Maple, (Western Big Leaf) Guitar Tonewood

Western Big Leaf Maple in the last several decades has found its niche in the guitar and music instruments industry. It was popularly used by some of the early guitar builders following the lead of early solid body Fender guitars and basses. It is not as dense a wood as the Eastern Hard Rock Maple and it displays much larger growth rings with less off-white coloring to the wood. In good western maple the wood is very light in color and because of its lighter weight characteristic and more open grain it has a much more rounded tone than does the Eastern Hard Rock Maple.

Another feature of the Western Big Leaf maple makes it a guitar builder's preference. It has growth compatibility with Western Alder, an even better tonal wood for musical sounds. Because the two grow in the same region of the western United States and Canada, they are entirely compatible when used together as they expand and shrink in a similar way. This reduces the chance for glue line and expansion problems sometimes found in seasoned guitars and basses.