Laminated Wood
We use two different materials for our soundboards. The lower priced instruments have laminated birch for their soundboard and back. This helps us keep the price of our beginning instruments affordable because we can buy it in ready-to-use sheet form. It is the highest grade of plywood available, looks quite nice and has the added benefit of being fairly impervious to changes in temperature and humidity, enhancing the instrument’s stability. It gives a clean, clear and pleasing quality of sound.
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| Honduras mohagany soundboard |
Solid Wood
All of our solid wood instruments have soundboards and backs made of high-quality, quarter-sawn Honduras mahogany or sapele. We chose these woods for their visual beauty, dimensional stability, and most importantly for their sound. The acoustic properties of these woods combined with our instrument and bracing designs give a rich, deep brilliance, controlled sustain, and clarity of fundamental tone that results in a smooth, professional sound especially apparent on complex, up-tempo pieces.
While the use of a plywood soundboard and back provides an economical, good-sounding instrument, solid wood on the same instrument will give more resonance, depth, brilliance and volume. Also, the tone quality of a solid-wood instrument continues to develop over the years, enhancing its long-term value and the satisfaction of owning and playing it.