboard materials, though it’s not technically a type of tonewood. As we become more aware of sustainability concerns for woods like ebony, some manufacturers are experimenting with more environmentally sound materials. Enter Micarta. Cheap, sustainable, and easy to produce, Micarta (a brand name) is a composite of materials that’s bonded by several resins. The result is a tough, resilient material that lends itself particularly well to fretboard use.

Guitars with Micarta + Other Sustainable Alternative Fingerboards:

• Martin Road Series D-10E Dreadnought Electro-Acoustic
• Sigma 000 All Solid 1 Series Spruce Top – Solid Indian Rosewood Back and Sides
• Sigma LM-SGE Mahogany 00-14 Electro-Acoustic Guitar Satin Sunburst

Acoustic Guitar Tonewood: FAQs

Does tonewood matter on a guitar?

The difference is a little more negligible on electric guitars, particularly when you’re playing through effects like overdrive and distortion, but on an acoustic guitar? Tonewood absolutely matters. Different woods have different densities and grain structures, which can affect how vibrations travel through the instrument. In turn, this influences everything from brightness and warmth to sustain and projection, especially in acoustic guitars, where there’s no electronics to get in the way!

What is the best tonewood?

In truth, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer – it all depends on what you want out of your guitar. Spruce is often considered to be one of the most versatile top woods thanks to its clarity and dynamic range, and rosewood and mahogany are long-time favourites for backs and sides due to their warmth and richness. Fingerpickers might lean towards cedar or koa, while strummers might like the sound of spruce or sapele. Ultimately, the “best” tonewood is the one that best suits your playing style.

What is the hardest tonewood?

Ebony is one of the hardest tonewoods you’ll commonly come across in everyday guitar construction. It’s an especially popular choice for fretboards because it resists wear, feels smooth under the fingers, and provides a snappy, articulate tone. Maple and some of the more dense rosewood varieties also rank high on the hardness scale.

Is solid wood better than laminate?

Most would argue that solid wood outperforms laminate wood. Solid wood resonates more naturally and typically improves with age, delivering better tone and sustain. Laminate wood is normally a more affordable choice, and it’s resistant to humidity changes, but it does tend to offer a less dynamic tonal response. That said, many high-quality guitars feature solid tops with laminated backs and sides, giving a great balance between tone and durability.

What’s the difference between top wood and back/sides wood?

The top wood (or soundboard) has the biggest impact on the guitar’s tone, as it’s where the string vibrations are first amplified. Back and sides woods then further shape and reflect that sound, adding depth, warmth or clarity depending on the material used. Think of the top as the speaker cone, and the back/sides as the cabinet housing.

Do neck and fretboard woods affect tone?

Not quite as much as the body wood, but they do still matter. Fretboard woods like rosewood, ebony and maple are more likely to influence the feel of the guitar, with some minor tonal contributions like added brightness or warmth. The neck wood’s main job is to provide stability and comfort, though it can subtly affect sustain and resonance too.

Acoustic Guitars

Looking for more tonewood info?

Check out our ‘Electric Guitar Tonewood‘ guide!

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Day 5 Roundup: the latest news & hottest products from NAMM 2025!

…and just like that, the NAMM Show 2025 draws to a close! As anticipated, it’s been an action-packed week and we’ve had a blast. This is us signing off from Anaheim with our final roundup, and we’ve saved some of the juiciest bits ’til last! Read on to find out more, and don’t forget to check out our other daily roundups for ALL NAMM 2025 news!

