The process of creating a guitar begins with wood selection; a quality wood choice contributes to a guitar’s tone and ultimate quality. Rare and exotic woods, while harder to come by in the marketplace, have shown to produce some the finest guitars sold today. For example, a rosewood guitar tends to produce a warmer sound, while harder woods like maple make a much brighter sound.

The shape and overall design of the guitar can also dictate the type of sound it makes. Classic bodied guitars commonly provide a range of tones in the treble range, while dreadnought (or large-bodied) guitars and jumbo flattop guitars enhance the bass tones with a deeper, richer sound. The placement of the sound hole and the presence of any cutaways can also alter the guitar’s sound.

The sound quality that is produced by an acoustic guitar also relies heavily on the way that it is made. Skilled woodworkers, known as Luthiers, handcraft most high-end acoustic guitars. However, the modernized process of assembling these guitars, using factory innovations, is also common practice within the industry. Guitar makers, like C.F. Martin & Co. and Jean Larrivee, produce handmade acoustic guitars, while other manufacturers, like Fender and Taylor, prefer to use mass production technologies.

The chosen pieces of wood are shaped and cut, using specialized woodworking tools and molded on a high temperature rolling pin, using heat and steam. The interior of the acoustic guitar is fitted with a braced soundboard, consisting of strategically placed wood ridges which deflect sound waves around the inside of the guitar and out of the sound hole. The pattern of ridges on the braced soundboard varies, depending on the manufacturer and style of guitar. The neck, fretboard and body pieces are assembled using cut wood joints, wood glue and clamps to hold everything together properly. Once the overall assembly is complete, the guitar is fitted with hardware, like the bridge, tuning knobs and frets.

The entire process of handcrafting an acoustic guitar can take anywhere from one to twelve months, depending upon the detail of the design. The methods adopted by individual manufacturers are typically the result of years of trial and error, to obtain the ideal combination of wood, shape and construction.

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Flicker Image Citation: Recycled Instrument taken by Mooganic Taken on September 18, 2008 &  Guitar Parts taken by Tim Patterson  on January 29, 2010.