The objective of this paper is to improve our understanding of the resonance wood and more precisely the interactions between their physical-mechanical properties, their natural variability, and the modalities of material's choice by violin makers. To identify craftsmen' practices and opinions, a "socio-technical" survey was created and completed by a psychosensory evaluation conducted with makers to evaluate directly 9 top plates and 9 back plates. These tonewood samples of various "qualities" and provenance were also characterised for their physical/vibrational properties and their visual/structural characteristics.