#1
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Cherry Wood for an Acoustic Guitar??
Is Cherry a Tone-wood?
A few years ago I got a crazy idea to build an electric guitar, just for fun.. A friend of mine got me a cherry board that's like 12ft long but only 8 inches wide, and over 2 inches thick. To build anything you'd have to piece it together.. I was just wondering if Cherry is a tone wood, and if so, has anyone ever played a Cherry acoustic??
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Jesus Loves You! Taylor 314CE Plus a bunch of cheapo and mod's. |
#2
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The Godin co in Canada makes Seagull guitars, many of which have cherrywood bodies. I've owned two of them and the tone of both was excellent. Check them out at http://www.seagullguitars.com .
G'luck.
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Bill |
#3
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Yes, chery is definitely a tone wood. Martin uses it a lot in its "Smartwood" Series, which are guitars made from woods which are certified not in danger of being overharvested (at least right now), or sustainable.
Mine is an SWM-GT, a fairly large size with Sitka top, cherry back and sides, and Katalox (a Mexican hardwood) fingerboard and bridge. It has a great tone, somewhere between mahogany and rosewood. Mine came with satin finish on the sides and back, but I glossed it up to show of the beautiful cherry wood grain. Mac Carter
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1935 Martin 0-18 1935 Martin 000-28 1937 Martin 000-18 1938 Martin 00-17 1952 Martin 0-18T 1961 Martin 00-21 2003 Martin 00-18VS UMGF Custom 1960 Vega Pete Seeger longneck 5-string banjo And others.... Administrator Emeritus, The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum |
#4
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Lakewood in Germany also offer Cherry as tonewood.
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'08 Goodall KCJC (Koa/Englemann) '09 Fujii MD (Camatillo RW/German) '11 Martin J custom(EIR/Sitka w/PA1 appts.) '14 Collings SJ(Wenge/German) |
#5
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I've played a few of the Martin Smart Wood models, and they were all excellent. Cherry is also used extensively in mountain dulcimers. I think one of the reasons it's avoided in guitars is that it's not terribly interesting to look at, as a rule. It's also not "traditional," like mahogany and rosewood. I'd like to see it used more.
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Chris We all do better when we all do better. |
#6
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Any aspiring Luthiers out there..
Wow, the Seagul Cherry Back and Sides is a light wood.. I kind of always though cherry was a darker wood.
Are there any lutiers out there, close to Oakland, MD 21550, who would like to build something out of my cherry board. I'll be surprised if I ever get the time to sit down and try myself. It's a think chunk bacause I originally wanted to build a solid body. But I'd love to see what you guys could do with it. I'm pretty sure it's like 8''x2''x10-12'
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Jesus Loves You! Taylor 314CE Plus a bunch of cheapo and mod's. |
#7
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Quote:
Cherry isnt all that dark, but most people stain it dark. I never understood that because cherry is so beautiful when it is natural.
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Chad Fengel itunes My YouTube "Only by becoming acquainted with your own self, can you gain the composure to write original music" Michael Hedges ♫ Last edited by Fngrstyl; 02-07-2005 at 01:43 PM. |
#8
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The wood Godin (Seagull, et al) uses is wild cherry, and that could account for the different appearance. As noted, their wild cherry is all laminate, so the grain will look different, too.
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Chris We all do better when we all do better. |
#9
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cherry
Cherry darkens faster than most woods, especially if it's just clearcoated (no stain). Give the natural cherry a hundred years or so and it will be very, very dark.
That's one reason cherry is frequently stained. The other is that different boards can have drastically different aging qualities. A good color match when new may look like three different shades in a year or two. Since a quality guitar is going to have a book-matched back that was cut from the same board, that particular problem shouldn't apply in most cases. BTW, cherry is similar to good mahogany in density. I'd call it medium hard/soft.
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Men never do evil so fully and so happily as when they do it for consciences's sake. --Pascal Goya GG-5 Blueridge BR-160 Blueridge BG-60 Pimental Requinto 1977 |