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Old 11-28-2017, 04:15 PM
SJ VanSandt SJ VanSandt is offline
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Default All-redwood?

People make all-mahogany guitars all the time, an occasional all-koa or walnut, and I've even heard of all spruce guitars, but I don't think I've ever heard of an all-redwood acoustic guitar. Has anyone ever tried this, or played or seen one?

The reason I ask, I have a couple of redwood record cabinets I built as a teenager that I'm about ready to retire. I thought it would be cool to turn them into a guitar, and wondered - why not the entire guitar? Lots of wood there, seasoned for 45 years, even sort of tone-righted between two big Klipsch speakers for much of that time. Some of it looks to be straight, tight grain. I wouldn't be building the guitar myself, of course: just slapping together the minimalist cabinets was challenge enough.

I'm not dead set on redwood back and sides - just curious if it's feasible. I'll contrive a way to take pictures if there is anyone interested.
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Old 11-28-2017, 06:48 PM
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Tim McKnight Tim McKnight is offline
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I've never seen one either. Is your redwood quarter sawn? The big question is whether the redwood would be pliable enough to bend into sides? It tends to be really stiff and splits easily but it would be a fun experiment.
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Old 11-28-2017, 07:05 PM
dekutree64 dekutree64 is offline
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Assuming steel strings, I'd recommend some 1/2" x 1/8" carbon fiber reinforcements in the neck. And don't get too upset when the back/sides/neck accumulate a few dings over time Using a harder wood or plastic binding will help with that.

I think the Kasha design typically uses a redwood back, but heavier sides. Flamenco guitars use softwood back/sides. I suspect some of their short sustain and not so bassy sound comes from the low box mass. Probably would be a good idea to do mass loaded sides a'la Trevor Gore, or double sides to get the mass up, or side braces and a thick and heavily braced back, so the back functions as part of the reaction mass for the soundboard to push against (as opposed to the live back style where the back vibrates independently).

Last edited by dekutree64; 11-28-2017 at 08:26 PM.
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Old 11-29-2017, 03:27 AM
jessupe jessupe is offline
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I've made a mostly all redwood guitar, back and top, the sides are lacewood...I'd call it "good" sounding, looks better than it sounds,it was kinda an experiment
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Old 11-29-2017, 06:43 AM
SJ VanSandt SJ VanSandt is offline
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Thanks, guys - you bring up exactly the problems I anticipated. I think it wouldn't be worth the effort to make the sides, much less the neck, out of redwood, if the results were a simply "good" sound. A custom build for a so-so guitar is just not in the cards for me. I think what I will do is take one of the cabinets apart and take the wood to a good luthier for a visual inspection to see if any of it is suitable for guitars at all. The local luthiers I know are not redwood fans and won't use the stuff, but I have a trip planned in January . . . .
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Old 11-29-2017, 08:25 AM
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Shame you live in Texas, I might be up for the challenge if this was a local project. Maybe you could find a nearby newer amateur guitar builder that would make it for a fraction of what the big boys would charge. Even if it was not showroom fit and finish it would be cool to have as a second guitar that could do double duty sitting on a wall.

I built a few guitars out of softwoods, spruce or pine for the bodies and spruce or fir for the neck. I have some cedar that I want to make a guitar out of, a board is pretty dense and would make a good neck. One of my favorite necks is made of spruce, it does have two dimples by now after three years. Rather than lean the guitar against the desk using the back of the neck I have the strings resting on it.



Carving the neck is super easy, I would think the redwood would be also. You would have to be careful about the splitting but I would not think it would be too much of an issue as long as you only remove a little at a time. Depending on the grain you might have hard and soft areas to contend with on some curves but it is doable. I have built smaller guitars out of softwoods, the above neck is one. I have not built a full size one so I am not sure on the sonic nature of one. Just by tapping the top and back I doubt the one I am building out of all spruce (or pine?) will be lacking in bass. Don't know what the exact species the board I got the wood from, it was a 2"x4".



This is as far as I got, will probably get back to it in a month or two. It is an 00 size with full scale neck. Strength wise I doubt the steel strings will be a problem for the neck, the truss rod will take care of any bending. The headstock joint might be a place for reinforcement though. Depends how well you baby the instrument.

One thing that is a concern is belt rash, you will get dings so after a few years the guitar will look well used if you are not careful. The guitar up top has its share of marks on the body, in ten years it will look ten years old. That is why I think going for a reduced fit and finish and as a result lower cost might be a good idea. It is like building with a cedar top rather than spruce. If you have any debris on the work surface it might make a mark on the wood.

Anyway that is my two cents on building with a softwood. I do love the feather light aspect of the guitar. I plan on building a few more yet but after I get some more regular wood guitars built. Most of your sound does come from the top so I would think the actual wood would have the greatest impact on how the guitar sounds assuming the builder braces it right. With the guitars I have built the back resonance ends up in the right range compared to the top resonance. Will you have shorter sustain on the low end as compared to a hardwood back? You do have redwood's lower dampening to help out there. Maybe keep my 00 in mind and see how it turns out before deciding what to do.


Almost forgot something important. Bending softwoods can be a b*tch, I would not try the redwood without it ([B]SuperSoft], Forgot to mention it.[/B). Might even be worth doing a laminated side with it also with the thinner sheets.
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Last edited by printer2; 11-29-2017 at 10:21 AM.
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Old 11-29-2017, 09:22 AM
SJ VanSandt SJ VanSandt is offline
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Thanks for the info and the encouragement, Fred. The pics are really cool - I'm glad to see someone with the skills being so adventurous!
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