Has anybody ever built an all-spruce guitar?

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MaineGeezer
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Has anybody ever built an all-spruce guitar?

Post by MaineGeezer »

I've just been wondering...has anybody ever built an all-spruce (or all-cedar, or all-whatever traditional topwood) guitar? Top, sides, back?

How would that work?
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tippie53
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Re: Has anybody ever built an all-spruce guitar?

Post by tippie53 »

yes I have seen them
They sounded ok.
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thronson
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Re: Has anybody ever built an all-spruce guitar?

Post by thronson »

here's a western red cedar arch-top... from the sold page...
http://benedettoguitars.com/boutique/si ... red-cedar/
ruby@magpage.com
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Re: Has anybody ever built an all-spruce guitar?

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

My next instrument is about 6 months away, but I have the wood. It will be an early Gibson L-1 shape (round lower bout) completely out of Alaskan Yellow Cedar -top, back, sides and neck. I have all the parts and seeing the Benedetto cedar guitar gave me the idea of using Yellow Cedar for the binding with just a black line it its top and bottom. I had counted on using a black ebony fretboard and bridge, so the black will fit in nicely with the pale yellow of the Cedar.

I have used this wood in boatbuilding and there is no wood that smells better.

I also built a resonator out of a piece of Ash from a friend's farm - top, back, sides, and neck all from the same piece. Turned out great.

Maine - give it a go

Ed
Ed M
MaineGeezer
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Re: Has anybody ever built an all-spruce guitar?

Post by MaineGeezer »

I'm wondering about a bell cittern. I think I've posted this link before, but here it is, anyway:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoB_-yWOJKo
Jud is a friend of mine and I've gotten the dimensions of his cittern. Given the sound that it has with a cedar top and teak back and sides, I'm thinking an all-cedar version ought to be quite amazing. Maybe.

Is there any significant difference between western red cedar and Alaskan yellow cedar?
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
ruby@magpage.com
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Re: Has anybody ever built an all-spruce guitar?

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

Looking at Sitka Spruce - SP, Yellow Cedar - YC, and Western Red Cedar - RC, here are a couple of stats:

Weight: SP 27 lb3, YC 31 lb3, RC 23 lb3
Janka SP 510, YC 580, RC 350

So Yellow Cedar has a harder surface than either RC or SP, and has a little more weight. I know there are other numbers that might be important, but I don't know what they are.

Ed
Ed M
MaineGeezer
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Re: Has anybody ever built an all-spruce guitar?

Post by MaineGeezer »

Maybe a red cedar top and yellow cedar back and sides....
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
music143
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Re: Has anybody ever built an all-spruce guitar?

Post by music143 »

thronson wrote:here's a western red cedar arch-top... from the sold page...
... red-cedar/
This is cool
ruby@magpage.com
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Re: Has anybody ever built an all-spruce guitar?

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

I never put up the all-Alaskan Yellow Cedar guitar on this thread. Top, back, sides, and neck. Extremely light weight, nice punchy sound, great balance.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/ ... 488198220/

Click left and right, text below. At the end are 2 sound clips of my daughter playing it when it was 5 days old. The sound changed every day it seemed for the first couple of months, but it has settled down nicely

I also built one in all-Ash - top, back, sides and neck all from the same piece of log. It's a resonator, so hard to compare

Ed
Ed M
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