I’m in the fortunate position of having two guitars by the same builder, same size, same topwood. One has walnut B&S and the other has rosewood. The type of walnut and of rosewood will obviously have an impact in any comparison (these are claro and African blackwood respectively) but in general terms after 14 years of playing both I can say the walnut offers a drier, “woodier” tone and with slightly enhanced trebles. It is not as rich as the rosewood but is just as appealing in its own way. The two guitars have similar sustain.
Interestingly the two guitars respond very differently to strings. The walnut one is best with Newtone Heritage while the ABW one shines with Earthwood silk and steel.
I’ve also owned mahogany guitars by Taylor and Martin and I’d say that, if one could ignore the major differences between builders, walnut brings a sound that is closer to mahogany than to rosewood. I always choose a builder first, but once that is done, a tonewood like walnut can provide nuance to that builder's signature sound.
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