Types of Woods

Woods are divided into two groups as coniferous and broad-leaved wood according to the type of leave. The woods used in instruments are divided into three according to the place, where they are used. Trunk woods, soundboard and stem woods.

1. Coniferous Woods

They are woods, whose leaves are in the form of a needle.   Woods such as pine, spruce, abies, ground cedar, yew woods are in this wood group. Coniferous woods are resinous. Spruce, ground cedar and abies excluding electric guitars and  stringed instruments, whose soundboard is leather, are woods used in soundboard, junipers and yew bottom manufacturing.

2. Broad-leaved woods

they are woods, whose leave is broad and flat-shaped. Oak, poplar, chery, hornbeam, ash, walnut, maple, rose, basswood and etc. woods are included in this group.

They can be used entirely in box and front body in the electric guitars. However, soundboards of sounding feature box type sound acoustic based instruments are not preferred from broad-leaved woods. Broad-leaved woods are used in manufacturing of stem, hull and wedge.

> Woods

Spruce

(Picea Spp.)

It is a wood included in the group of coniferous woods. Spruce is the primary of the most important woods in the manufacturing of instrument. It is in general a wood used in making of soundboard and balcony in the instruments. It is a wood, which is clean, crystalized and give luminous color tones. Places, where he grows up, are Eastern and Northern European countries.

Specific Weight: 0.38 gr/cm3

Hardness: 390 Ibs/cu.ft

Western red Cedar

(Thuja Plicata)

It is a wood included in the group of coniferous woods. It is a soft structured wood used in soundboard of instruments such as lute, oud, classical and flamenco guitar. It is not hard and resilient as spruce. But it is more stable and problem free than spruce. It is not operated easily and it does not spoil the form. It contains very small amount resin and therefore the state of showing sound development is very rare. It is less affected from changing weather conditions and stable. It is hot-colored, straight grain, and clean sounded. It has colors ranging from red brown, to chocolate brown color. It is graded according to the color variations. When you have a cedar covered instrument, sound you heard at the first stage will remain the same after many years and there will be little changes. When we consider the tonality, there is a complex melancholic sound. It produces powerful and complex tones. It is full with steamy and overlaps harmonics. It has a nice smell. It grows up in Canada, United States.

Specific Weight: 0.35 gr/cm3

Hardness: 350 Ibs/cu.ft

Spanish Cedar

(Cedrela odorata)

It is a wood included in the group of coniferous woods. It is a wood originated Central and Latin America. It is opponent of mahogany wood in particular in the manufacturing of flamenco and classical guitar. This wood having a lighter structure than mahogany wood is astonishingly light.  Therefore, it is used especially in flamenco guitar stems. Therefore the name is also known as Spanish cedar. All manufacturers in Spain prefer this wood in making of stem.  It grows up in Latin America.

Specific Weight: 0.40 gr/cm3

Hardness: 568 Ibs/cu.ft

Fir

(Abies)

It is a wood included in the group of coniferous woods. Fir is a wood, which grows in various regions of the world. In periods when spruce is not so popular, we can see that it is used often as soundboard. However, beautiful instruments can be done from proper vessel structured ones. It is somewhere between Canadian Cedar and German Spruce as structure and musical tone.   It has a nice and very soulful sound. Being less resistant than spruce has led to abies be used less. Some tanburs are used as soundboard and are used as stem due to their lightness. Fir grow up in Turkey, Europe and America.

Specfiic Weight: 0.35 gr/cm3

Hardness: 400 Ibs/cu.ft

Cypress

(Cupressus Sempervirens)

It is a wood included in the group of coniferous woods. Cypress Sempervirens, which is a soundboard wood of classical kemancha and rear board and flange in the flamenco guitars has very nice specific aroma. There are many resin and gum derivative materials in the wood. The odor provided by these substances is excellent. One of the important features of the wood is to be very light so its sounding longness is very much. It has a bright and scratchy tonality other than this. When all of these features come together, traditional flamenco sound arises. All the characteristic flamenco guitars are made of this wood. Concepts related to vessel length and vessel range of Cypress Sempervirens are the determining factor of sound quality in the flamenco guitar. Cedar and Spruce exhibits distinct features and tones as compared with spruce soundboards. While it has more crystallized and high-pitched sounds in the spruce soundboard, it exhibits more severe and melancholic and darker sounds in the cedar soundboard. This wood grows up in Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Spain.

