Why Cedar Wood not popular?

[Basalt Beach]

To the OP, my better half and I enjoy the sound of Cedar and we own both a Northwood and Taylor with Cedar tops. We have found several high end small shop luthiers who make Cedar topped guitars. The folks at
https://www.shorelinemusic.com/ carry several makers so you might check with them. They are also a AGF sponsor and Brian & John are excellent to do business with. Lowden is also a maker known for the use of Cedar.

Originally Posted by jihyeu

But none of martin, gibson, collings mades them.

I do not see them using Cedar today, but:

I have seen Cedar top Collings for sale here in the AGF classifieds, so apparently at one time, Collings produced Cedar topped guitars.

And here is a 1990 Martin HD-28 with a Cedar top. So, it seems at one time they tried using Cedar on their ionic 28 series. Also, there is a D-18 for sale with a Cedar top...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVmxlKVXJJc

http://www.finemusicalinstruments.com/item206476.ctlg

[rick-slo]

Dents easier, bridges come off more often, dynamic range squashed, darker sounding. On the other hand if you want a change from fighting against shimmery metallic sounding trebles, cedar helps out.

[islandguitar]

I was sure James Olson's guitars would have been mentioned by now.......?
Or perhaps the OP meant more of the volume /production manufacturers.

[Jim]

The 2013 Taylor Limited edition 400 series come with cedar tops. Or you can order any Taylor from the 500 series on up with either a Sitka or cedar top. If it is not the standard configuration they charge you only $100 for the switch.

I do not like cedar tops on a steel string acoustic guitar, personally, for three reasons. The first is they sound good on the day you buy them but they do not really play in over the years the way the other woods do. The spruces or koa or mahogany will keep getting better sounding with every passing year. The second is they sound fine for finger picking but they run out of head room when you start strumming. And third, they are relatively soft and get banged up quickly.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by HHP

They did. Martin offered a CHD-28 pairing cedar and rosewood.

Oh, well done- you've managed to dig up one exception!

[veryzer]

Originally Posted by jihyeu

Yes, I heard Classical Guitar uses more cedar top.

I found Cedar on many sub-$500 guitars, like takamine, washburn.

But none of martin, gibson, collings mades them.

I own a cedar topped Gibson.

[McShepherd]

Originally Posted by ecguitar44

Why do you put "warmth-of-tone" and "temperamental" together?

Sorry, wrong word. Probably should've said "rugged." I meant its physical durability, sorry if my wording made it sound like I was addressing tone.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by jihyeu

I tend to like Cedar's sound.

But why there are much less guitars made by Cedar than Sitka?

I have been looking for a quality Cedar guitar but I only see Taylor 5 and 7 series made by it. Otherwise there is no other mid- to high-end guitars using Cedar.

Anyone knows why?

Hi jihyeu...

Some claim Cedar doesn't have as much head room as Spruce (Sitka or other spruces), and others like the 'brighter' tone of Sitka.

Some builders are using Redwood more, as they say it has properties of both. Personally, my best guitar is EIR/Cedar, and that is the tone I gravitate towards over Redwood or Spruce. As a fingerstyle player who does a lot of singer/songwriter material, the combination suits vocals and solo fingerstyle well.

I have a Koa/Sitka guitar and a Myrtlewood/Italian Spruce which I like a lot. But my EIR/Cedar has been my main guitar for 21 years now.

As to claims that Cedar doesn't have as much headroom, I concluded I don't need more headroom. My main guitar matches my gigging partner's D-42 (Martin) for volume, with far less work.

I observe that players who overdrive guitar tops just feel they should be able to strum guitars as hard as they possibly can and that will overdrive about any wood.

Volume/dynamic changes are a part of musicality. I find that Cedar may not take everything someone can throw at it on the super loudness end of the spectrum, but it will sound just as musical at the barely audible levels of the soft end of the volume spectrum where overbuilt guitars wimp out tone-wise.

I realize some of this is observation, and some is matched to my style of play with the guitars I've come in contact with.

I do know this, Cedar is not overlooked because it is not viable as good tone wood. Some of the best guitars I've ever played are Cedar topped.

[McShepherd]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Dents easier, bridges come off more often ...

This is what I had in mind. Again, sorry that "temperamental" didn't convey that clearly enough.

Coming out of a classical school, I adore the sound characteristics, just ogled, never put any money down on one.

[McShepherd]

Monte Montgomery's guitar:
http://www.unlikelyprofessor.com/fil...l11_monte2.jpg

Then again, isn't Willie's "Trigger" a spruce-top?
http://www.celebstoner.com/assets/im...on_Trigger.jpg

Guess it's really just what you do with it.

[kiva238]

Jihyeu,
Look around for a used cedar top Lowden for around the $2k range and you'll never regret the purchase. I prefer the F model, but they are what cedar is all about.
John

[Bruce Sexauer]

I started building guitars in BC in the late 60's. There was quite a nice lutherie community that developed there at that time. Red Cedar was everywhere on the beaches and we salvaged our tops from those logs, the cost was just the labor. Many people seemed to agree that while the cedar topped guitars sounded great right out of the box, they would have only about a 15 year life expectancy. This didn't seem like a problem when i was in my early 20's.

I started using spruce around my 27th guitar, and found there was something about the tone I preferred, and a I have never looked back. Since that time, now 40 years later, I have built only a couple of cedar tops guitars more! I have seen several of my early 70's cedar topped guitars in recent years, and I assure you there was no truth in the expected degrade over time, they sounded far better than I remembered or expected.

[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by cke

I know a couple of builders who stopped using cedar stating warranty issues. Cedar is comparatively oily and flaky so the wood sometimes has glue bond issues,

This is the exact reason Mathew gave us for not wanting to build a Cedar topped Larrivee Forum guitar.

Obviously it can be done, see all the cedar topped Seagulls and Breedloves out there, but I certainly believe Matt when he says that the glue bond issue is a concern.

[Guitar1083]

Originally Posted by jihyeu

Thanks.

Do you know any in $2,000 range you would recommend?

How about Taylor's 512 or 514 series

[Oldguy64]

Cedar topped instruments are a bit harder to find, but they are worth the search.

My current "number 1" is spruce topped only because it fell into my lap at a time when I was looking for a "forever" instrument of high quality, and reasonable price. (MD70ce vs the desired MD65ce). Bird in the hand, as it were.

In truth, I've wanted a cedar topped instrument for a number of years. The ones I've played in the shops have been warm toned, and a very good match for my voice. However, at the quality of instrument I want, they have been a poor match for my wallet.

I still search for a fairly nice EARLY Yairi DY62ce. I fell hard for them a long while back. Then I heard Monte Montgomery. It sealed the deal. And just to make things interesting, it'd be really nice if one were to show up in the greater KC metro so I can have some actual interaction with it so I can decide if dreams and reality match up.
Unfortunately, they changed the formula for the DY62, and the MMY1 signature model, which is basically the original DY62, has an MSRP of over $3000.
Add to that, every early DY62 I've seen offered for sale that is in my price range looks like it was used to fend off a epic raid in the castle by Huns armed with swords and axes.