Ah hah! That makes sense, and it answers the question for me as to why I like Rosewood-bodied guitars better than mahogany-bodied ones. The Rosewood gives a "crisper, cleaner" sound, like you say. The mahogany is very warm sounding, but somehow lacks the edge that the Rosewood has. Maple, on the other hand, usually sounds just a little too hard-edged to me. I definitely prefer spruce tops to cedar tops, although the cedar has quite a nice sound, generally.

So perhaps the real question is: just how dense is the material Martin is using on these guitars I've been looking at?

Well, we shall see...maybe on the weekend.

- LH