Specific Weight: 0.45 gr/cm3

Hardness: 510 Ibs/cu.ft

Juniper

(JUNIPERUS)

It has generally a wide geographical distribution in Northern Hemisphere, from North America to Alaska over the world.  In addition, it grows up abundantly in Central America, the whole of Europe, the East Africa and Asia Minor. Main types of it are not available in Turkey. Some varieties are found in high places. There are nearly sixty species of juniper. It is a wood, which is in demand, due to be processed easily in the instruments, to be soft, light and to good polishing. It is widely used in the manufacturing of mobile bridge and soundboard (resonance box) in the tanbur.

Specific Weight:  0,35 – 0,50 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1160 Ibs/cu.ft

Basswood

(TİLİA)

It is a wood, which is used little in manufacturing of instruments based on case type sound acoustic. In general, this wood used as stem and bottom wedge is also used as oud, interior stem in the lute. However, it is a wood commonly used in electric guitar stems. It has similar features with alder.   It has a bright sound. It is a wood having wide area of use.

It can be said that it is a very beautiful and soft wood in terms of hardness, softness. Wood used in most Ibanez guitar is Basswood. Tone of this wood being prominent with being light and aesthetic is suitable to achieve quite nice, soft and warm tones. It grows up in Eastern Black Sea, Western Black Sea, Marmara, Aegean, and on the coastline and around Antalya. There are many different types. Summer lime, winter lime, silver and Caucasus lime are the common ones. It is a very soft wood. Its resistance to physical impacts is less. It is processed very easy.

 Specific Weight:  0.40 gr/cm3

Hardness:  410 Ibs/cu.ft

Padauk

(Pterocarpus soyauxii)

Padauk grows up in India, Burma and South China other than in Gabon and Cameroon in Africa. It has glittering vessels according to pore structure and direction. It is generally veined and in forms of lines. It is usually bright dark red. It has same color glittering veins on. It is a medium hard wood. It is tight structured. It is resistant to weather changes. It absorbs less and processed easily. When being processed, it exhales a specific pleasant and nice odor. Its color darkens in the air in a short time. It is varnished well and acquires a very colorful image. It is a wood used often in bottom manufacturing.

Specific Weight:  0.65 gr/cm3

Hardness:  1725 Ibs/cu.ft

YEW

(Taxus )

Yew is wood living the longest in Europa, Turkey, North Africa, Burma and Himalayas with the examples living more than 1000 years. It has a hard and durable wood, whose heart-wood is orange-red in color and sapwood, is light-colored. Small knots are available. Its wood is usually decorative appearance due to its growth form. Its proper bending is good and can be bent with steam. Degree of difficulty is moderate in the processing depending on the fiber structure. Straight fibrous wood of it forms a straight surface by being processed easily in the machine. However, breakage may exist in the process of its formless fibrous wood. It is a wood in demand due to both its varnish and paint holder property and also its color and property, which is easy to be processed in the instruments. It gives a good sound in terms of sound features. It can be used in tanbur manufacturing as resonance box with reliance.

Specific Weight:  0.42 gr/cm3

Hardness:  1600 Ibs/cu.ft

MAPLE

(Acer)

Maple, which is the most important wood of violin, viola and guitar, is an important wood as bottom wood in the instruments such as oud, tanbur, and kemancha other than these instruments. It is often used as stem in the electric guitar, viola and instrument with three double strings. However, it is not preferred because stem weight is significant in the stringed instruments such as classical guitar, tanbur. They are collected in several classes due to surfaces from various cuttings and roots. Spalted maple used for flame maple, Birdseye maple, quilted maple and detail adornments by me is included in the most important varieties used in the manufacturing of instrument. Choice between Flame, Quilted and Birdseye is associated with visual pleasure, but silverbirch type defined by us as American Maple is very valuable. They emerge as a perfect reflector when we take up as tone quality. They produce bright, crystal, strong and extending sounds, whose sound structure is in very strong mids and high pitched voices.  Three-dimensional cross-figures are included in flame maple as tissue. Spots similar to birdseye are placed randomly on the surface at different frequencies. Quilted maple is entirely derived from the root, Spalted maple product is ornamented with incredible and complex motifs. It has visuals such as granite marbles. Flame maple is pale yellow near white, birdseye and quilted resembles a little more cream-colored. Spalted maple is included in a color mix, where you can find whatever you look for. It grows up in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Turkey.

