Because I sure don't.

I'm looking to get a custom guitar made within the next two years or so (co-op job in a year is going to leave me rollllllling in that green shiiiiit) and I'm starting now looking at what I want in it. First thing on the list is a good wood.
I want one that has a real dynamic range but also has clear mids. I don't want anything that cuts the low end too much or makes the high end too sharp and not smooth.
ANY insight into the topic of guitar wood is appreciated, basically. I'll keep googling anyway.

The Solid Body Guitar Woods are a mythical forest thought to be the birthplace of rap.

http://www.jemsite.com/jem/wood.htm
I am actually digging the idea of lacewood. I really oddball wood, extremely expensive and rare would be IPE (e-pay) it is a Brazilian walnut, very dense but at the same time the way the grain fibers run and intertwine I could see a really sweet sounding guitar being produced from it. I have worked with this wood building ridiculously expensive decks for disgustingly rich people in newton, and I have experimented with building other things with.
I would say the IPE body and neck combined with an ebony fretboard would sheer awesomeness in tone. M/O.

ive built 2 guitars by hand and personally you really dont know for sure the true characteristics until its plugged in....although I know mahogany is really light, and seemed to have a sharper bite, and i built one with ash and it had a real balanced range (maybe a slight on the low side) but a ton more sustain.

I'd take a deep look in either the warmoth or stewart macdonald forums.

btw stew-mac is an awesome place for parts... EVERYTHING!

the two in the middle i built.

I love Yamaha acoustics

I've never heard of Ipe. I'll have to check it out. I had already been looking up on that site and a few others and it's hard to be consistent with woods. I was leaning towards Sitka Spruce last night but now I'm not sure. Thanks, though.

I figured that you can't really tell until it's plugged in. Mahogany was my first choice until I saw that the Sitka Spruce descriptions are leaning towards the sound I want. It's going to be a custom Parker in the same vein as their Fly Supreme but I want to make it more metal sounding and looking but still able to mimic other styles' sounds. I'm going to keep looking but I was just wondering if anyone was especially proficient at woods.
I really like the guitar you made on the left. It's pretty. Are the darker strips a different wood or just a different color varnish?

Also, stew-mac is amazing. Ordered some pots and stuff from there a while back. They have everything ever.

there are 13 strips "the 3 on each side of the centerpiece are hard to see) of wood composed of 6 types of wood: ash, curly maple, brazilian rosewood, bubinga, mahogany and walnut. with a very light varnish to give it an orangish-gold tint and about 15 clearcoats. came out way better than i expected


also Ipe is one of the heaviest, dense, and tough to work with woods around...Ive never played and Ipe guitar but I built a railing around an upper porch in Hawaii for some billionare out of Ipe....beautiful wood, sucks to mill.

and deep within these woods live the cocaine pixies that bring candy to all of the good children.