Brazilian Rosewood Full Set - Call for Pricing

Brazilian Rosewood, almost universally regarded as the best sounding wood for acoustic guitars.  Because of its scarcity and desirability, there are lots of myths and mysteries associated with it.  When talking about Brazilian rosewood and American guitar making, the conversation starts with the Martin Guitar Company.   Because Martin used Brazilian rosewood throughout most of their history, it became the wood that most builders wanted to use on their own finest models.  Martin switched to Indian rosewood, a tonewood that builders have been using for decades.  But, thanks to the sudden scarcity, guitars made of Brazilian became instant collector’s items.

According to Dick Boak, the director of Martin’s artist relations and publicity, “Brazilian rosewood was chosen for its beauty; it was an extremely stable and tonally appropriate choice for back and sides on any musical instrument.”  When Boak was asked by a reporter for the Fretboard Journal, the guitar builder’s choice in magazines, “What determined a good-quality, or Martin-quality, back-and-side set?  What were they looking for back then?”  “They were looking for quarter cutting, which was chosen for its stability.  A flat sawn or cathedral cut is prone to cracking right down the middle of the cathedral grain.  It probably does not have the stability or longevity of stiffness as quarter cut.”

In the world’s greatest Martins, Brazilian rosewood and Adirondack spruce, scalloped bracing – everything came together to produce the finest instruments, the Stradivariuses of the guitar world.  That was the golden age, and what most modern luthiers are trying to copy, either tonally or exactly.  Because of its now rarity, some guilders are getting $20,000 and above for a Brazilian rosewood back-and-side set.

Why, indeed is the Brazilian rosewood the most sought-after wood for quality instruments?  Well, “if you pick up a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and hit it, it goes ‘Ding’,” says Paul Reed Smith in the Fall 2008 edition of The Fretboard Journal.  It becomes immediately obvious to any guitar builder, when listening for the tonal quality of wood.  Paul Reed Smith demonstrated to a reporter that when a blank guitar neck made of Brazilian rosewood was hit, “in its raw form and it sounds just like a marimba.   It ‘Rings’!”

Working with Brazilian rosewood can be a lot of work because, depending on how stiff the piece of wood is, it can be extremely difficult to bend or it can crack very easily.  Experienced luthiers know to soak it for six or seven hours before attempting to bend it for the guitar sides.  There are enough oils in the wood that the wood is also stable.  Usually the guitar builder will add finish on a piece of wood to keep it stable during different changing temperature and humidity conditions.  With rosewoods you don’t really need to do that.

Is Brazilian rosewood the best wood to use for building a guitar?  Brazilian is what has been valuable thorough the history of reselling guitars. And that’s thanks to the Martin Guitar Company because some of their most coveted guitars are of Brazilian rosewood.