Introduction
Building guitars from locally sourced wood, reducing dependence on tropical species threatened by deforestation — the idea is compelling. But is it really possible, tonally? The Leonardo Guitar Research Project set out to answer this question rigorously: three lutherie schools and several independent makers built around twenty guitars to a common plan, half in traditional tropical woods, half entirely in non-tropical species. Blind listening tests followed. The results were clear: the tropical wood guitars showed no particular sonic superiority, and the local wood instruments had equivalent tonal qualities. Experienced listeners could not reliably distinguish between them.
Reference
Choosing
local species
Body (back & sides)
Cypress · Figured maple · Walnut · Service tree · Whitebeam · Plum · Olive · Black locust · Elm
Neck
Alder · Wild cherry · Cypress · Chestnut
Fingerboard & bridge
Walnut · Maple · Black locust · Boxwood · Service tree · Pear
On midrange
In guitar making, achieving a good tonal balance between bass, midrange and treble is always the goal. Rich, present midrange is notably difficult to obtain on a classical guitar. Local species such as walnut, oak and elm can be particularly useful here — their acoustic properties naturally reinforce the mid frequencies.
Phase I
First instruments
The soundboard — spruce
The soundboard remains in spruce throughout these experiments — a wood of near-perfect resonance and an exceptional stiffness-to-weight ratio. Inside the body, the bracing and reinforcements are also in spruce, with maple linings. The top's acoustic function is too specialised, and no European species currently matches spruce's combination of qualities. Everything else is open to experimentation.
The first all-local guitar — alder
The first guitar built entirely from local wood was made in January 2019 for the Local Wood Challenge at the Salon de la Belle Guitare in Montrouge. Alder was used for both the body and the neck. The instrument demonstrated that the approach was viable — tonally and structurally.
Phase II
Service tree,
sorb & plum
Sorb for the bridge
Service tree (sorb) has a density close to Indian rosewood and takes an excellent polish. It makes a very effective bridge material — one of the more surprising substitutions, given how demanding the bridge's role is in transmitting string vibration directly into the soundboard.
Sorb fingerboard and decorative purfling
In one instrument, the fingerboard, bridge, headstock veneer and purfling are all in sorb. The tuner buttons are turned from plum — a local wood with a density and figure that lends itself naturally to small turned components.
Phase III
Elm, walnut
& figured maple
Figured maple body
Figured maple (flame or birdseye) is a natural anomaly — a rare growth irregularity that produces the characteristic chatoyance. It makes a striking body wood, visually and sonally. The figuring does not compromise the wood's structural or acoustic properties.
Elm with figured maple inserts
One guitar features an elm body with inlaid birdseye maple accents. Elm is worth noting in a different sense: it is becoming very rare in Europe, decimated by Dutch elm disease. Working with it is a reminder that scarcity is not a problem unique to tropical species.
Auvergne walnut
Walnut from the Auvergne region is used for the fingerboard, bridge, headstock veneer and body in several instruments. The same walnut appears also in the rosette decoration. The neck is alder; the tuner buttons are mother-of-pearl. Local wood does not mean monotone — the palette of colour and grain is wide.
Laminated fingerboard
To add rigidity to the neck-fingerboard assembly, the fingerboard can be laminated — walnut combined with a very dense species such as whitebeam. The whitebeam is visually in keeping with the instrument's character and reinforces the fingerboard's resistance to deformation under tension.
Notes
Practical
considerations
Visual contrast and purfling
European woods are often lighter or intermediate in tone — it is not possible to achieve the same visual contrast as with dark rosewood. To mark the transition from one wood to another, a black-white-black purfling sequence is used, defining the boundary clearly without relying on the natural colour differential.
String protection
Brass inserts are used in the tie-block holes to prevent the strings — particularly the finest carbon trebles — from wearing the wood excessively over time. A detail borrowed from historical lute-making practice.
On workability
Local European woods are generally easier to work than tropical species — easier to bend, easier to finish. The French polish takes well. The sonic discoveries they offer, and the visual identity they create, are a compelling reason to continue exploring them.
Working with non-traditional woods has taught me a great deal about lutherie, and opened new sonic colours. Many more projects in non-tropical woods are to come.