b'us the opportunity to comparecontribution were significant Indian against Brazilian Rosewood,enough,it wouldoutweigh any and Mahogany against Sapele orother variations.The test itself would Mahogany against Walnut. Wehopefully prove or disprove those could also check some commonassumptions.perceptions about individual woods. The tests were carried out by It was important to keep everythingSam Carcagno, Senior Research else about the guitars as close toAssociate at Lancaster University.identical as possible.We made allThe tests ran for about a year, many six in parallel, so that details suchprofessional players took part as as thicknessing and finishing werewell as amateur enthusiasts. Audio the same. The necks, bracing andrecordings were made by Ken Nicol, other components were cut fromand placed on the web for world the same sections of wood.All thewide comparative tests.Physical soundboardsare cut from one Sitkaacoustic response tests were carried Spruce billet. out using a laser vibrometer by Jim The only item that changed wasWoodhouse from Cambridge, and the back and side timber, wheregraphed against two other acoustic I chose thicknesses appropriateguitars for comparison.to the timber being used.There would be limitations to any decisions made, and some variations would be inevitable, but we were testing the contribution of the back and sides, and we hoped that if that 249'