Pasquale Custom Guitars Wood Options

Details

Written by Frank J. Pasquale

Poplar
Poplar is the primary body wood on all of our base model guitars.  It is a well balanced wood that represents the full spectrum of sound from warm to bright.  It is not an attractive wood and is usually used for opaque or painted guitar finishes however, we have used poplar with flame maple tops that have been finished with transparent stain and have looked great.

Basswood
Basswood is an incredibly rich sounding wood that is very light with a slightly brighter midrange sound that Poplar.  It has a very airy and poppy sound that accents brights but doesn’t loose any of the mids or muddy up the bass end.  It works great with humbuckers and makes single coil pickups shine.  Basswood is not a very attractive wood and is primarily used for opaque finishes but we also use it with maple tops and transparent stain finishes.

Alder
Alder is a very well rounded sounding wood.  It has a similar tone spectrum to Poplar but it is slightly warmer and has a more hollow sound.  Alder is a personal favorite of mine because it is extremely responsive to touch and tension.  I have often said that I can hear the grain and feel the wood breathe.  Alder can be used in either opaque or transparent finishes.

Mahogany
For decades Mahogany has been the standard wood for Rock n Roll.  It is dense and heavy with a warm, rounded sound that brings the low end out of the guitar and makes it growl.  It works best when it is capped with a maple top that brings out the mids and highs.  Mahogany is a very attractive wood and looks great when finished with a transparent finish or an oil-rubbed satin finish.

Padouk
Padouk is an African Redwood that is extremely dense and heavy.  It has a reddish/orange appearance that turns to a brown over time and is often accented with dark brown and black grain swirls.  It looks absolutely gorgeous with a high gloss or an oil-rubbed finish.  It is well balanced with a bright clear resonance but it has a distinctive midrange punch that other woods do not.  It will never get lost in the mix.

Guitar Neck Wood Options

Maple
Maple is the gold standard of neck woods.  It is bright and rich sounding and allows for excellent transfer of vibration and clear full sustain.  Maple can be topped with any type of fingerboard wood to further enhance its tonal abilities.

Mahogany
Mahogany is also used for necks because of its rich low-end characteristics.  It is usually capped with an ebony or a rosewood fingerboard.  The ebony board adds brightness while the rosewood adds warmth.

Pau Ferro
Pau Ferro is an exotic wood from Africa.  It is mostly used for fingerboards but we also use it for necks because of its rich creamy tone.  It is a dark brown wood with a rich grain of black and orange stripes that looks fantastic.  It is a naturally dense wood that requires no finish.