I work at a Music Store in Brazil and we are Martin Dealers. I have the oportunity to play a lot of this kind of guitars and I really think they are very different, but its a matter of taste. Brazillian has a deeper low and a little bit more of mids; also is quite brighter. Indian sounds like a very flat guitar (its goood, ok?) when we compare to a Brazillian, but its better for dreadnoughts when you play it hard. The balance in the Indian Rosewood allows the guitar to sound clearer sometimes, but brazillian rosewood gives the guitar a lot of "life" and energy. I played a lot of D28 and some D28 with Madagascar Rosewood. Even tough the second is used to replace brazillian rosewood, they sound a little bit midboosted for dreads. I would pick Indian all the way for dreads and brazillian or madagascar for fingerstyle and solo. Very nice video, as usual.Thx.

Well, I went to get my bose quietcomfort 25 headphone at my friend's studio just to listen and see if the Brazillian rosewood price tag of $ 2600 is worth it compared to the indian. After listening to the audio around 30 times I came to the following conclusion: 1) in finger style you can actually hear the difference better and clearer, specifically, when he hits the strings harder; 2) In chords the stronger he hits the strings the least his microphone can record the difference; 3)Brazillian have more punch and is brighter than indian; As someone who's studying to be a luthier (im a studant not a full time luthier,thus, you may correct me as much as you want), I can tell that eventhough they are the "same guitar" with same bracing and soundboard tonewoods, it's not possible to objectivelly say that they are the "same guitars" with just the back and sides with different woods. Even if both soundboards are made of sitka spruce, the density of the wood can be different and, considering how Taylor makes their instruments (mass factory production - you can check on google/youtube how their factory works), considering that both tops have the same thickness, different densities would mean different sounds on the soundboard. Same goes for the tonewoods for the harmonic bars when making the bracings. Anyway, my point is, there's no way to tell which's actually better, for exemple, I had the oportunity to test 2 Martins OM 28 Marquis in the same store once, both with Indian rosewood backs and adirondack top, same scalloped bracings, everything the same. One sounded like it was full of energy, ready to blow up. The other sounded more like a firecracker that had some fire, but wasn't ready to explode anything. Anyway, sorry for the long text, if you disagree feel free to bash me or give me advices. Or better, just skip this comment, too much to read . -Sails away on a giant acoustic guitar-

Man, the East Indian Rosewood has a really full bass sound, very rich, but the Brazilian has this vibrant, warm sound that brings out all the high end notes without losing that bass. Both great guitars!

I like the brightness and tone of the Brazilian rosewood. The difference between the two types of woods become more pronounced as they age.

Brazilian Rosewood has more definition and sweet mid, where Indian Rosewood sounded very balanced to my ear. Honestly there is no winner, it all depends on how you use the tone.

The fact that one person states the brazilian is brighter and clearer while another states just the opposite should tell us a lot. I actually prefered the Indian Rosewood guitar overall.

the Brazilian Rosewood has a bit more treble zzzingggg. But the Indian Rosewood has more midrange punch. Both guitars are superb. So BRW as Holy Grail is junked at least in this video. But you know what impressed me most? THE MUSIC played on this video!

That was excellent! I found the Brazilian clearer & more defined. More pronounced on each individual note. Thankyou Tony! 👍

I had to listen many times to decide, but East Indian gets my vote.

Brazilian seemed “crisper”, delivered more of the strings’ high end harmonics, slightly more attack in the notes when plucked. East Indian is slightly more “woody” or “smokey”, like the sound you get when playing in air with more humidity - a dampening of the high end attack, but with a more pleasant overall balance of the frequencies. An extreme analogy is the difference of strumming with a plastic pick (Brazilian) vs. a felt pick (Indian), to stretch the comparison. Perhaps Brazilian is older and drier, and Indian a moister wood? I can think of good uses for both, flat-picking bluegrass vs. fingerpicking mellow folk.

"Better" is a tricky word to use when describing tone imo. It's like asking if a Les Paul is better than a Telecaster? It's all opinion and personal preference. Great playing btw.

