[Fichtezc]

More expensive? Really? Hm. I wouldn't have guessed.

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Ficht...

As with any tone wood I look to the builder to be able to tell me what he/she can extract from particular woods, and every guitar I had built this was the heart-and-soul of my choice of back/side woods and top woods.

I may be unusual, but I have a goal in mind for the tone of a guitar, and function it plays in my 'herd' and looks and intrigue are last on my list. I discovered early on I'm the one who sees the back/sides and that's mostly removing it from the case (or putting it away). But everyone I play for hears this thing.

The question should probably be discussed with Mr. Lowden...or whomever else you are considering have build one for you...otherwise it seems like luck-o-the-draw to me.

Well, Lowden's favorite wood seems to be walnut so hopefully he could draw the most out of it. That's a good piece of wisdom though-about everyone hearing it but only you seeing it.

Originally Posted by Fran Guidry

Where did you get the idea that cedar is the overwhelming choice for fingerstyle? I play nothing but fingerstyle, have half a dozen nice guitars, and none of them are cedar. In fact, most are "stiffer than sitka" varieties of spruce. When I think of fingerstyle players I know cedar tops don't dominate among them either.

Fran

Nearly every fingerstyle guitar player I listen to uses cedar. Though a couple do have spruce tops in their collections, those instruments aren't their primary choices. This is simply my niche of players though. That's good to hear though