ANSIR - EXOTICS AND TONE WOODS

When building musical instruments, much care must be given, not only to the choice of the hardware and electronics, but also to the materials from which it is made. The most commonly used material to build electric basses and guitars is wood. There are hundreds if not thousands of wood species from which to choose. This vast array of material from all over the world has their own personal characteristics. They all have different colors, weights, strengths, and sounds. We all want an instrument that is beautiful. However, the sound instrument produces is even more important. We have the honor of working with some of the finest natural exotic materials that remarkably have astonishing tonal qualities; therefore, we can build instruments that sound as incredible as they look. To help make better sense of the wood species and their properties we have the following list of many of our favorites.

padouk Padouk:
Vivid red color with a very bright but all-around sound. This is truly one of our favorites, especially when used for necks and our tone cube.

bubinga Bubinga:
An extremely hard and dense wood. Finish and polished almost like stone. Beautiful coloring from reddish orange to almost purple with some cream here and there. This wood produces midrange tones. Bubinga is one of the finer tone woods.

 

 

curly maple Curly Maple:
Beautiful white background with heavy curl figure. Common for bodies, produces mid to bright tones and one of our favorite body woods

purpleheart Purple Heart:
Bright purple color that will soften and brown out in time. Again, a very hard fine grained wood. Dense and strong. An excellent accent wood.

pau ferro Pau Ferro:
A dense chocolaty brown wood with a tight grain and a bright tone, making it a great choice for fret boards.

wenge Wenge:
A very dark brown, almost black, wood with an open coarse grain. Great sounding mids and low tones. Great with our parquetry or in necks. An all around incredible looking and playing wood.

bloodwood Bloodwood:
Dense hard wood with a tight grain and a beautiful red color. This produces a brighter tone with incredible sustain and an extremely fast playing surface.

bocote Bocote:
Another dense smooth wood. Strong with a tight grain. Bold striped grain and mid to warm tone.

koa Koa:
A fantastic brown to vibrant orange red color. Prone to interesting grain and curly figure. Good for necks and bodies with a mid to warm tone.

macassar ebony Ebony:
Very hard and smooth wood. The choice for fretless necks

goncalo-alves Goncalo:
Very dense grained wood. With striking tan color and dark brown stripes. An excellent neck wood.

mahogany Mahogany:
A softer exotic which generates a warmer Rock & Roll /Blues sound when used for a body.

rosewood, Rosewood:
The usual choice for fingerboards with good reason. A great all around sound.

zebrawood Zebra Wood:
An exceptional looking and sounding wood, one of our favorites for inlaying.