Official Luthiers Forum!

I know that most the lining sold is Basswood,Mahogany,or Spruce.But aren't there better woods that can be used for better sound? Especually at the soundboard edge.Mabey Rosewood or even ASH.What are your thoughts on this.And do you think hardwood or softwood is best in this area of the box?

my favorite is Aspin but is hard to get around here

Aspin is a poplar. If you have trouble getting Aspin, have you tried poplar?

yes I have but Aspin is somewhat lighter than the common poplar we see around here. Plus it is far whiter in color which I really like.

Spanish Cedar.

First I'm not sure that lining material plays a big part in a guitar sound. In addition to that, I don't understand why woods such as rosewood or ash would generate a better sound.

I think you should keep linings as light as possible (as for everything on a guitar) and as thin as possible to allow the largest possible surface of top wood to vibrate freely.

But that's just my guitar maker intinct speaking. I don't have any scientific data to back thoses believes up.

EDIT: Oh! and I mostly use mahogany and spruce. I also have a stash of redwood that I plan to use for linings when I'll be out of mahogany and spruce off cuts.

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

The only absolutely noticable change i have witnessed from using different lining materials, is the outdoorsy fresh smell of cedar. I think anything that is lightwieght and does'nt try to split when you install it will do nicely, bonus if it smells good.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

I second and third that! Been using reverse SC and just love the stuff. As I have said many times before, the second most amazing thing about it is its smell. I love opening a guitar case and sticking my nose in the soundhole. When I smell rich wood aromas, its like a calming thing. Like the inside of my humidor.

Does this do anything for sound? Prolly not. But it does at one more dimension to the guitar's presence.

Mike

I often use solid Spanish Cedar linings and mahogany reverse kerfs in lieu of that.
I have some aspen in my backyard, maybe I'll cut em down
Oh, I'm in the wood species of linings doesn't make a sound difference camp.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I don't know why, but the smell of cedar reminds me of my grand-parents basement... weird think is, they probably had nothing made out of cedar in that basement; mainly it was a storage area, cold room kind of thing.... anyway!

for lining as well as braces, I like it when the wood contrasts the back/side wood in color... I only have build one guitar yet (not even finished ) and I used spruce; in the next one, for the reasons stated above, I'll go with spanish cedar.

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Olivier Gauthier
Montreal, QC

It's just my thoughts that soft wood would have more of a damping effect on the sound board. I've heard others say that about basswood linings.So i would think that rosewood or ash might be less dampining.After all, the sound board where most the sound is comming from is glued to these lininings right?