The body of the guitar: The heart of a classical Spanish Guitar
There is a fact: every guitar sounds different. This difference is even more exaggerated in hand made Classical guitars. Every guitar made by a luthier is an individual work of art with its own personality, sound and soul. Two guitars made of the same wood and by the same luthier can have slightly different timbres or to a trained ear they can be identified as having very different timbres.
The body of the guitar is where the sound of the guitar is amplified to come out of the sound hole and its individual characteristics reflect the sound and the soul of the guitar. A well crafted guitar body will amplify and enrich the sound of every note you play.
Musical instruments are a mixture of science, craftsmanship and art. A luthier will choose the wood, materials and way of making the guitar for each guitar on an individual basis but always using a foundation of techniques and principles that have been passed own throughout the years. A classical guitar is made from different types of wood. The body of the guitar has three different parts: the top, the back and the sides. Back and sides are normally made of Indian Rosewood, in classical guitars, although many other woods can be used such as mahogany, ziricote, bubinga, etc... One of the most widely used wood for the top is the red Canadian cedar but German spruce is also used, specially in flamenco guitars.
For the sound to come out of the body, the guitar needs a sound hole. This is the part of the guitar where you can see a unique craftsmanship from luthiers, they let their creativity and imaginations run wild in their decoration of high end guitar sound holes. Alhambra redesigned all their rosettes in 2012. All these wonderful decorations were designed by José María Vilaplana.
Once the fret, bridge and strings are connected the guitar is ready to play. Take your time when buying a guitar as the sound that comes from the body may change over time but it will remain pretty constant, you can change your strings and your way of playing but the resonance and feeling from the body will always color your sound.
