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  #16  
Old 03-02-2012, 10:03 AM
Rick Homan Rick Homan is offline
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Glenn - what you say about spruce-top Taylors and cedar-top Taylors makes sense. Let's organize a field trip! I would much rather be empirical than theoretical about this.

220 - I like your priority list, although I might promote neck profile over body size by just a hair. BTW, are you going to shop for an existing guitar or have one built?

Oilrunner - I have never heard the term "dark hands," but I like it. Would make a good title for an original instrumental. Your experience shows how the first item in a prioritized list of what determines the sound is the player.
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  #17  
Old 03-02-2012, 10:27 AM
220volt 220volt is offline
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Originally Posted by Rick Homan View Post

220 - I like your priority list, although I might promote neck profile over body size by just a hair. BTW, are you going to shop for an existing guitar or have one built?
I will probably get existing one: either hand made or factory. Depends.
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  #18  
Old 03-02-2012, 11:17 AM
blue blue is offline
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I've owned a few Cedar topped guitars. My personal preference is anything other than rosewood. My Koa sounded best to me in a near dead heat with mahogany. I find Cedar top guitars can often just be full of overtones. And rosewood just accentuates that. That may work beautifully for some folks, but I'm very attracted to lower register on guitars (to the point that I now play Baritone more than standard), and all those overtones swirling around in the low end just sound muddy to my ears. I lose the note I'm playing. But my ears were abused by an ill-spent youth standing in front of loud amplifiers. Your ears may vary.

As to headroom, yes a good builder can make Cedar jump through hoops and give him everything he wants out of it. I do think it's safe to say however, that a factory build in "fingerstyle" body shape could very well have less headroom, while still being an exceptional guitar. Guitars are individuals of course always. But that's a moot point for you since you're looking at fingerstyle anyway!

Edited to add, a Cedar/Koa guitar is not anything I'm gassing for, but if I ran across a really good one? I could be had very easily.
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  #19  
Old 03-02-2012, 11:23 AM
Guest 429
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Nothing beats trying out actual guitars.

I will say this though and I am not a huge fan of cedar. I do think that the proverbial "easier to find better cedar at a lower price point than spruce" is somewhat true. Cedar does have a built in kind of broken in quality, for better or worse. Is the question: is cedar better for you? Think in terms of particular guitars.

It still comes down to playing individual guitars...and much to do with construction.


I would strongly recommend having someone else play that same guitar or guitars you're trying out...

I will say this though: I think from my experience cedar top guitars are more prone to sounding really better to you playing than those listening so don't be too quickly taken in with "sudden warmth" especially.. Try a bunch out and listen to a bunch.

I do not consider clarity when strummed a non-issue with cedar tops. Over time clarity with cedar (chordal play) will not increase but decrease usually (even more broken in). Sometimes even "somewhat" is the proverbial last straw. And this can happen faster with steel string than a nylon cedar guitar. Listening and sound recordings can tell another story than when you look up from just strumming chords.

I also think a good number of spruce top guitars actually sound better to those listening than to those playing them. The spruce top exception to this rule for me consistently: the Taylor 110 (sorry).

Try out individual guitars. The best to you.

BTW why talk about strumming here? Unless you're playing in a fairly pure style...ain't some strums involved in fingerstyle and fingerpicking even?

Last edited by Guest 429; 03-02-2012 at 11:36 AM.
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  #20  
Old 03-02-2012, 11:26 AM
blue blue is offline
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Originally Posted by Oilrunner View Post
I am another exception then... at least when I think of tonewood for myself, since I have what Taylor folks call dark hands (I dont use so much of the nails...) it sounds in my ears much better when I play spruce tops compared to cedar tops
I've never heard that term before. Dark hands. But what you said about less nails makes sense to me. I hate the term "velocity of sound". But Cedar is supposed to be really "quick" in terms of response to picking. Faster than spruce.

You know what's even faster? A resonator. Lots of flesh sounds pretty awful on a resonator. Finger picks sound amazing. It's about how the energy is transmitted to the strings. I'm wondering if the same rules apply, obviously to a much lesser degree, with fast, and slow responding woods? Perhaps picking style should play heavily into top wood selection.
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  #21  
Old 03-02-2012, 11:31 AM
Guest 429
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I've never heard that term before. Dark hands. But what you said about less nails makes sense to me. I hate the term "velocity of sound". But Cedar is supposed to be really "quick" in terms of response to picking. Faster than spruce.

You know what's even faster? A resonator. Lots of flesh sounds pretty awful on a resonator. Finger picks sound amazing. It's about how the energy is transmitted to the strings. I'm wondering if the same rules apply, obviously to a much lesser degree, with fast, and slow responding woods? Perhaps picking style should play heavily into top wood selection.

Dark hands?

Hey even with the same flatpick same guitar and same place on the scale length playing...you can darken things up just moving your other fingers closer to your palm...hey why not...
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  #22  
Old 03-02-2012, 11:36 AM
blue blue is offline
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Dark hands?

Hey even with the same flatpick same guitar and same place on the scale length playing...you can darken things up just moving your other fingers closer to your palm...hey why not...
Hey, it's not my term! I just heard it 40 seconds ago!
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  #23  
Old 03-02-2012, 11:40 AM
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Hey, it's not my term! I just heard it 40 seconds ago!

Might also be the name of a movie that went straight to Hulu.com.

Think I'll call up Taylor customer service...

If I'm not happy with their response, I'll start another complaint thread.
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