First installment: "Is densely grained wood really a good thing?"

Advance Guitars: Inoue's Solo Performance

Introduction

Hello. I'm Inoue, the store manager of Advance Guitars.
Lately, I've been getting more opportunities to write articles for music magazines.
As I continued writing, I gradually accumulated themes that I couldn't fully cover in my articles but would like to explore further.
Also, when I interact with customers on a daily basis and observe the guitars themselves,
I often find myself stopping and thinking, "What's the reality of this?"
Is there a way to talk about the questions and insights that arise in such moments in a more free and uninhibited way?
That's how I started my "Solo Storytelling Series" on YouTube.
In this series, I try to cover as many topics related to acoustic guitars as possible, focusing on things that I personally find interesting.
This article summarizes the series, supplementing aspects that are difficult to convey through video alone.
I hope this will allow you to enjoy the world of acoustic guitars from a slightly new perspective.

First installment: "Is densely grained wood really a good thing?"

Is there a difference in quality depending on the wood grain of the top wood?

As we begin this series, I thought it might be interesting to consider the "killer phrases of an acoustic guitar shop," so I came up with this topic.
That's when I came up with the theme: "Is densely grained wood really a good thing?"
This is because I myself have sometimes mentioned or included in product descriptions that this guitar uses tightly grained wood.
In other words, densely grained wood is inherently good, and this is a compliment.
To put it a bit bluntly, I've come to think that they might be using it as a sales pitch in a music store.

So, is densely grained wood really a good thing?
I reconsidered what exactly makes something good, and then discussed it with them.

Where are densely grained materials used?

In the case of acoustic guitars, it seems to be mainly used for body materials (such as spruce and rosewood).
You'll also see people describing the mahogany used for the neck and the ebony used for the fingerboard as having a "high density."

What does the term "tightly grained wood" mean in this context?

I have never seen it used in a negative sense.
It's used as a compliment for a guitar, in a positive sense.
To put it more precisely, from a music store's perspective, you could call it a sales pitch.

What exactly is a densely grained material?

Since it's an acoustic guitar, I'd like to consider spruce.
The grain of spruce wood is essentially the width of its annual rings.
There are also spruce woods with grain patterns that sway like ribbons horizontally, but we'll set those aside for now.

densely grained woodThat isNarrow tree ringsThat's what it refers to.
Width of tree ringsThat isWood growth rateTherefore,Wood with a tight grain grows slowly.That's how it works.
Tree growth is influenced by climate factors, so it varies depending on the environment, such as temperature and sunlight hours, as well as the type of tree.
The wood grain is uniform.That is,It is growing steadily.This indicates that...

So, is tightly grained wood good?
Since we're talking about acoustic guitars, I'll use Martin spruce guitars as an example.
It is said that Martin offers eight different grades for the top wood of their guitars.
If a tightly grained material is considered desirable, then the higher the grade, the tighter the grain will be.
However, judging from Martin guitars, that's not necessarily the case.
In reality, the width of the wood grain between a Martin D-28 and a Martin D-45 isn't all that different.

I don't know the criteria for these eight levels of evaluation, but I assume they are based on a comprehensive assessment of factors such as appearance and the characteristics of the tonewood.
It seems that some use a standard that measures how many growth rings there are per inch, but even if Martin uses it, that's only to see the bare minimum. In reality, I think an expert can tell whether a piece looks good or bad just by looking at it, without needing such a standard. So, I think this number is just a way of saying, "Spruce has dozens of grains per inch."

In other words,You can't judge the quality of an acoustic guitar solely by whether the wood grain is tight or not.That's what I think.

When considering what makes a good or bad acoustic guitar wood, I think there are three main factors to consider.
Those are its characteristics (degree of processing/rigidity/weight), acoustic properties, and design.
It is the balance of these factors that allows craftsmen and consumers like us to subjectively judge what is good or bad.

Should I avoid wood with a wide grain pattern?

If we consider the opposite of "tightly grained wood is good," then wood with wide grain patterns would be considered bad, but it's impossible to define what constitutes a "wide" grain pattern that is considered bad.
As mentioned earlier, such materials are filtered out beforehand, so for the top wood used in finished acoustic guitars,
I don't think you need to assume that the larger the area, the lower the quality.
For example, some Gibson models from the 2010s have wood grain patterns that are wider than usual.
Based on my experience trying them out, they all had a soft, bright, and beautiful tone, making them all perfect choices for a personal instrument.
On the other hand, the idea that wood with a uniformly dense grain is "beautiful" is...Absolutely.I think so.
Acoustic guitars inevitably have less visual information than electric guitars, so I think it's wonderful to appreciate and praise their aesthetic beauty.
Furthermore, I believe that the width of the wood grain also plays a role, to some extent, as a tonewood.
I'll talk about this in more detail later.

Bonus (Thinking about guitars with very wide wood grain)

To explain this, I looked into whether there are any trees with wide growth rings.
Apparently, there's a type of Japanese paulownia called Japaronia that grows quickly, with its trunk growing about 40cm in four years.
The width of the annual rings is 10 cm. The width of a dreadlock is about 40 cm, so I think it's possible to make one with 8 grain lines.
I think if you make it, people will judge whether it's good or bad, but manufacturers probably won't make it...
I wonder if it will sound kind of dull and sluggish?

Author of this article:Advance Guitars Store Manager Inoue - Vintage Guitar Researcher

Having been involved with musical instruments since childhood, he is an expert who has been involved in the appraisal and sale of thousands of vintage guitars. He has strong connections with collectors and dealers overseas. Believing that "the history of a guitar changes with even a single color or stamp," he strives to provide detailed and passionate explanations.

Qualifications and experience: Eight years of experience as a musical instrument appraiser, contributing articles and supervision to Guitar Magazine and other publications.

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