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Features
Tonewoods
The wood used for constructing an acoustic guitar are chosen not only by their aesthetic attributes, but because each species offers distinctive tonal characteristics. From the warmth of mahogany back and sides to the brightness of maple, differences from one to the other are immediately noticeable.
It all starts with the top.
The top of the acoustic guitar is also called the soundboard. It's here that about 75% of the guitar's volume and tone is created.
A solid top is fuller sounding with richer resonance and tone. It also gives the player more dynamic range, enabling more accentual expression to a performance. A laminated top in comparison will be more restrictive, with less projection, tone, and volume.
Strong and Resonant.
Acoustic guitar tops have to be strong too. The average weight equivalent for the tension of the strings pulling against the top is about 80kg (175 pounds)! Not only does the top wood need to withstand this constant string tension, it also needs to be thin enough to offer a loud resonant sound. This leaves few choices of wood to work with. We use solid spruce for most our tops. Spruce is by far the most commonly used tonewood for soundboard construction.
Color and Tone.
Spruce has just the right amount of stiffness and strength, and produces good even tone with good volume for acoustic guitar. It is light in color, and features beautiful definitions between its grains. Since spruce offers such an amazing strength-to-weight ratio, it has been known to be used in aircraft construction and is still being used today in the helicopter blades.
The Back and Sides
Often called the "salt 'n' pepper" of the acoustic guitar's tone, the back and sides add "flavoring" or "seasoning" to the overall sound. On most of Parkwood guitars, you'll find mahogany or rosewood back and sides.
Spruce
Rosewood
Mahogony
Rosewood has a beautiful rich variety of brown and purple-ish colors. It makes a warm rich sounding guitar with great resonance and volume. Rosewood is a very hard wood (harder than Maple) and it's porous and "greasy" nature gives it a warmer tone in general.
Along with Rosewood, Mahogany is the most commonly used wood for acoustic guitar back and sides. Compared to Rosewood, Mahogany is slightly less responsive with shorter sustain but has a stronger emphasis on the midrange which produces its characteristic “woody” sound with plenty of punch. Visually, Mahogany imparts a warm look while, tonally, it provides a bright yet warm midrange without too many overtones. Due to its distinctive sonic character, Mahogany is also used as a top wood to complement Mahogany back and sides.
Body Shape
Dreadnought &
Dreadnought Cutaway
Considered the “standard” in acoustic guitar body shapes, dreadnought achieved its status based on performance. This shape delivers big volume with a clear sound with powerful low-end, rich midrange, and lush highs. The dreadnought remains popular today, especially for flatpick styles.
Auditorium
The Auditorium body shape is a more modern shape, evolved from the classic dreadnought style. Its narrowed waist and upper body make it naturally balanced and ideal for most playing styles. This is the ideal choice if you want articulate performance and defined midrange.
OM
With its smaller body size the OM is comfortable to hold, while delivering a balanced sound that showcases refined overtones and clear string separation that works perfectly with fingerstyle playing.
Grand Concert Cutaway
This has a slightly smaller body design with a pronounced cutaway that offers excellent access to the upper frets. Preferred by working guitarists who need a comfortable easy to play guitar for long sets.
Construction
Parkwood Guitars - World Class Craftsmanship
Parkwood uses the finest, hand-selected solid spruce tops with a variety of high quality tone woods for the sides and back. Hand scalloped bracing strengthens spruce top and helps shape the vocal quality of the instrument. Each tonewood is chosen by highly trained guitar builders keen on the ideal timbre, tone and volume.
Scalloped Bracing
The braces in an acoustic guitar top are designed to reinforce the top from the pull tension of the strings and to also help "voice" the tone of the guitar. The braces transfer the strings' vibration to the rest of the guitar. Scalloping or shaping away wood on the braces allows the top and braces to vibrate more freely, opening up the sound of the guitar.
Scooped Bridge
The scooped bridge features a better break angle over the saddle. By lowering the plane that the strings come out of, we can increase the angle over the saddle resulting in better tone and sustain. It's the same concept behind an angled headstock, where a steeper angle creates more pressure against the strings anchor point, but applied to the bridge where the tone starts.
Dovetail Neck Joint
Popular style of neck joint which allows a solid contact from neck to body, this method has been used for years on some of the oldest guitars. Parkwood prides itself on the quality of the neck joints, utilizing the latest machinery to cut the cleanest tight fitting neck joints.
Neck
Nut Width
Parkwood Guitars use a 43mm (1.7") nut width for comfortable fingering. Not too crowded, but comfortable for most hands. This width is the perfect balance between a wide open string spacing and a comfortable grip at the first fret.
Neck Shape
Parkwood uses a comfortable Oval "C" shape profile. After playing hundreds of different guitars and examining why some necks feel better than others, we have come across a great feeling neck that is not too thick, but still has some girth for chord work. Comfortable and hard to put down.
2-Way "Bi- Flex"
Truss Rod
Parkwood Guitars utilize the latest in truss rod designs by using a 2 way or also known as a "Bi-Flex" Truss Rod. The neck can be adjusted in both directions (with or against the strings pull) giving you the most accurate neck adjustment possible. A 2 way truss rod also places less load on the neck wood itself, resulting in less warpage or damage caused by the traditional truss rod design.
String Action
All Parkwood guitars are set up for optimum tone and playability 2 times. First from our factory during final assembly. Then we re-check and re-adjust a second time before we ship to your local dealer. Parkwood Guitars are fine tuned by luthiers with years of real world playing experience. We include an extra saddle with each guitar in case you want to re-adjust or experiment with different action settings.
Finish
Sonically-Enhanced Thin UV Finish
The clear finish on an acoustic guitar protects the instrument from the elements and reduces wear-and-tear, but too often it also adversely impacts instrument performance. The common finish is thick and greatly constricts the instrument, reducing sustain and volume. We have developed a complete process to offer the best finish possible on all Parkwood acoustic guitars. The core of our process is a UV finishing method. Our UV finish is about 30% thinner than standard finishes and this allows the wood to “breathe” and vibrate more freely.
This process requires a shorter drying time and reduces chemical interaction between the finish and the woods, which is ideal for your instrument’s longevity. Due to the much shorter drying time and the lack of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) in the UV finish material, it is also an environmentally friendly process. The hardness of the finish is very resistant to scratches and dents and is also almost completely devoid of any harmful chemicals.
And More!
Grover Tuners
Parkwood Guitars feature a high quality Grover tuning machine with a 14:1 gear ratio for solid tuning action. The Ebony-like tuning keys offer an elegant professional look with superior comfort when tuning. The key has an inset screw for a wide degree of tuner tension that the player can set to their liking.
Deluxe Hardcases and Gigbags
Our deluxe gig bag features a rugged poly exterior, double pockets, extra large accessory and string pocket and a built in organizer. The construction is extra thick with up to 25mm of padding. The double back pack style straps make for an easily carried backpack type bag. Interior is a brushed cloth lining with protection for the bridge and neck. A Velcro neck cradle securely holds the guitar in place while in travel. 2 tone exterior gives it a modern attractive look. A very well thought out bag that will protect your Parkwood Guitar for years and years.