To me, it sounds like the Brazilian is a 60-70 year old aged version of the Indian. It just sounds sweeter and tighter and like it’s already aged where as the Indian sounds a little choked and stiff in comparison. It’s definitely subtle, and that’s why to me the Brazilian strikes me as just an aged version of the other rather than a completely different wood, even though it is. Maybe that’s why some of them old guitars sound so good?

I play guitar, have a Martin that dates back to 1972--and am thinking about getting another guitar. But I know about Brazilian rosewood and did not want my knowledge to interfere with my judgement---so I asked my spouse (who knows little about guitars) to listen to the above session without hearing the introductory parts. It took her only seconds to reach a decision: both sound nice--but Brazilian rosewood sounds better...

The guitar with the Brazilian rosewood has a noticeably more balanced tone , but both are outstanding.

I honestly like the East Indian more. The Brazilian sounded very snappy in this video, like you could hear extra popping on so many individual plucks. But I do like how the mid-range seems to ring out stronger for chords on the Brazilian.

To me, Brazilian rosewood has a more focused tone, more rounded bass notes and more clarity. I don’t own any guitars made of Brazilian rosewood but I’m hearing from builders that good quality cuts are getting harder to come by. Many people have said Madagascar rosewood is a great alternative to Brazilian. I have also read that of all of the rosewoods, builders in Spain gravitate towards cocobolo, saying that it is superior to Brazilian. I personally never played a guitar made of cocobolo so I can’t make that comparison, but I have one on the way!

I think that the brazilian rosewood is brighter, has more pronounced mids. While the east indian one is darker with having a tiny bit more low end and not so much brightness.

Brazilian rosewood sounds warmer, good for classical guitar. I prefer Indian rosewood which has a more brighter/aggressive sound.

The Brazilian sounds brighter to me, definitely a difference between the two but it's impossible to say one is better than the other, it's just a preference thing. Would be great to be able to hear them both in person.

The Brazilian has greater note separation, phenomenal headroom, and generally a more crispy sound, whereas the Indian has much more defined overtones and a fuller mellow rounded sound.

went in with hopes of having a new favorite but Brazilian rosewood is just way to deep and beautiful .. Brazilian all the way

I can't hear any difference. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a mistake and both guitars were Indian rosewood as the backs even look the same. Brazilian rosewood is supposed to be a bit more red. Anyway, there is not much Brazilian rosewood left these days and of that it's mostly not the best quality. Grade makes a big difference, so you would probably pay for the rarity of the wood and not a better sounding guitar. You can get much higher grade Indian rosewood for cheaper.

Finger picking - Brazilian Rosewood sound a little bit louder, strumming - Indian rosewood sound bit richer, but the price difference between two is almost 2 times! Now imagine the situation that in 1969 there was no cancellation of the export of Brazilian rosewood and both wood widely using today, however Indian rosewood today would be cost more expensive due to the distance of delivery, how would you estimate Indian rosewood today? Divine sound .. thin and straight lines .. :)

Listened on my Mackie 824's I can hear a difference, it is a bit subtle sometimes, other times it is quite apparent. The Brazilian is clearer.

I was listening to this video while doing other stuff, but everytime the Brazilian came up, my ears perked up and and to look to see which guitar was playing.

I think it has to come down to price. Marginally speaking, the B. rosewood does sound better but is it worth $2,600 more? I'd be perfectly satisfied with the E. rosewood and the savings!

As an owner of both (1963 BR D28, 1989 custom EI HD28) I can attest that Brazilian has more “ring” (overtones) but when I ordered my HD in conversations with Martin’s Mike Longworth, we got the specifics down (top wood, neck profile, bracing etc.) Then the choice was Brazilian or East Indian and I was tempted to splurge for the extra $1600 for BR when Mike asked me a very important question of why I was wanting the more expensive wood. I said for the best sound, and Mike said, “When you hear the sound of a vintage Martin, it’s not so much the kind of wood you’re hearing as it is the age of the wood. Some day players will be coveting the sound of 50 year old East Indian guitars.” I got his point and now that my HD is 30 years old I’m more than happy with my choice.

