Guitar No. 23

This is a Brazilian Rosewood Classical Guitar made custom for William Chow. Aside from their back and side wood, this guitar and guitar no. 22 are a mirror image. On both guitars I experimented with a large brace that runs under and along the length of the bridge directly under the area that holds the saddle. I compensated for the extra weight and strength under the bridge by slightly relieving the lattice bracing around the bridge's perimeter. My intention was to observe what change, if any, that would take place if my design was stronger across the grain and weaker lengthwise.

Brazilian Roswood certainly carries a superior reputation to African Mahogany in the tonewood world, but the Mahogany guitar definitely holds its own. While the guitars had the same resonant qualities, this Brazilian guitar definitely carries the bass notes a bit further and louder at this time.

A wonderful characteristic of Brazilian Rosewood is how well it takes a finish. Although the pores were much larger in this guitar, the French polish turned out perfectly flat and this has been my experience with other specimans I have finished in the past two years. It polishes out to a mirror shine with much less effort than Indian Rosewood or even the African Mahogany.