Emergency! Rosewood: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Regulations—Part 4

Starting with New Jacaranda,
various types of rosewood have come to be regarded as rare woods on par with Jacaranda.
With that in mind,
a new group of “Post-Rosewood” woods has emerged as potential alternatives to rosewood!
From woods that have long been widely known to those that make you wonder, “What is this…?”
Manufacturers are now adopting a wide variety of these woods!
This time, we’d like to introduce some of these “post-rosewood” woods—which, while not true rosewood species,
are vying to take the place of rosewood
!

• Like rosewood, it belongs to the legume family, but it’s not part of the Dalbergia genus—which includes rosewood species—but rather the Gibotia genus.
  With its high specific gravity and excellent stability, it’s often used for electric bass bodies and fingerboards.
  Also known as “African rosewood,” it produces a sound similar to rosewood and, since it isn’t listed on the Red List, many brands have been adopting it as a substitute for rosewood in recent years.
  Due to its beautiful grain, stability, and resistance to wear, it has long been used in furniture and other applications.

  

  Yokoyama Guitars

  Tadashi Yokoyama, a former Morris craftsman known for developing the Morris S Series, runs a workshop in Nagano where he builds guitars entirely by himself.
  Highly regarded by technical players—particularly fingerstyle guitarists—his guitars, crafted with exceptional woodworking skills, each possess a unique character and a warm, inviting feel. His line is characterized by a wide range of models featuring rare woods that other manufacturers rarely use.

  

  This is the AR-GBU from the AR Series, Yokoyama Guitars’ most popular line.
  It features a compact size combined with a cutaway, adopting specifications that follow in the footsteps of the Morris S Series, which is widely favored by fingerstyle players.
  This is a beautiful instrument with bubinga for the sides and back, featuring a vivid, pale reddish hue and a sparkling, quilt-like grain.

  True to bubinga, it’s hard and resilient, with a tight sound that feels substantial rather than light—a perfect match for Yokoyama Guitars.

• 

• Next is Obankol, a legume family wood belonging to the same Gibbia genus as Bubinga.
  Compared to deep-red rosewood or Bubinga, it is characterized by a yellowish-brown color. The grain pattern resembles that of rosewood.
  The contrast between the dark grain lines and the lighter, yellowish areas is vivid and beautiful.
  Its sound quality is also similar to rosewood; it offers good tonal balance and a well-defined texture, but compared to rosewood, it lacks that “wet” quality and tends to produce a slightly harder, brighter sound with good body. With its quick attack, it offers an appealing sound that strikes a balance between rosewood and koa. It is also well-known for being used in Taylor’s 400 series, as seen in models like the Taylor 414ce.

  

  K.Yairi

  K.Yairi was launched in 1965 as a “Made in Japan” brand. From the 1970s to the present day, these guitars—meticulously handcrafted by a small team—have earned the support of many players in every respect, including precision, tone, and value for money.

  

  This guitar comes from K.Yairi—a brand that enjoys worldwide popularity for its Japanese-made instruments—and is part of the “JAPONE” series, a “Cool Japan” collection produced on an irregular basis. This is the fourth model in the series: “The Tale of Genji: Shukuki.” The distinctive artwork on the top is created using a technique called “woodburning,” in which a heated pen is used to char the wood, creating shades of light and dark. It is said to have been painted by an artist living in Gifu Prefecture who was a friend of the late Kazuo Yairi.This is a beautiful instrument with bright, lovely Obankol wood on the sides and back.
  Its unique sound—which is bright and responsive yet possesses a sense of depth in the body resonance—reflects the combination of handmade K.Yairi guitars, known for their warm, woody tones, and Obankol wood.

• 

  It is a species of wood belonging to the genus Macarielium, which is in the same legume family as rosewood and closely related to the genus Tsurusai-kachi.
  It has many trade names and common names, including “Purplewood,” “Morado,” “Bolivian Rosewood,” and “Santos Rosewood.” Hidden behind these various names, it has long been used in the musical instrument industry for materials such as the sides and back of acoustic guitars, but its popularity has surged even further as a substitute for rosewood amid rosewood trade restrictions.
  Although there is variation from tree to tree, the wood ranges in color from a chocolate-like brown to a slightly purplish hue and is characterized by large, blurred stripes similar to those found in Indian rosewood.

  

  Morris

  When discussing Japanese folk guitars, Morris is often cited as one of the most familiar domestic manufacturers.
  Its predecessor brand was founded in the 1960s and officially adopted the name “Morris” in 1972.
  Its craftsmanship and value have long been appreciated by many players,
  and it is said that, starting around the late 1970s, Morris dispelled the “cheap and shoddy” image often associated with Japanese products at the time.

  

  Morris has long utilized a wide variety of woods for its sides and backs, including Brazilian rosewood, Indian rosewood, mahogany, nato, maple, and chestnut. This is the M501, Morris’s affordable Dreadnought model. Under the “Purplewood” designation, it features Perfero for the sides and back.

  It’s a beautiful instrument with a dynamic, wide-flared grain pattern. While the color is difficult to capture in photos, in person it has a slightly lighter, purplish hue—a clean, uncluttered tone without any heaviness.

• 

• It features a grain ranging from a light, bluish-brown to a deep, chocolate-like brown. It has a texture similar to alder.
  Since mahogany ranges from heavy woods like mahogany to lighter ones, the sound varies significantly depending on the cut and the individual piece of wood.
  Also known as “California Walnut,” “Black Walnut,” and “Claro Walnut,” Claro Walnut includes pieces with exotic grain patterns such as curly, burl, and crotch. It is a widely recognized wood that has long been used in furniture and other applications.

  

  Gibson

  Gibson is a brand that, along with Martin, forms the “Big Two” and is indispensable when discussing acoustic guitars.
  Since the 1930s and 1940s, Gibson has shaped the history of acoustic guitars and established various industry standards—such as using mahogany for the sides and back, ebony for the fingerboard, and maple for the sides and back, a material other manufacturers were not actively adopting at the time.Depending on the era, the company often relied primarily on rosewood-based woods; in recent years, however, due to material shortages, it has begun incorporating not only traditional woods but also materials it had not previously used.

  

  This is the J-15, a round-shoulder model in the tradition of Gibson’s classic J-45.
  Compared to the main regular models like the J-45 and J-50, it has been marketed in recent years as a more affordable option.
  Unlike the main mahogany models, this guitar features a walnut back and sides and a maple neck.
  It’s a delightful instrument with a bright, crisp, and deep attack. You can experience the smooth, unobtrusive response of the walnut.