The East Indian has a slightly warmer bass response. The Brazilian is slightly louder, slightly more articulate, has a little bit more clarity over-all but especially in the bass, a little bit more note separation, a bit more bark in the mids & quite a bit more bite in the trebles. It's a little bit better in a lot of little ways, which If we're honest add up to a lot, but is it worth paying $2500+more for?.....if you've got it....I think yes

More high end clarity in brazilian, both sound nice

to be honest, anyone with decent ears will be able to tell that the brazilian has brighter sound. but I personally like the cozy warmth of the indian better. Some are arguing about compressed video, and I agree, but only to certain point. audio recording is always gonna be limited compared to real life listening- and even still, there is a noticeable sound signature difference between the two guitars. This video is made so you can decide on which you like, not force ur opinion to everyone in the world, so take that as is.

i have a damn good ear and i cannot hear any real difference. blindfolded i defy anyone to tell the difference.

Man those both are beautiful sounding guitars I can't pick one over the other

Wow,,, the difference is very much lke newer strings,,, just a bit louder with more musical bright frequencies, just more complex tone,

If they cost the same I'd still pick the Brazilian. That species sounds lovely.

I'm surprised I could hear the difference since they're both Taylors... 😉 Just kidding. The Braz sounded a bit more up-front in its voicing. Not 100% sure I preferred it in this guitar context.

The Brazilian definitely has a warmer, darker, more mellow tone. I would like to hear this comparison with some good Martins

If you take ten guitars built to the same specs they all sound different. So this test really doesn't mean much.

There is a slight difference, but I closed my eyes the second time around and it was difficult to tell when the guitars were switched. Maybe the switch was masked by the attacks in his playing or different nuances in how he picked or strummed, but I think the Brazilian has a little more volume and a more "spacious" sound. I own and play a Martin OMC Aura in east Indian rosewood and unless I got a smoking deal on another guitar, the difference between the two is not great enough in my opinion to justify the huge difference in price!

Beside sounding, the aesthetic is important when comparing

I usually root for the underdog, but I'm gonna have to give it up for the Brazilian Rosewood. Both sound very nice to me, but I prefer the Brazilian.

I didn't expect that much of a difference. The Brazilian sounded more like an old blue grass guitar. Deeper bass, lots of headroom, more reverb and warm. The Indian was modern sounding, even, more compressed. I'd rather have the Brazilian, but I can't justifying buying either. I have a nice Blueridge parlor and a vintage guild dreadnought.

Braz has more clarity....although the Indi is damn good too.

The only differences I'm really hearing are more overtones and a deeper, tighter bass on the Brazilian. Makes it seem a more open given a very similar fundamental tone.

There is a tonal difference. Brazilian Rosewood seems to be brighter than the Indian Rosewood especially when Tony was strumming. That being said, I don't ever see myself dropping that extra coin for BRW.

My feeling is the answer is 'yes' ... some posters (& I agree) point to the warmth of the low tones of the Indian ... IMHO this is a function of this guitar's bright-balanced plantilla, and the fact that it needs (like any spruce-top) to be broken in (which I find adds warmth to spruce). A different plantilla would have a better balance between treble & bass. My own sense of the strengths of Brazilian are its amazing transparency & clarity thru all registers. There's also just a bigger gamut of tone colour. If you find a great Indian guitar which you love, then wonderful, but no matter how great it sounds (& they can sound great -- warm & sensual & Villa-Lobos-y), it won't have the colour range of BR, nor the clarity for contrapuntal/finger-style playing. As an fyi, my new guitar by the luthier Daryl Perry (classical) has BR with a central strip of maple down the back. Maple has its own kind of sweet singy-ness, & a number of late 19th century luthiers played around with this 'touch o'maple thing'. The guitar is around 3 months old now, & the woods of the back are now starting to work together as opposed to against each other. Not displeased I asked for him to try this! Sorry for the long pompous post, but I find the whole wood/sound thing very interesting. Cheers to all & thx to Accoustic Letter ... keep the beard growing, unless it's a fake.

Both are very good. It all depends on what your preferences are.

Thanks for the comparison. There are few parts with similar sounds (non-strummed parts) , but mostly can tell the difference with my eyes closed. Of course Brazilian rosewood is brighter with more resonance and nicer color of tone in my opinion.

after this video, the indian Rosewood is so mush better than the brazilian rosewood, thanks acoustic letter

Indian rosewood is more balanced with every string ringing out as apposed to BRW.