Specific Weight: 0.56-0.68 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1450 Ibs/cu.ft.

Gabon ebony

(Diospyrus crassiflora)

Ebony wood is the best option in the keyboard (touch) use in all instruments. It is the most important wood, which is searching in the making of bottom, auger and bridge, grand and chins protector. Ebony is a very hard wood as structure; it is successful in terms of elongation of sound. It has a warm tonality. It does not transmit sounds by brightening, instead of this, it likes producing warmer and deeper sound and its conductivity is very good. ITs vein lines are the most important element determining its quality. It grows up in Cameroon, Gabon.

Specific Weight: 1.03 gr/cm3

Hardness: 3220 Ibs/cu.ft

African blackwood (Ebony)

(Dalbergia melanoxylon)

 It grows up in central and South Africa dry plain regions. It is used as flange and bottom board in the stringed instruments such as guitar and is used as section in the stringed instruments such as tanbur, oud, lute as well as used as auger in the instrument such as keyboard.  Excellent high-pitched voices, deep basses produce very strong sounds. It has become a serious alternative to the rose family in manufacturing of instrument.

 Specific Weight: 1.27 gr/cm3

Hardness: 3670 Ibs/cu.ft

Macassar Ebony

(Diospyros celebica)

It has a visuality containing thick lines at full length extending from black and red to the brown. It is a wood, which is heavier than all of the rose woods. However, the tonality is very deep and strong.  Namely basses generate very strong, deep and micro phonic sound. Decibel scarcity is not experienced in the instruments made of this wood. It is a wood, whose intonation is very stable. It sets up very well the tonal balance between treble and basses. It grows up in Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Specific Weight: 0.90 gr/cm3

Hardness: 2130 Ibs/cu.ft

Brazilian Rose Wood

(Dalbergia Nigra)

It is an important wood in making of instrument particularly in manufacturing of guitar. It contains brown, red, dark purple and many designs close to this within its body. It has many visual expressions from flammable patterns to straight fine veins. But the most important ones is the sound and intonation, balance, sound clarity, harmonic tones and crystallized tones are as if they were calculated. It is a very frequent and volume wood. The most important feature is being warm and emotional voice in terms of tonality. It is a wood, which is searched in flamenco negra models as well as oud, lute, tanbur, classical guitars. But unfortunately it is in the danger of extinction due to forests, which is slaughtered unconsciously and its cutting is completely banned.

Specific weight: 0.80 gr/cm3

Hardness: 2270 Ibs/cu.ft

Indiana Rosewood (Palisander)

(Dalbergia Latifolia)

 Indiana Rosewood is found in west India. Palisander, Polosanto, Sonokeling are the other names. It is shown as alternative to Brazil Rosewood. It is lighter and steadier than Brazil rosewood and not very frequent. Visuality is at the forefront in some varieties. Yellow, orange or purple lines may be found next to lines ordered dark and sometimes disordered. In particular, infrastructures, which are in purple tones, are in characteristics in demand. Sometimes brown colors oxidized draw the attention. In general, they produce not bright and deep sounds. It grows up in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam.

Specific Weight: 0.85 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1720 Ibs/cu.ft.

Honduras Rosewood

(Dalbergia of stevensoni)

It is very rich in terms of tons of wood; in rosewood family it has a good reputation. Its light brown tones integrate with darker brown and black veins. ıt is one of the closest alternatives to the Brazil rosewood such as Madagascar rose. It has a more stringent and heavy structure than India rosewood. It produce balanced and warm sound as tonality, it has a very deep sound. When exhibiting deep and powerful tones in basses, it generates very clean sounds, which are not very bright in high-pitched voices. It grows up in Belize.

Specific Weight: 0.95 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1730 Ibs/cu.ft

Madagaskar Rosewood

(Dalbergia Baronii)

They have colors extending purple, red and brown.  It is one of the best alternatives for Brazilian rosewood. It is in nature, which does not make look for brazillian rose as visual and tone. It generates a strong and clear sound as well as warm, deep sounds in the tone. It is possible to produce high quality guitars. It grows up in Madagascar.

