The back and sides give a guitar much of its voice — its depth, its overtones, the way each note blooms and fades. I choose every set by ear before eye: tapping, flexing and listening for stiffness, ring and a clear fundamental. Figure is a gift, never the reason.
I favour quartersawn, patiently seasoned stock that will hold true for a lifetime — straight grain, even density, no hidden surprises. Only once a set has earned its place by tone do I let its beauty speak.
The timber comes from growers and specialist dealers I have known for years, chosen for wood that is responsibly and legally sourced. The rarest — Brazilian Rosewood, ‘The Tree’, Pale Moon Ebony — I keep for the instruments that deserve them. And some of the most meaningful pieces come from closer to home: lychee and longan salvaged here in Singapore, given a second life as a one-of-one guitar.
Ancient Bog Oak is a partially fossilized that is carbon dated to be over 5000 years old. Available in very limited quantities, this wood is praised for its rich mellow warm sound which is comparable with any premium tropical hardwood.
A holy grail for builders and collectors for its mysterious history, "The Tree" features a very expressive pattern of glistening waves plus a response and headroom like no other – truly one of a kind and breathtaking in tone and form.
The most sought-after tonewood revered for its deep basses, mature mid-range and sweet trebles. Now in increasingly short supply, Brazilian Rosewood is generally reserved for the highest models.
This prized and highly sought after hardwood can only be found in Madagascar. Bois de Rose is under the true rosewood genus Dalbergia and is highly regarded for its stunning looks and very round midrange.
Always a precious find, Quilted Sapele is flatsawn to maximize its beautiful figure. More flexible than quarter-sawn, it gives slightly more power and warmth than standard sapele with mahogany-like tone with a more pronounced zing.
This Southeast Asian true Diospyros ebony is probably the most perplexing exotic wood. Very rare and expensive to acquire, Pale Moon Ebony is very dense and heavy which results to a very focused tone with tight lows and clear highs.
Cocobolo is a very beautiful wood, known to change color being cut. It offers everything Brazilian Rosewood offers; increased power, sustain and volume, along with its beauty in color and figure.
Heavier than most rosewoods and comparable to Ebony in hardness, Ziricote offers the striking looks of Brazilian Rosewood with similar depth of tone, but with overtones akin to a Macassar Ebony.
Madagascar Rosewood has risen in popularity because of its similar properties to Brazilian Rosewood – a warm sound, with well defined basses, mids, and rich trebles.
Tonally very close to ebony with a strong bass and more defined mids, Malaysian Blackwood features dramatic mix of chocolate brown wild figuring with reddish streaks.
Macassar Ebony is valued for its striking chocolate and light brown coloration. It has strong bass and lower mids coupled with clear and transparent highs, and is very responsive, clear and loud.
Closely associated with Mahogany due to its similarity in terms of responsiveness and tonal characteristics, Flamed Sapele is highly sought after due to its expressive curly grains.
Indian Rosewood is famous for its warmness, rich basses and clear treble response. One of the most popular wood for constructing guitar bodies.
Santos Rosewood, commonly known as Pau Ferro, closely resembles most rosewoods visually and tonally – only mellower in terms of hue and sound.
Remarkable for its attractive golden brown grains, Senegal Rosewood offers power, complexity, and richness in tone with softer and more welcoming midrange, smoother top end, and robust low end.
A very delicate hardwood, Wenge is distinct for its evenly spaced dark chocolate streaks and its glassy tonal character, one with tight bass response
Exhibiting an extremely even response curve across the frequencies, Walnut combines the warm earthy tones of a rosewood with the transparent nature of a mahogany.
Bocote features a tobacco-brown color with distinct parallel black lines and multicolored strips. It is known for its deep sounding basses and an overall big sound.
Granadillo shares the same tonal characteristics of a rosewood, one that is rich in the low end with pronounced highs, giving that deep yet bright sound.
Striking and unique in color, Purple Heart sounds close to rosewoods with its well defined basses and crystal like trebles – a vibrant wood aesthetically and sonically.
With an appearance close to a Koa due to its marblelike wavy grains, Australian Blackwood is tonally comparable to a mahogany being bright sounding and rich in the mid range.
Khaya Mahogany is a hard, bright sounding wood with focused mids. With its wide dynamic range, it responds very well to both sensitive playing and louder, percussive styles.
Koa is a beautiful figured wood, dark brown in appearance with blonde streaks. Tonally, it combines the clarity of a maple with rosewood-like qualities and the sensitivity of mahogany.
Visually stunning with an awe inspiring grain pattern, colouration and figure, Myrtle is incredibly lively across the tonal spectrum with its exceptional balance and clarity
Similar in appearance to rosewood but featuring a lighter, coffee-coloured hue, Ovangkol shares many of rosewood’s tonal characteristics, with a slightly livelier mid-range and a little less in the bass registers.
Visually striking, African Padauk shares many tonal properties of traditional rosewoods, having warm and focused lows while having clear highs and with plenty of overtones.
Zebrawood is an extremely attractive wood with about the same density, resonance and tone as Indian Rosewood, with slightly dampened lower registers and boosted mids.
Bloodwood is an attractive highly figured wood that is naturally red in color. Known for its clarity especially on the high registers, it sounds somewhere in between of a rosewood and an ovangkol.
Maple is highly regarded for its pronounced mids and trebles together with its very fast attack, making it very suitable for fast and percussive playing styles.
Famous tonewood for flamenco guitars due to its “chimey”, clear, articulate tone with great sustain, Yellow Cypress is best when a strong tone and bright attack is required.
Revered for its rarity for it seldom grow wide enough as a guitar timber, Pernambuco’s sweet highs and supple bass response result into an extremely refined sounding instrument.
Expressive and gorgeous, Choco Mango presents a perfectly balanced tone with a warmth close to a koa matched with very focused mids and highs.
Longan is a popular subtropical fruit tree that is endemic in India, Malaysia, and South China, it contains a dark brown seed resembling the eye of a dragon hence its name. Visually stunning hardwood with a density similar to Cocobolo, it projects lush mids and very rich highs.
Widely cultivated for its fruit, Lychee tree is a native of Southern China but can also be found in Singapore. Occasionally we come across salvaged trees and turn them into guitars. Extremely dense, its tonal properties are very similar to Longan.