I put the Brazilian at about a 5 to7% lead over the Indian. (Several listenings with full cover Sony headphones) Great demo! Thankz!

The difference is subtle. I think the $5,000 or so price difference is way out of line with what you get.

It's a difficult thing to describe the apparent difference. Both have desirable tone to me. Either would be fine . It's a warm drink of hot chocolate milk on a cold day in north Wisconsin ( Brazilian Rosewood ) or a cold brew after a hot, south Louisiana Friday night dance with a sweet cajun gal ( East Indian Rosewood ). Ok, winner is Brazilian. But since I haven't been to Wisconsin, or have the cash for chocolate, I get the cajun gal. But I'm saving up !

Tell ya what. I'll take the loser here!! Based on this video, I actually prefer the East Indian's warmth over the thinner, brighter Brazilian. Not sure what a difference 5 or 10 down the road will make here....

My ears are use to indian rosewood and thats the sound i like. Quite surprised to hear it confirmed.

I've watched quite a few tonewood videos but for some reason while watching this one I thought "Damn if a non musician watches these they'll probably think we are crazy for thinking there's a legible difference."

I feel like the indian rosewood sounded better for chord playing.

My favourite tonewood is actually Koa. The sound is so rich and deep… I know pros mostly prefer brazilian rosewood, it’s just my personal taste.

I've got 3 Brazilian Martins and a couple other brazilians.I bought them for the looks and the value.And they are all antiques.They sound great,but it's the top that produces most of the sound.I like mahogany a lot.especially with Adirondack top.But anything sounds good with mahogany.

To me, Brazillian Rosewood sound's ledgend vocal and Indian Rosewood sound's Popstar vocal. Hehehe. Both great!

The thing is that the person in the video has a heck of a lot better idea that we do because he was sitting in the room at the time. Both guitars were mic'd, recorded, and then the sound was compressed by KZfaq's algorithm. That's one factor. Also, no two guitars are identical even of the exact same make and model.

Great comparison and I Iike the quick change between the strum sequences. Not being able to listen to them up close, so I'm listening through a a 5.1 digital surround sound speaker system on KZfaq, I would have to say that from the chord and picking sequences of both, the East Indian seems to be a bit crisper treble, while the Brazilian seems to be more mellow..but that is based on my ears. Yes, Brazilian rainforest rosewood and Honduras old growth rainforest mahogany are indeed the "Holy grail" of tonewoods" along with well aged sitka spruce..especially the bearclaw variety.

To my ears the Brazilian sounds a little more balanced, but the East Indian has more overtones and depth.

My 74 D12-35 has Indian rosewood back. I'd love to get an earlier version with Rosewood back someday. But the D12-35 with Indian rosewood back is still a great sounding guitar.

Brazilian a little fuller and warmer to my ears, nice for fingerstyle! I think I like the east-indian more for strumming with a little more clarity and note separation especially in the mids.

When I close my eyes, I can't pick up when the switches happen. Answered for me.

I found the East Indian sounded just a smidge brighter, while the Brazilian sounded a bit more mellow. I also noticed (in the last strumming clip specifically), each string sounded more "pronounced/articulate" in the Brazilian rosewood, while they sounded more in unison for the East Indian. This could also be due to a slight difference in his strumming technique, but I could be wrong. Not really sure on how much of a difference the markup is, but both sound great to me.

Finally someone who can play the guitar good. Sound in both woods so close. The Brazilian seemed a little brighter in the bass. Thanks ~ good comparison ~

you should compare old Martin D28's then see the difference in tone. Those Taylor bodies are too thin to notice a big difference plus they are new. You know guitars get better with age.

the Brazilian is slightly brighter and the midrange is more present. the mid-chords seem a bit more muffled on the indian while strumming. i'd prefer Brazilian for studio work tbh. both sound great and very alike. great woods.

Great idea! I didn't have two almost identical guitars but did have 2 almost identical scotch whiskies. Damn, that was a great AB test.

indian has dynamic, sounds intimately, right tone, brazil has built in la 2a and very chimey. Thanks for video, i like indian more, but with brazil frettboard.

I think the East Indian sound is even and the Brazilian has pronounced upper-mids which give a slight 'vowel' sound.