Specific Weight: 0.51 gr/cm3

Harness: 1778 Ibs/cu.ft.

Bolivia Rose wood

(Machaerium Scleroxylon)

It is known also as Morado and Santos Rosewood.  Other name of Bolivya rose is Pao Ferro. This wood is found in Brazil and Bolivya forests. It is a very hard wood, is harder than India roa and nonporous. Study can be made easily on it. It has characteristic between ebony and Indian rose in terms of tone. It generates warm tones and higher-pitched voices than Indian rose. It has very long sounding longness other than those mentioned. It grows up in Brazil, Bolivya.

Specific Weight: 0.85 gr/cm3

Hardness: 2003 Ibs/cu.ft.

Cocobolo

(Dalbergia Retusa)

Cocobolo is a wood having very hard, elastic and resistant structure.  After being varnished in the manufacturing, its feature of being constant is avalable. Its visual structure is beautiful as not to be described; its orange, dark brown and many more nice colors are available. It generates brillant high-pitched voices as the sound and deep basses. It is skillful in terms of prolongation of the sound in addition to this harmony. It has a sound quality, which may be an alternative to brazillian rosewood. It has a vivid image due to the high amount of fat included in its fibers. It grows up in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama.

Specific Weight: 1 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1136 Ibs/cu.ft

Wenge

(Millettia Laurentii)

Wenge is a smooth fiber wood in dark chocolate-colored. It has a very hard structure. It has a good tonality as sustain. It is very good in middle notes, it shows bright features in notes and trebles, whose octave is high. It remains pale in the lower octaves. It is a good alternative to rosewood. Wenge is a heavy wood but very stable and smooth. It grows up in Cameron, Congo, Gabon, Zaire.

Specific weight: 0.91 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1630 Ibs/cu.ft

Honduras Mahogany

(Swietenia macrophylla)

This wood originated of South America is used in classical guitar and tanbur stem making. It is a light-weighted wood according to very quality hard-bodied structure. It is opponent to cedar wood, which is important another wood in the stem choice. It is heavier than cedar but more resistant to the stress of wire. It grows up in Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbian, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela.

Specific weight: 0.59 gr/cm3

Hardness: 801 Ibs/cu.ft.

Cuba Mahogany

(Swietenia mahagoni)

Cuba mahogany wood has a harder, more frequent and heavier structure than Cuba mahogany wood. But it has a very nice and bright image as visual. Althoug it is used sometimes for stem, mostly it is not preferred due to its weight. In spite of that, it has a very robust structure. It is a wood to which may be trusted easily in cases in which the weight is not a problem. Any wire stress is met easily by it. Some manufacturers prefer it as bottom wood. It grows ups in Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbian, Cuban, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, United States, Venezuela.

Specific weight: 0.59 gr/cm3

Hardness: 850 Ibs/cu.ft

Africa Mahogany (ACAJOU)

(Khaya Ivorensis)

It is an African origin wood. It is also known as Mahogany, Coaba African and Samanguila. It has many varieties among its own types. But the best ones grows up in damp forests, where rains a lot. Although it has a hard structure, it is light surprisingly. Therefore, front and bottom parts (wedges) are used as interior stem in tanbur and guitar stem, lute and oud. It grows up in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Ghambi, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda.

Specific weight: 0.40 gr/cm3

Hardness: 830 Ibs/cu.ft.

Sapele   Mahogany

(Entandrophragma cylindricum)

Sapele entandrophragma cylindricum grows up in West and East Africa, Cameroon, Zaire and Uganda. It is one of the tyeps of modarate hardwood. It has a structure showing sometimes wavy, thin type tissue and a good natural shine similar to each other. Quilted and wavy patterned one is called as Pommele. It has tonal characteristics of mahogancy; it is an important wood, which is used in manufacturing of instrument with its dark honey color and intense flashy tissue. It grows up in East and West Africa, Cameroon and Uganda, Zaire.

Specific weight: 0.65 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1410 Ibs/cu.ft.

