• From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Topic: WOOD

While reading articles, my eyes noticed something about the wood used by top guitars.
BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD versus INDIAN ROSEWOOD.

Playing guitar requires for me, a certain knowledge about the guitar you play.

I use 1 example: MARTIN guitars.
You can find some guitars, and they are often very expensive, using BRAZILIAN Rosewood.
Exactly the same model, can be found cheaper using INDIAN Rosewood.
BRAZILIAN WOOD is more difficult to find, because the wood providing us the guitar, is becoming more and more difficult to find (they use it sometimes to make a guitar for a special occasion, like 100 years, or 50 years anniversary of, just an example, a martin D-28.
The web provides us a lot of information, and I noticed, = NOT CONCLUDED, that for the human ear there is no difference in sound between a MARTIN D28 with BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD and a MARTIN D-28 using INDIAN ROSEWOOD.
Can specialised men measure with instruments the difference, using maybe the vibration of the wood, between the 2 rosewood models? Or is it just a commercial "stunt"?
As far as I could read, using google with the question: what is the difference between B and I wood, they all tell, that they DO NOT hear a difference.

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  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2007-02-08
  • Posts: 1,914

Re: WOOD

Brazilian rosewood is (was) a popular wood for guitar fingerboards, and acoustic guitar backs and sides. However, due to its protected status and spiraling prices, Indian and Madagascar rosewood are being used extensively in its place.Indian rosewood and shisham, this true rosewood is darker than most rosewoods but quite attractive and more readily available, and less expensive, than its better known cousin Brazilian rosewood. It is hard and heavy and works and polishes well. Its combination of beauty and tonal qualities make it popular for guitar sides and backs. Like Brazilian, Indian Rosewood keeps the guitar at the warm dark end of the tonal spectrum. While not as visually striking as Brazilian, Indian Rosewood has an elegant appearance and should not be considered inferior to Brazilian on any account.  I've done a little research on this myself recently since I'm in the process of constructing my first acoustic guitar. From what I can gather the sound is the same! The only diffrence is that the brazilian rosewood has slightly more oil content and therefore a stronger scent (of roses as for why it is named Rosewood) Also it has more variations in the coloring of the wood allowing the grain to be more noticable when finished. Hope that helps! Peace!

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