Listening through good quality earphones and earphone amp (very important) I can't say I hear a concrete difference, especially when I close my eyes. In one of the strumming sequences, the braz was noticeably louder, but it could be the player hitting harder. Not to say that there isn't a difference, but I'd estimate that it would be lost on at least 99% of potential listeners, certainly through recording. The experience of the player and listeners in the room would be better. Also, as someone pointed out here, any difference could be due to other differences between these two guitars, such as between individual sitka tops. I experienced in the past more noticeable differences between individual guitars of the exact same model and tonewoods. My philosophy regarding all tonewoods is that I pick the individual guitar, ideally disregarding tonewood altogether (e.g., playing blindfolded). If I had the money to order custom built guitars, I think I'd still opt for trying already built guitars. But I certainly understand the allure of customizing your own guitar.

I liked both! In the video the brazilian guitar sounds a little noisy at the streaming chords, but anyone serves!

I bought a new Bozo 12 string (not one of the Japanese copies he licensed) in '76 from Bozo himself at his shop in Escondidio, Ca. I asked him at the time whether he thought Brazilian was better than East Indian. He said as far as sound goes there is little or no difference. However his most expensive guitars were made from Brazilian, mainly cuz of the beauty. That 12 string I had, made with East Indian rosewood, was the most incredible sounding 12 string I had ever heard and still I have yet to hear a finer tone. I kept it for 20 years. As i write this I am in Brazil right now. Believe me they have some incredible hardwoods down here.

I just purchased a 714 Taylor with BR and it is the best sounding guitar I have. There is no comparison to IR.

Brazilian has clear and deep tone ,imo

I've got the previous model 814CE, which also has East Indian Rosewood. Lovely guitar. To my ear the BRW had slightly more complexity in the top end and was a bit warmer. However the EIRW had more bottom end punch and the notes seemed to hang together a bit better. The BRW had a bit more warm but the EIRW had greater clarity. I think I prefer the EIRW and it would very hard to justify a big price difference, based just on performance. Now a comparison of Mahogany guitars might be a totally different ball game.

As long as your tone isn't bad, it's good. Nobody cares what your tone sounds like unless it sounds like nails on a chalkboard.

I am an amateur listener here only-but for me,once you are playing on a Brazilian Rosewood-made guitar is much more playfulness in a music,a kind of a sense for stand up and dance. Let say:I can here a same music,but to hear music with an East Indian Rosewood i am kind of having a feeling to stand up for dancing with a good rhythm. With a Brazilian Rosewood i have a kind of sense to stand up and dance with a great smile and try to involve many people to have a same fun feeling with me. Previous commenter been told:Brazilian Rosewood gives a life for an instrument a lot more(lot more for a sensitive ear) instead of East Indian. I would suggest Madagascar Rosewood instead of Indian. ( Iam a passionate woodworker-who has a a love for working with rosewoods-specially Mexican Cocobolo,Honduras Rosewood Burl and other types of exotics,as Grenadil,Snakewood )

The difference is so small it's hardly worth the worry. I have a 1966 Martin D28 (Brazilian) and a 1977 Martin D28 (Indian). I can't tell any difference blindfolded!

They did an experiment with Stradivarious violins. When the player knew what they were playing the audience could tell the difference. When the player didn't know which one they were playing the audience could not distinguish. This would have been better as a double blind test.

I hear a slightly warmer tone from the Brazilian. Either way, your playing is top notch.

Very close , the Brazilian just sparkles more .. and has far as Holy Grail woods .. the real one is Pernambuco .. but it's SO rare you don't see many

They are indeed different. I for one can not say I like one better. Brazilian is super cool though.

Brazilian sounds clearer and brighter with just exact amount of warmth. Well balanced tonewood.

Each guitar has it's own sound/tone....but it is difficult to attribute it solely to the different type of rosewood. You can A/B two of the same guitars and they will sound different. In my years of playing old and new acoustics I have found that some of the "old growth" Brazilian Rosewood sounds really good. But most of the pre-1965 acoustics were revered for their tone, which was as much or more affected by the type of bracing used. I have also played a lot of dud vintage acoustics with Brazilian Rosewood, East Indian Rosewood, and Mahogany. I would say there is much more of a difference in tone between rosewood & mahogany as well as Sitka and Adirondack tops. But don't underestimate the affect the bracing pattern has on the sound either. Plus I doubt the compressed audio limitations of KZfaq would demonstrate any subtle differences in Rosewood very well.