Sycamore

(Platanus Orientalis)

It is adorned with spots on reddish brown. In particular, sycamore used in the soundboard making of zither is used in bottom section in other instruments. It is a hard structured wood as tonality, generates bright tones such as maple. It reveals itself in a slightly warm tone in addition to these bright tones. Sounding length is sufficient extra apart from this. It is not discussed as decibel supremacy, generates very powerful sound. Top board of zither instrument is made of sycamore wood. It grows up in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, England and Turkey.

Specific weight: 0.70 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1500 Ibs/cu.ft

Alder

(Sequoia sempervirens)

It is a large diameter wood. It has a red color structure than Canadian cedar as color. They can be used as bottom in instruments and electric guitars having acoustic structure. It exhibits a tone, which is very close to the Canadian cedar as sound characteristic; it has a sound capacity, which is a little more lush and dense. Annual rings of this wood toning bright and high-pitched voice become apparent. It has a sound structure, which is very similar to abies wood. But it has no similarity in color. Top series of some electric huitars are made of this wood. It grows up in North America, United States.

Specific Weight: 0.40 gr/cm3

Hardness: 480 Ibs/cu.ft

Jacaranda

(Dalbergia Spp.)

Jacaranda is normally known as Brazil rose. In fact, it is a type, which grows up in Indonesia. It is too heavy as the structure, even heavier than all rosewoods. It has a very oily tissue. It has heavier and more frequent tissue than Indian rose. A very bright image can be taken in the level of oil content included in it as well as very nice visual expression. It is much higher quality wood than Indian rose and the price is very expensive. Homeland: Indonesia.

Specific weight: 1.1 gr/cm3

Hardness: 2003 Ibs/cu.ft.

Bubinga

(Guibourtia Demeusei)

 It is also known as Africa rose. This wood is rooted in various jungles of Africa. It is found usually in forests, lake or river including swamp. It is a wood, which returns the sound well in terms of the structure. It shows a feature between mahongany and rose. It is weaker than rose, it has a more balanced sound than mahogany. If wood is fgured (rare), it is is very valuable. It grows up in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, Zaire.

Specific weight: 0.88 gr/cm3

Hardness: 2628 Ibs/cu.ft.

Zricote

(Cordia dodecandra)

 It is very remarkable in apperance in red, black, gray and olive green tones. Most of them are heavier than rosewood, although it has a hard structure than Brazilian rose, it is great in terms of tonal and aesthetic qualities. We can syat that it is somehere between rose and ebony. It generates a little bright tone as well as it has a warm sound such as rose. This tone is very perceiveable.  This dramatic, rich and intensive sound is excellent. It is very successful as visual richness. It grows in Belize, Gatemala, Mexico, where rose grows up.

Specifici weight: 0.74 psi

Hardness: 2200 Ibs/cu.ft

Koa

(Acacia Koa)

Koa is a wood, which is full with visual effects wood from the family of acacia. It has a very attractive color layout and image. It is a middle frequency wood. Ukele, which is a traditional instrument of Hawaii, is made of this wood. It has been started to be used in other instruments. Sound longation acceleration is very high. It shows thinner and more sizzling characteristics than rose at the beginning. It has a very bright and luminous sound. It is very appropriate for flamenco guitar. It grows up in India, Indonesia and Phillipiens.

Specific Weight: 0.60 gr/cm3

Hardness: 3100 Ibs/cu.ft

Walnut wood

(Juglans Reiga)

Color tones may be between lines passing from light pale brown to dark brown and dark chocolate brown.  It has green, brown and blazing patterns. It has warm, melancholic and very bright sound as sound tone and net and light tone with excellent deepness and powerful high pitced voices. It is a very important wood in manufacturing of tanbur, oud, lute and guitar. It grows up in China, France, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey and America.

Specific weight: 0.66 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1130 Ibs/cu.ft.

Lapacho Ipe (Brazilian Walnut)

(Handroanthus spp.)

Lapocho is a very hard and heavy wood, which grows up in tropical regions of middle and South America. The most wanted type is Paraguay type. Its color mixed with dark brown and yellow darkens the effect of air. It is like Brazillian rose as sound similarity with very powerful basses and bright high-pitched voices.

Specific weight: 1.10 gr/cm3

Hardness: 3510 Ibs/cu.ft.

