Guitar construction

Are you referring to an acoustic or electric guitar? I built an electric out of mahogany but I'm sure the selection would be more important for an acoustic.

im assuming your talking about electric here just because that seems to be the trend rather than building an electric.

-Alder wood is used because of its light weight and it comes with a more clear tone but be warned not to be used with a clear finish. (alder widely used on Stratocasters)

-Ash wood is used for its bright tone and its sustaining capabilites, but there is 2 different types of ash wood Hard and Soft. hard has a brighter tone and good sustain, while soft will give you a more warmer sound. again be warned ash wood is an open grained wood which means it requires a lot of lacquer to seal it properly.

-Bass wood is a wood with a softer feel with tighter grains. it suits the whole guitar range really, it suits lead guitar very well because of its pronounced "front sound", with that overtones are muted meaning the highs have a strong fundamental tone.

there are other woods as far as bodys go but a little research wouldnt hurt for further ideas for body wood.

Necks are aa whole different story but also play a roll in how your guitar will sound to, some common neck woods include: Maple, Walnut, Rosewood, Wenge, Birdseye Maple AAA Birdseye Maple, Flame Maple, Mahogany Bubinga, Koa, Padouk, Purpleheart.

Fret board woods: maple, rosewood, pau ferro, ebony, macassar ebony, jet black ebony, ziricote, kingwood, brazilian rosewood. Thats about all i know about woods as far as guitar woods go hope that helps. - Collin

The wood a guitar is made from does affect the sound. However, the differences between types are extremely subtle, and the other components (bridge, strings, finish, pickups, capacitors, and variable resistors.) can have as much effect.

Types of wood? Solid wood? There are guitars made of almost every type of wood. Solid wood is generally preferable to multi-ply. The exception is semi acoustic and acoustic/electric guitars tend to resist feedback, and are less expensive to make with plywood. There are also some plywood solid body guitars that sound fine.

But note: There is no wood or guitar feature that can compensate for a lack of practice, but practice can compensate for any limitation in your instrument.

...well, not any limitation.