Trevor Gore wrote:
More pics of this sort of thing here, for those interested. Please pardon the humour!
Thanks for the link Trevor and I loved the humour!
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| Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars http://www-.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=41182 |
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| Author: | JRessler [ Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:34 am ] |
| Post subject: | Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
Anyone using cedar tops for steel string? If so, what do you do different than a Sitka top? Thicker? Bracing differences? |
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| Author: | Tony_in_NYC [ Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:53 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
Thicker top, tall and narrow bracing. Cedar is great for SS. |
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| Author: | DannyV [ Tue Aug 20, 2013 11:41 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
What you do differently when working with Cedar as opposed to Sitka is be way more careful handling it throughout the build. It's a lot softer and more prone to dings. Depending on the stiffness, you may not want the top to be much thicker, but generally, thicker. And what Tony said. Can be great for SS. |
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| Author: | Joe Beaver [ Tue Aug 20, 2013 8:18 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
Cedar and mahogany or sapele makes one heck of a sweet sounding guitar. I just make the top a little thicker. Sort of in the .120-.125 range where as my Sitka tops are generally around .105-.110. Also +1 on the handling it carefully. After I get the top on and bound I cover it with paper. It helps some. |
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| Author: | Quine [ Tue Aug 20, 2013 10:42 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
Ugh...dents dents dents! Shouldn't be a problem for a pro like you though I followed the usual advice for ~1.20 thickness and it sounded great |
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| Author: | Ken Jones [ Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:05 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
I love cedar-topped guitars -- they come right out of the gate sounding open and played-in. All the cedar Lowdens I've played sound great, and yes, they're a lot thicker -- at least .125". Just don't combine it with a pinless bridge -- the cedar is likely to eventually fail catastrophically. We had one in the shop pop loose the other day, just hanging on the wall. Sounded like somebody took a baseball bat to it. The bridge had a nice even layer of cedar fibers on it. Ken Jones Mountain Song Guitars |
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| Author: | Alan Carruth [ Wed Aug 21, 2013 1:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
I have one customer who prefers cedar on his steel strings. Cedar generally has lower density than spruce (not always!). Since the Young's modulus (a measure of potential stiffness) of softwoods pretty well tracks the density you usually need to leave cedar tops thicker than spruce (but not always!). I measure this stuff, but if you don't a decent rule of thumb is to leave cedar about 10% thicker than you would spruce, or 15% if it's really light. Cedar is softer than most spruce; hence the dings. Be really careful. Check constantly, and, when you see a ding, wet it immediately. The longer it stays dinged, the harder it will be to swell out. Cedar (and redwood) tend to split more easily than spruce. They can suffer from peeling bridges. Making the bridge wider (by, say, 3-5mm (1/8"to 3/16"+) reduces the peeling stress along the back edge. If you want to keep the weight of the larger bridge down, make it from something like walnut. Add a little more width so that you can move the saddle slot back a bit from the leading edge, to help protect against split out with the somewhat softer wood. |
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| Author: | JRessler [ Wed Aug 21, 2013 3:37 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
Thanks for the replies. I have fallen in love with Walnut / Cedar |
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| Author: | Trevor Gore [ Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:58 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
I really like cedar/rosewood for a fingerpicking guitar. Thickness according to material properties; i.e. leave it thicker (generally) than you would spruce. Attachment: Black Cedar_U.jpg
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| Author: | joe white [ Wed Aug 21, 2013 10:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
I thought the same thing Filippo. Looks like Koa. Pretty. |
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| Author: | Trevor Gore [ Wed Aug 21, 2013 10:59 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
The bridge, rosette and binding are figured Australian blackwood, an acacia very similar to Koa. More pics of this sort of thing here, for those interested. Please pardon the humour! |
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| Author: | joe white [ Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:55 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Cedar Tops on Steel String Guitars |
Trevor Gore wrote: More pics of this sort of thing here, for those interested. Please pardon the humour! Thanks for the link Trevor and I loved the humour!
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