Body Tonewoods | carrcustomguitars

1 Piece Core Body Tonewoods

Below are the available tonewoods in 1 piece and 2 piece. Again, if you can not find a particular wood, please do contact us.

Swamp Ash

Swamp Ash is a prized wood for many reasons. It is a fairly light weight wood which makes it easily distinguishable from Hard Ash. A Strat body will normally weigh under 5 lbs. Many of the 50's Fenders were made of Swamp Ash. The grain is open and the color is creamy. This wood is a very superb choice for clear finishes. It is a very musical wood offering a very nice balance of brightness and warmth with a lot of "pop".

SOUTH AMERICAN MAHOGANY

Mahogany is a fairly dense, medium-to-heavy wood that yields a wide range of guitar-body weights, depending upon stock sources. Used on its own, mahog-any’s characteristic tone is warm and somewhat soft, but well balanced with good grind and bite. There is good depth to the sound, with full but not especially tight lows, and appealing highs.

2 & 3 Piece Core Body Tone woods

Alder

At the heart of Blackie and Number 1, first used prominently in the late ’50s and early ’60s. It’s a medium-weight wood, although quality cuts of alder used for guitar bodies will often weigh less than denser cuts of ash. Alder has a strong, clear, full-bodied sound, with beefy mids and excellent lows. Its highs sizzle slightly, but are rarely harsh, and it offers a decent amount of sustain. Slightly brownish in its natural, dried state, alder’s grain isn’t necessarily unattractive, but it usually isn’t as extravagant as swamp ash.

SWAMP ASH

SOUTH AMERICAN MAHOGANY

Walnut

Luxurious coloring and grain patterns are the earmarks of Walnut. Whether using an oil finish or a deep clear gloss, the pleasing appeal of Walnut always delivers. Walnut is in the heavy weight category but it's not quite as heavy as hard maple. It has a similar sound to hard maple but it tends not to be as bright.

White & Black Korina

Its true name is Limba from Africa. Black Korina is usually a medium weight wood, but we occasionally get light weight pieces. It features a very handsome olive color with black streaking. Korina has a naturally waxy feel to it. Oil finishes work well on this wood. The tone is very similar to Mahogany with added mids.

Maple

Maple is a very hard, heavy and dense wood. This is the same wood that we use on our necks. The tone is very bright with long sustain and a lot of bite.

Poplar

Due to the grey/green color, this wood is used mostly when solid color finishes are to be applied. Its weight generally runs about one half pound more than Alder. Tonally, it is similar to Alder as well.

2 Piece Bookmatched Tops

Flame/Curly & Maple AAA & AAAA

While there are several maple species that show the flame figure, the only one hard enough for making necks is Acer saccharum. Identical to rock maple, except for the highly prized flame figuring.

Quilted Maple AAA & AAAA

Tonally similar to that of Flame, Birdseye and Quartersawn Maple but with a striking grain giving the effect of a flowing sheet.