HeyMikey
Enlightened Member
I have limited experience with jumbos but my personal preference is rosewood for smaller body guitars and maple for larger bodies.
I find the bass and sustain of rosewood really enhances the lack of natural low end in a small guitar and rounds out the sound.
In a large body I find that same rosewood sustain and bass can become overwhelming and muddy the sound, especially on faster changes.
For me maple has not been a good wood for small bodies. The quick decay and brightness do nothing to augment the smaller body lack of bass. If you are a speed demon it can be beneficial, but otherwise I just don’t dig it.
However that same maple brightness and crispness helps reduce muddiness in a large body, and in the case of Guild archbacks still provides plenty of punchy low end.
In between mahogany seems like it works very well with any size though may not always outperform a good small rosewood or large maple.
I find the bass and sustain of rosewood really enhances the lack of natural low end in a small guitar and rounds out the sound.
In a large body I find that same rosewood sustain and bass can become overwhelming and muddy the sound, especially on faster changes.
For me maple has not been a good wood for small bodies. The quick decay and brightness do nothing to augment the smaller body lack of bass. If you are a speed demon it can be beneficial, but otherwise I just don’t dig it.
However that same maple brightness and crispness helps reduce muddiness in a large body, and in the case of Guild archbacks still provides plenty of punchy low end.
In between mahogany seems like it works very well with any size though may not always outperform a good small rosewood or large maple.
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