What is the best wood for building an electric guitar?

Answer by  Andrew31 (35)

I'm not sure there is a "best" wood for building a guitar, it all depends on the preferences of the player. Guitars made out of Alder or Basswood will be much lighter than Mahogany or Korina ones, and much cheaper, too. In my experience the wood used for a guitar has more effect on price than sound.

Answer by  OldBert (9)

The choice of wood doesn't affect the tone on an electric guitar, so any dry, stable hardwood will do. Maple or Mahogany are popular choices.

Answer by  RLDubourg (44)

That all depends on what kind of sound you like. As far as the body, mahogany will give you a deeper tone. A lighter wood, such as poplar, is going to give you a higher, crisper, more resonant sound. Typically, electric guitars are made from maple. It is one of the brighter sounding woods, and is also aesthetically pleasing.

Answer by  chuchurocka (19)

There isn't really a best wood for building a guitar. Each different type of wood imparts it's own sound onto the guitar. Guitars like the stratocaster are usually poplar or ash while heavy sounding guitars like Les Paul's are mahogany or maple. There are many different 'tone woods' and would be hard to describe the 'best' one.

Answer by  dotfret (282)

Maple or mahogany are obvious choices. Mahogany is less dense than maple and will give a warmer tone. Look at guitars on the web and decide which you like best.