Hornbeam

(Carpinus)

It grows up in Caucausus, Iran and America forests and in Europe all over the world. It is hard, heavy and dense structured. It is resistant to be bent. It is fractured in difficulty. It is processed difficultly but it gives a clean surface. It founds in the region of Blacksea and Marmara as collective in Turkey and in particular in Trakya. Its types, which have been baked in tanbur, its types, which are medium-light and hard, is ideal for stem. It is resistant to stress of wire. Its white one is carpinus betulus, the other, which becomes red by being baked, is fagus.

Specific weight: 0.75 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1300 Ibs/cu.ft.

Elms

(Ulmus)

It grows up mostly in Middle and West Europa and Asia and North America in the world. There are free forests in the coasts of Black Sea in Turkey. There are much more type of Black Wood than onehundredfifty. It is light and black brown. Its year rings are clear in all sections. It appears clearly as very colorless vein ornaments and waterings.  It is light and medium-heavy wood. .ıt is used in the instrument in bottom section.

Specific weight: 0.64 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1720 Ibs/cu.ft.

ZEBRANO, ZEBRAWOOD, Olive Wood

(Microberlinia brazzavillensi)

It is used as flange and bottom board in Oud, tanbur, slice in lute, guitar.  Zebrawood Indian rosewood is extremely an attractive wood with the same intensity and resonance and very similar sound. It has lined brown-black and brown-gold variable color patterns. It grows up in Cameroon, Gabon, Congo and Equatorial Guinea.

Specific weight: 0.47 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1658 Ibs/cu.ft.

Ash

(fraxinus excelsior)

It founds in Europe, Asia Minor and North America. It grows up in almost all regions of Turkey, especially in Black Sea coats, Bolu, Kastamonu and Bursa forest in abundance. There are close to sixty-five types. It is in the group of heavy woods. It is hard heavy, tightly structured. It is processed easily. It is a wood type, which is commonly used in electric guitars. It is hard and very bright tone body woods known with sustain quality. It is used in manufacturing of musical instruments. Their physical resistances are quite strong according to the weight. It is one of the woods entering medium and hard level in the hardness category. It is quite stable after being dried.

Specific weight: 0.61 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1320 Ibs/cu.ft.

Mulberry Wood

(morus)

 Particularly, it give very good results in making of flange and rare board for guitar as well as making of oud as segment, lute, instrument with three double strings, tanbur, kemancha as engraving. It is a very hard wood and this hardness gives a very good tone. Its homeland is China and it founds in our country in abundance.

Specific weight: 0.59 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1680 Ibs/cu.ft.

Plum Wood

(Prunus Domestica)

Plum wood is a fruit wood. It founds disorderly in temperate zones in the world, particularly in middle and south Europe and Asia Minor.  It grows up individually and abundantly almost everywhere in Turkey. It also grows up in gartens and yards. The widest use area of the plum is instrument manufacturers. Its color is brown or violet purple. It has maroon vein adornments showing waterings on red brown and purple floor.  It is disorderly porous. It has a specific odor. It is a hard and dense wood. Its processing is difficult due to being mostly complex fibrated. All wind instruments in folk music are made of plum wood. This status become also a tradition, plum is in particular in demand. It is also the wood wanted for Black Sea Kemencha. It is used in bottom making for instruments with plectron. Particularly dark red and brown colored ones are in demand. It has a good sound quality. It gives a quality sound and nice sound.

Specific weight: 0.85 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1550 Ibs/cu.ft.

Snakewoods

(Piratinera guianensis)

Snakewood is a wood, which has very characteristic snake leather patterns.  It is brown or black spots are contrast and typical reddish brown. It grows up in South America. This wood, which is one of the most exotic woods of the world, is very dense and hard. This wood used in making of guitar, instrument bottom segment of violin string worth as treasure.

Specific Weight: 0.85 gr/cm3

Hardness: 3800 Ibs/cu.ft.

Eucalytpus

(Myrtaceae)

Eucalytpus grows up naturally between Australia, Tasmanya, New Guinea and Pacific Ocean between 10-42 degrees of south hemisphere. Eucalytpus, which has been brought to Turkey as ornamental wood in 1885, was grown up afterwards. It is a wood, which is wanted mosly in last years in instrument making. It gives very good result in tanbur, oud, guitar and lute. It is a wood sound well. It is known as Mediterranean Rose in Turkey. It becomes red brown colored when dried.

