There are many amazing claims made in the world of musical instruments. Some of these are fact, some are fiction and some just plain ordinary rubbish. To help dispel a few of the myths I have put together a few items you may find interesting.

Brazilian Rosewood is the finest timber available for Backs and Sides.

Well, this one has been around for a long time. The fact remains that Brazilian Rosewood was first used by the Spanish at a time when it was the premier cabinet timber available in Europe. It was also in plentiful supply. Cypress was at the opposite end of the scale. One was used for the expensive classical instruments and the other for cheaper flamenco instruments. There is no doubt that Brazilian is a superb tone wood, but to claim it as the best ever is not true. There a many alternatives that are equal, and better according to some.

Spruce is bright and Cedar is warm sounding.

This is another of those little stories that has grown up around guitar circles. The fact is both woods can be made to perform in either way, depending on the construction of the instrument. There is a difference, but it is not defined in terms of brightness and warmth. Spruce has a beautiful, upright almost regal sound compared to Cedar. Cedar is more percussive with a faster more percussive attack.

Solid wood guitars are better than plywood or laminated guitars.

Now this may be true for the timber of the top, but it really is not that important on the back and sides. For those of you who are non-believers, just ask yourself how the back and sides of the Australian guitars, like Smallman etc are made. These are made from many layers of veneers laminated together with epoxy resin in a shape similar to that of the violin family. The acoustic qualities of the back and sides have more to do with epoxy than the timber. But having said that, guitars with normal backs and sides can produce that something extra that is absolutely essential for some players.

Spruce guitars take longer to mature than Cedar.

Now this is generally true, all things being equal. It will vary from player to player, depending on their playing style. A guitar will also mature much faster with a strong player than with a gentler player. Guitars that are left alone for long periods will experience a loss in sound quality and quantity but it is quickly revived by playing again. Guitars with thinner tops also play in much faster than guitars with thicker tops.

Lacquers are as good as French Polish.

Acoustically this is not true, never has been and never will be. There are however advantages and disadvantages to using either product.

Comparing French Polish to Lacquers
	French Polish	Lacquer
Durability and repairablility	Easily damaged, but also easily repaired	Harder to damage and some lacquers (the chemically cured types) are a pain to repair.
Acoustically	Guitars that are French Polished are simply more responsive from day one. There are many examples around of guitars being improved by removing the lacquer and replacing it with Shellac, but not the other way around.	For lacquer to be as acoustically transparent as shellac it needs to be applied extremely thinly. It then looses all its protective qualities and looks.
Other	Allows timbers to age visually. The beauty of an aged spruce top is what I am referring to here.	Most Lacquers contain some form of UV inhibitors and this stops the timber developing that beautiful aged patina.