Official Luthiers Forum!

I think I should have posted this here:

 

This is my first post here so hello to everyone! 

My question:  Does anyone know how different top woods affect the sound of a resonator guitar with multiple sound holes?  I know the density of the wood used has an effect on the tone, but I was wondering since the holes are apparently the dominating factor in the sound output, does it matter much what type of wood is used?  I'm inclined to think that the holes have more impact on the volume and less on the tone, and the wood chosen has more effect on the tone and less on the volume.  Any ideas?  Thanks in advance!

My view is that the choice of top wood has no significant impact on either the tone or volume of a resophonic guitar.

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Pete
http://www.petewoodmanguitars.com

I have built two resos. One solid mahogany, one solied cherry. The sound holes are the same. The mahoany has a deeper richer tone while the cherry is brighter. The cones and bridge are the same on both resos, so the only difference is the type of wood. IMO, the wood does make a difference.

The question and my answer were specifically about top wood. I agree the back wood tends to make a difference to the tone but even then it's only a generalisation because body size and shape also affect the sound. I once put a lot of work into trying to get someone else's custom walnut dobro to have a good bass response like mine but without a great deal of success.

In general I would expect cherry and maple bodies to be brighter than mahogany or walnut and that would affect my choice of wood for back and sides, but not for the top.

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Pete
http://www.petewoodmanguitars.com

My resos have the same top wood as the back and sides.

Sam,

I've been playing resophonic guitar for about 28 years and I've built about 30 of them, and my experience is that the top wood makes very little to zero difference in the sound of a reso. There is almost no wood there (see photo). The back and sides are the tone production elements, so they create the tone color and the volume. I believe folks want to think of reso's and other stringed, acoustic instruments as all operating (sound production-wise) the same way. Fact is, they're completely different animals. They look similar but that's all. A resophonic body is designed to reflect sound pressure where an acoustic guitar works more like a bellows...on a microscopic level. Just my opinion.

Dan Brooks