Specific weight: 0.49 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1125 Ibs/cu.ft.

Pear

(Pyrus)

It grows up in Europe, Asia Minor, Africa and many regions of America. It founds disorderly in almost all regions of Turkey in garten and yards. It is a heavy wood. It is durable in dry environment. Its resistance is very much against mechanical effects. It is less flexible and fragile.  It has a light sound between maple and mahogany.  Bass passings are lighter than mahogany and maple. It is used in the sections defined by us as bottom in the instruments. It has a structure darkening in due coarse like mulberry wood.

Specific weight: 0.72 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1660 Ibs/cu.ft.

Teak

(Tectona grandis)

Teak is a Torrid Zone wood.  It grows up in Birmanya, Siyam, India and Brazil. It does not grow up in Turkey. It becomes brown in due coarse with the effect of air and sun. It is a medium-heavy wood.  It is not suitable for manufacturing of auger and wire attachment device because it is fractured easily. As bottom, it is a wood, whose sounding skill is good. It generates warm and nice tones.

Specific weight: 0.66 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1075 Ibs/cu.ft.

Cherry

(Prunus avium)

It is a wood, which is preferred for bottom section in making kemancha, tanbur, oud, lute as well as a small oboe being a wind instrument. It is a medium hard wood. Fruit wood found naturally in Giresun, South Caucasus, Caspian Sea and Northeastern Anatolia founds intensively in the United States. It is seen as wood equivalent to mahogany. Bass passings of mahogany and maple are lighter. It gives a clean and net sound. It generates a melancholoic and soulful voices like cedar.

Specific weigth: 0.54 gr/cm3

Hardness: 1150 Ibs/cu.ft.

Purple Heart (Rose) WOOD

(Peltogyne spp)

 It grows up in tropical regions of middle and South America. It is a very hard wood. It is a good choice in manufacturing of instrument. It generates a sound close to the rose wood sound. It competes in the same league. It is used as oud, lute and tanbur section other than flange and bottom board making of guitar.

Specific weigth: 0.85 gr/cm3

Hardness: 2390 Ibs/cu.ft.

Laurel California

(Lauraceae)

Wood laurel is a kind of wood found intensively in Mediterrenean Region and South America. It can be processed easily, it is a light wood. Particularly, California wood laurel is a type having nice patterns. Very good instruments can be made of this wood. It is not an expensive wood compared with brazillian rose although it has a sound structure, which can be compared with brazillian rose.  It is a clear sound and bright high-pitced voices are excellent characteristics of this wood.  This wood having an excellent sound gives a very good performance with spruce and cedar board. It is suitable for flamenco guitars.

Specific weight: 0.34 gr/cm3

Hardness: 784 Ibs/cu.ft.

Monkey pod

(Samanea saman)

It grows up overall in South, Middle America, Indonesia and all tropical regions of the world. It produces soft and balanced sounds between coa and mahogany as monkey pod, excellent basses and bright trebles. It is not a heavy and hard wood. IT is great with color tones passing from dark brown to golden yellow.

Specific weight: 0.48 gr/cm3

Hardness:  850 Ibs/cu.ft.

Tigerwood (goncala alves)

(Astronium graveolens)

It has generally black, dark, brown and irregularly spaced lines and medium reddish brown. It tends to darkens as it dries. Although it is a hard wood, it is not difficult to work on it. It has the most valuable features of b tigerwood expensive tropical woods, which has a balanced sound. The best kind of this wood growing up in certain regions of Africa is in Brazil.

Specific weight: 1.00 gr/cm3

Hardness: 2250 Ibs/cu.ft.

Pernambuco

(Caesalpinia echinata)

It grows up in Brazil. It is a hard, dense and heavy wood. It is resistant to the stress; it does not change its shape. It has very dark red, brown, yellow color and sometimes color close to claret red.  It is used commonly as string wood in violin family and as bottom wood in other instruments. It has a powerful sound.

Specific weight: 0.98 gr/cm3

Hardness: 2820 Ibs/cu.ft.