What does a Cedar top guitar sound like strummed?

[Eucatastrophe]

I hope this little video adds some insight into the ongoing curiosity around Cedar vs Spruce. Seems like every week there's a some question about how they compare, which one is better for picking, can cedar be strummed, etc.

When I ordered my custom McIlroy, I knew the cedar top would be perfect for my fingerstyle pursuits, but I was really curious (nervous?!) how it would handle my strumming. I am happy to report...it does so wonderfully For me. Maybe not for you. But either way, let us know what you think or maybe even add a video or sound example of your own.

This is the accompaniment that I often play in gathered worship for the song “O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus.” The tune is called EBENEZER.

Recorded with Shure MV88. No post editing.

Here’s a little sample of some strumming on my McIlroy AP25.

[Rosewood99]

Cedar can certainly handle light to medium strumming. But you’re not gonna be doing windmills on the guitar. Cedar does not have the headroom of some thing like Sitka. But for how your strumming is, it will do fine.

[mtdmind]

If the player is good, it will sound great .

[rick-slo]

Cedar does not have the treble zing of the spruces and concurrently has a narrower tonal range but for some songs and tunes that's a good thing.

[Wade Hampton]

I own two cedar-topped Seagulls and a cedar-topped Tacoma Papoose. All of them handle strumming just fine.


whm

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

I own two cedar-topped Seagulls and a cedar-topped Tacoma Papoose. All of them handle strumming just fine.


whm

Depends on how hard the strumming is. It’s just a fact that cedar does not have the headroom of something like Sitka.
Of course there are exceptions, Depending on the builder.

[mrjop1975]

My Sheeran by Lowden is a solid cedar top and it strums just fine. I am not an aggressive strummer so that could have something to do with it, but then I've heard people playing the Seagull S6 loud and aggressive and it sounded great. Different strokes for different folks.

[mikealpine]

I’ve got a Furch cedar-topped dread. It has more warmth than many spruce guitars. It won’t compete against bluegrass canons, but for singer-songwriter strumming, it sounds awesome!

[Brucebubs]

Very interesting and nicely played ... thanks for that.

[Wade Hampton]

After I wrote that my cedar-topped guitars handle strumming just fine, Rosewood wrote:

Originally Posted by Rosewood99

Depends on how hard the strumming is. It’s just a fact that cedar does not have the headroom of something like Sitka.
Of course there are exceptions, Depending on the builder.

Maybe I just have a governor on my strumming hand, like the governor on the throttle of a school bus, and just subconsciously hold back when I’m playing those guitars.


whm

[fartamis]

Those famous stories that cedar top guitars can't be strummed so hard without overdriving are grandma's tales. I have two dreads, a spruce on mahogany and a cedar on mahogany, my cedar is clearly the stronger of the two and I strum it powerfully, it has incredible volume and does not saturate at all.

[RussL30]

Nice playing in the demo.

My cedar top Takamine continues to disprove all the stereotypes here about how cedar can’t be strummed hard. The sound explodes out of my cedar top and can be strummed just as hard and loud as my spruce topped dreads.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Can I hit my Adi topped dreadnought harder than my cedar GA and get a louder result? Yes. But I have to hit it at a level that no song I would ever think of playing would call for. It's literally a "how hard can I strum" test, with no real world application for any song I know how to play.

[emtsteve]

I have cedar topped Seagulls, a folk and dread. I strum both vigorously and they sound excellent - no breaking up.

Awesome little song by the OP. almost got it figured out. And the McIlroy sounds great!

[SRL]

Originally Posted by fartamis

Those famous stories that cedar top guitars can't be strummed so hard without overdriving are grandma's tales.

Same here. I think it's just marketing faff or an urban legend that's been repeated too much. Maybe someone's measured it scientifically but I've never seen it.