Posted by Norm on 6/11/2009, 9:34 am, in reply to "Re: The Martin: "Neck Material: Select Hardwood" Specification Answered By Martin's Dick Boak!"
I hear ya Paul, and mostly agree. I was kinda "compelled" (to keep up) to start looking at wood genuses, (geni?), and tonal characteristics. It was helpful to ME, because I finally understood beyond the superficial, why I liked a particular coloring (as in TONAL) responses. "Select hardwoods" is a very nebulous term, and if you're plunking down 2 grand for a guitar, I think specifics are obligatory. It's just laziness, but if you really NEED to know what a neck is made of, companies like Martin, Taylor, Gibson--will be more than happy to address individual needs.
You're spot on: the BUILDER has much more to do with the sound of a guitar than the woods. And, back and side woods only account for 10-20% of a guitars sound. Bob Taylor himself proved that by building his infamous "pallet guitar," using rip-sawn, junk wood WITH the nail heads still in (!!!) from scrap wood pallets lying around Taylor's garbage lot. He used decent top wood, but the rest was about as non-exotic as you could find. Guess what? Sounded pretty damn good! Some famous Classical builder did the same, except with PAPER MACHÉ!!
BTW, it gets like this with mostly any avocational forum from cameras to archery. The minutiae occupies an inordinant amount of time. I'm not nearly as "OCD" as some. 
Responses: