Tone woods question?

[ct]

I have finally decided to get a guitar hand made. After much consideration have decided to go with mahogany back & sides and a spruce top.

My playing is celtic DADGAD fingerstyle, and the body shape will be roughly similar to a Lowden F12, just because I like it so much.

However, I really like the look of dark rosewood when placed beside the spruce top. But then again, I have been reading that Cedar tops are better detuned styles, and maintain a better separation of the notes.

I got this from Santa Cruz:

Quote:
tonal contributions of the woods
brazilian rosewood
Highly sought after by generations of luthiers and players for its unmatched beauty. Brazilian helps to impart warmth and darkness to the tone of the guitar. Tonal differences between Brazilian and Indian Rosewoods are subtle and consideration should be based on aesthetics, rarity, future value, and collectibility.

mahogany
An exceptional tone wood when chosen for proper density and integrity. Similar to Koa in its ability to add snap and sparkle to the instrument, a definite advantage in a traditionally boomy dreadnought. Mahogany has been underappreciated because of its historical use in simpler, and therefore less expensive, guitars.


sitka spruce
Sitka accentuates the warm round aspects of the guitar's tone. It is the most frequent choice in acoustic steel string guitars.

german spruce
This increasingly rare wood has a higher weight to strength ratio than Sitka and correspondingly complements the brightness and clarity of the guitars.

cedar
We use Cedar specifically for our fingerstyle instruments as it responds quickly and with good volume to a light attack. It is also very well suited to open or lowered tension tunings as they require the same qualities for good separation and definition. Cedar does lose tonal integrity when over driven, making it a poor choice for versatility but an excellent top wood for showcasing finger styles.


And its really got me thinking - I like the look of spruce more than cedar, but would cedar be more appropriate for my style of playing?

Same with the rosewood back and sides - it looks better than mahogany, but is mahogany the better tonal choice?

Or am I splitting hairs?

Urgent opinions appreciated!

Ciaran

[Jimbo]

IMHO you are splitting hairs, but for good reason. This guitar is probably going to cost more money than I can comprehend so you want it to be perfect.

Basically Spruce feels tighter than cedar. Cedar is warmer but, as you put, you can overplay it and it gets bogged down in mushiness.

Back and side wood makes less difference than the top wood. In my experience mahogony is pretty well balanced and the rosewoods sound a bit warmer. The difference here is pretty small. I have a spruce/rosewood guitar and a cedar/rosewood guitar and my wife (who is a musician but not a guitarist) says she can't tell the difference, and the top wood makes much more difference than the back and sides.

I recommend you see if you can have a go with some guitars that are a similar shape to what you want with different woods and see which you like the best. To be honest, you'll probably be happy whichever wood you decide

If it was me, I'd go for cedar (for the fingerstyle) plus Indian rosewood back and sides. Some people swear by Brazilian but the difference between it and Indian is very (very) small sound wise. The real difference is in the price tag. I'm not completly sure but I suspect Brazillian rosewood would at least double the price of a guitar compared with Indian rosewood. I do admit, Brazilian rosewood looks a lot better.

[Jimbo]

I forgot to mention, You can still overplay spruce as well if you hit it pretty hard. I find pretty much every acoustic I've ever played from £20 laminate planks to my gold (alpine spruce top, more or less sitka but a bit more plonky, Rosewood B/S) all benefit from being played with a gentle touch.

Cedar does get overloaded more easily though. Really the choice is whether you want a nice sparkle or a warm syrupy tone.

[Loki]

What about a redwood top ct? There is a thread on either Harmony Central or Acoustic Player magazine site where a shed load of top luthiers are saying very nice things indeed about them - and the pics look stunning.

They attribute the best qualities of both cedar and spruce...

Avalon have produced some redwood tops recently and there was one in Belfast Guitar emporium. Just a lovely big thing in look and sound.

Made life hard for me 'cos before I always new my dream machine would have heavily figured bear claw...

[JRenn19]

ct, for what you are planning on doing, I would consider a redwood top indeed. Almost bought one myself - absolutely fantastic for Celtic fingerstyle. I almost bought a rosewood b&s/redwood top Avalon before "settling" for my Legacy Premier. It would suit you well, I think.

[Loki]

btw ct --- just for info. I believe there is a redwood top in the avalon shop at the factory at the moment, twas at a show and got a pickmark. It could be well worth your while making the trip to play/hear before you actually specify your own... good luck

[JB]

There was one but it was sold this afternoon ... at an unbelievable price because of the few playmarks ... the buyer went away very happy

[JRenn19]

I just hope that pick mark wasn't my fault.

[ct]

Well its been a few months now, and I eventually went for the old Mahogany / Spruce combo.

Redwood could have been a little hard to source, but Ill certainly keep that in mind for the future. Ill post pics as it comes along - the neck is finished with a maple/ebony/maple spine and it looks nothing short of dreamy.

Hopefully some shots within the week...