Quick links:

• NAMM Show 2025: Day 1 Roundup
• NAMM Show 2025: Day 2 Roundup
• NAMM Show 2025: Day 3 Roundup
• NAMM Show 2025: Day 4 Roundup
• NAMM Show 2025 Early Releases & Rumours

Guitar News & Releases

Gibson 2025 ‘first look’ & commemorative models

Gibson being back at NAMM 2025 was big news, and typically they had plenty on show. One of the highlights was the 1955 Commemorative Edition Les Paul, a nod to the guitars that were proudly displayed 70 years ago at the 1955 NAMM show – which we found quite extraordinary. These instruments were made in extremely limited numbers, and the whereabouts of a mere handful are known today. The Commemorative models feature the same custom nitro lacquer metallic car finishes as the originals (the first time they’ve been recreated since) as well as the ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridges and Stop Bar tailpieces – the ’55 models were the first Les Paul Standards to feature this config. This is guitar history!

The iconic brand had plenty more on display besides their Commemorative models: a highly-lauded Warren Haynes signature, the Double Trouble ’50s and ’60s Les Pauls, the beautifully historic Gibson Custom acoustics, and more. Keep your eyes peeled and sign up to our newsletter for availability in coming months!

Here’s what Gibson had to say about their return to NAMM:

“Gibson and NAMM share in our missions to better lives through music and to strengthen the music instruments industry at large,” says Beth Heidt, Chief Marketing Officer at Gibson. “At NAMM, the MI community connects with industry leaders, retailers, influencers and artists, to learn about new products and trends while supporting professional development, music education and nonprofits through the arts. Gibson is especially proud to join forces with the Los Angeles Wildfire Relief program this year at NAMM to support our Los Angeles community of artists and music makers.”

Studio monitors play a huge role in the recording, mixing and mastering process. From bedroom studios to world-class facilities, you’re bound to see monitors in one form or another. So what is that sets them apart from their home audio counterparts?

Studio monitors often look deceptively similar to home cinema and hi-fi speakers. But don’t be fooled by their likeness – studio monitors are built to behave differently. If we could sum it up in the simplest layman terms, hi-fi speakers are meant to sound good with any sound and in any space, while studio monitors are meant to sound bad (for want of a better word). This is because they’re designed for critical listening – you want to be able to pick out sonic imperfections so you can fix them. Don’t worry – in this article, we’ll dig a little deeper…

Studio monitors and regular speakers: the technical differences

While both categories share common ground in many cases, you’ll generally find a few disparities across the board. Here’s a selection of the main technical differences:

• Active/passive – studio monitors tend to be active i.e. they have built-in power amplifiers. Hi-fi and other home speakers are generally passive, receiving power from a dedicated standalone amplifier.
• Individual power amplifiers – with active speakers, particularly studio monitors, you tend to have multiple power amps in one unit. This means that woofer (bass), midrange and tweeter (treble) cones are each powered individually, making for a more precise sound.
• Crossovers – an extension of the previous point, a crossover splits frequencies to ensure they go to the right driver (speaker). This again adds clarity and precision, so that you can hear every detail across the EQ range.
• Sound – kinda covered in the points above, but studio monitors are designed to have a flat, precise sound for nearfield use. This means they don’t emphasise any one frequency, giving you the most accurate impression of your mix so you can easily pick out imperfections.

What’s the difference between active and passive speakers?

We might be stating the obvious, but:

• Active means it’s powered
• Passive means it requires external power

In the case of studio monitors, most are active. You can tell this by the mains connections that they have on the back. Passive speakers tend to accept power via their audio input connections. These will usually come straight from a central amplifier; the same principle applies to guitar heads and cabinets.

What does nearfield mean?

You’ll often hear or see the term nearfield with reference to studio monitors. Heck, we used just a minute ago. So what does it mean?

In the simplest terms, nearfield means close to the user/listener. By close, we mean, a few feet away, giving you a clear, immediate sound. This prevents you from hearing natural reverberations, so you get a precise, upfront impression of your mix.

What’s the opposite of nearfield? Good question, reader. You’ll also see mid-field and far-field, which more or less mean what you think they’d mean. Mid-field generally means a few metres away, while far-field is non-directional, aimed to fill a room. Standard hi-fi speakers could be considered far-field, as they’re designed to sound good in any room and from any direction (within reason).

Best Studio Monitors