Two different instruments are going to sound different. It has more to do with than just the rosewood. No two tops of spruce are the same. I guarantee no one could identify the sound of Brazilian rosewood in a blind test. There's nothing that makes Brazilian sound "unique."

Fausto--I appreciate your comments as you probably have a lot more experience playing both types of wood over the years. I have had both Brazilian and Indian Rosewood guitars. I also now have Madagascar Rosewood guitar. There are some slight differences, but I agree with Faust--I think Indian is better for dreadnoughts and Brazilian and Madagascar Rosewood is better for finger picking!

In the old days you would go to a music store and pick a guitar that sounded good to you. There are numerous subtle differences between guitars that are the exact same model and year, Many times I have picked up a guitar that just didn't have it and then picked up the exact same model and Wow. There are a lot of factors, most being the woods and their construction. Some orientation of the woods just produce better tone. Back in the day wood used to air dried for years instead of quickly dried Kiln. "Air dried lumber is a hand tool woodworkers best friend, it’s easy to work and is more stable than kiln dried lumber because it’s not forced dried through high temperatures, but rather a natural slower process. As the timber air dries the cells collapse, slowly causing them to compress and stay put, so when air dried lumber absorbs moisture, it doesn’t swell as much hence it becomes more stable. " I personally think this is the big difference between vintage guitars and new ones.

They both sound brilliant and they're both expensive to get...

It's funny how so many people have posted these definitive statements about which is better. I would bet the house that if there was a blind sound test the majority of those same people couldn't tell the difference.

They both Sound Great!!! Can't really notice much of a difference between the the two to say that there is a big difference but I would pick the East Indian Rosewood for my liking over the Brazillian Rosewood.The only thing that I can say, Thas it really boils down to what is your perception of sound .....????😊

Aesthetics only. No distinguishable difference. All you self-professed tone experts out there will undoubtedly disagree, but in a blind test you would be proven (using these two exact guitars) to be delusional at best. That's I have to say about this. Thank you, Tony, for this awesome video!

Fun video…the differences are so subtle here it becomes a matter of personal preference. Big issue is individual piece of wood & guitar. I've played two guitars exactly the same model, same woods, same builder, same year & the differences were quite noticeable. Do this with several guitars & you'll hear even more. This is why I always try to AB guitars of same build, if possible, before purchase. I did this with OMJM Martin and Taylor 812-12 Fret. Another matter is how will it age? Some say Brazilian ages more fully but the variables are difficult to test. BTW: the most amazing guitar I ever heard & played was an 1895 Martin with Brazilian Rosewood. When the chord was struck, I just about fell over; you could literally feel it hit you in the centre of the chest, I popped.

I own an 814ce Indian rosewood T. so I may be a bit biased. I heard a richer and deeper bass on the Brazilian rosewood but I liked the overall voice of the Indian rosewood better.

There is a youtube video of the most excellent luthier Kim Walker tone-tapping different woods, and when he tapped the Brazilian Rosewood, it had a bell like sound and was really different than all the others... more complex tonal properties.

The Brazilian just jumps out at you. Louder across the spectrum in all frequencies. The IR sounds flat, though sweet. I prefer a more dynamic sound, sot he BR is what I would choose were I have this model built. In fairness, I own a PS10ce built for the NAMM show in 2003 by the custom shop, and am quite smitten by the wonderful tone the BR brings to the game. Ive also got a pair of the Koa series, a K20ce as well as a K66ce. All the Taylor models are science out so well, that ANY model will make you pretty happy.

Brazilan has a clearer high end with slightly less mid loss. Can definitely hear the difference. EIR still sounds great. Would still be happy and have a pocket full of extra cash. Money no object get Brazilian.

Honestly i think I like the Indian more after going back and watching again. A great piece of Indian is just as good imo. The chords sounded cleaner on the Indian, and individual notes smoother. I'm a nut for rare wood etc but no way I'd pay more for Brazilian