Spruce or Cedar, can you tell which is which

[Shadowy]

Number 1 has brighter trebles so I'm saying spruce.

[Kaydee]

Haven’t got a clue,both sound identical.On a personal note ,that is what makes my guitar choices so easy.They all sound the same ha ha

[Cool555]

I listened using earphones twice but both sounded very similar. So I voted Option 4.

[raysd]

I'm gonna say 1 is cedar. Your Furch sounds good!

[TBman]

If they weren't my guitars I couldn't tell which is which either.

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by TBman

If they weren't my guitars I couldn't tell which is which either.

Barry, I can hear a big difference between them but I have to ask - are both guitars’ strings the same type and age?

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Cri75!

My guess is:
Guitar 1, spruce.
Guitar 2, cedar .
Bye

My guess too.

[M19]

Originally Posted by Shadowy

Number 1 has brighter trebles so I'm saying spruce.

My guess and reasoning as well.

[Shortfinger]

Cedar number 2.

Not as hard as spruce, so resonates yielding a softer sound.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

In these recordings both sound somewhat like banjos.

Yeah, ok

[Brevver2]

This is a really tricky one. Neither guitar sounds particularly like any spruce/rosewood guitar I've played.

Guitar 1 seems to have that bump in the mids (around 2k) that I associate with cedar.

Guitar 2 has some of the dark overtones and warmth I'd associate with cedar.

This is a great example of how the tone of a guitar is determined by far more than just the tonewood combination.

My tentative guess is that 1 is cedar.

[CASD57]

Spruce
Cedar

[TBman]

Originally Posted by JayBee1404

Barry, I can hear a big difference between them but I have to ask - are both guitars’ strings the same type and age?

No, the cedar has new Elixirs on it and the spruce has Pierre Bensusan DADGAD mediums which are 3 months old, but not 3 months of playing time, more like half that.

The first guitar is the Furch cedar and the second my Avalon which is spruce topped.

Your question highlights the reality that any guitar comparison is heavily dependent on the string type and age.

A real guitar comparison would have to have the same strings put on the guitars within the same hour and have the same amount of playing time on them and the same type of playing.

When I was doing the recordings it was the first time I had played the Furch and and the Avalon together and I was surprised how mellow the Avalon sounded in comparison to the Furch. Its all in the strings.

The recordings were made with a Zoom H5 with its built in mics.

I guess I really should change the Avalon's strings

[EllenGtrGrl]

Originally Posted by Eucatastrophe

Guitar 2 is Cedar. Methinks. I’m hearing a Mellower bass and warmer trebles.

+1

I've had a few cedar topped guitars over the years (a couple of Seagulls, and an Eastman E2OM-CD), and they have rounded/less punchy sound to them. Due to my playing style (I'm a flatpicker, who also alternate picks), I've learned to shy away from cedar topped guitars, because I drive the tops too hard, and the sound ends up becoming overly compressed/mushy sounding. Cedar guitars are great guitars for fingerstyle (It's probably why many of the best classical guitars have cedar tops), and also sound pretty good if you have a light touch with a plectrum, but if you dig in - forget it.

[Aimelie]

Ack!

I demand a recount! This can’t be right.

Wait...