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Has anyone ever used Alaskan Yellow Cedar for a guitar project? Is this a good tonewood? What can you tell me about this wood?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

I haven't used it but I know it is used. We were talking about bringing some in a while back but never got around to it.

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Michael,
I know Brent. I've bought some very nice bearclaw from him. Real nice guy. I will give him a call.

Jason,
Good to hear from you. Loved the maple you sent. Man it's pretty. Can't wait to get at it.

I also have a set. It seems VERY stiff. I am wondering if it is close to being too stiff. You know John Greven prefers floppy tops and John makes some great guitars. His motto is "good ol floppy top"

So many ways.

Yes. I built one about two years ago...it's flamed koa with the Alaskan cedar top on my Rubicon body style. Sounds wonderful and the top wood seems to be very stable with no evidence of problems to date. It's sort of my personal guitar at this point in time...a real nice fingerstyle that will take a pick when needed. And does it smell nice! No moths will ever set up home in THAT case!

[QUOTE=John Kinnaird]You know John Greven prefers floppy tops and John makes some great guitars. His motto is "good ol floppy top".[/QUOTE]

Isn't that a song? Something about "Good Old Floppy Top, Floppy Top Tennessee..."?

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Well I went to see this wood, and they were all about the size of 2x4's. Can't use those. But he had some WRC Logs about 30" wide and 6 feet long that I'm going back to take a second look at. He also asked what kind of other type of wood I might consider, and said he would keep an eye out for me. He might turn into a good contact. He used to build fence railing with old growth WRC and said he might run across some.
He's also selling off some of his tools and said he would give me first pick. (I kind of doubt that it's really 1st pick. What, he has no friends or relatives?). But he did say he had a shopsmith mark V that was pretty rusted, but just needed to be cleaned up. It only has the tablesaw on it but the rest can be bought. Said he'd let me have it for $200.00. I'll take a look but only if I think I can resell it.
Thanks to all of you for your valuable imput.

Doug

30 inch logs are probably too small to get the kind of recovery you need if you plan on truly quarterd sets. My absolute minimum is 1 metre (39 inches) that I will fall. I won't even take a core sample of a tree smaller than that. I do though look at logs down to about 3 feet but they would have to be exceptional before I would buy that small. I actually prefer larger than 42 inches, that's when you start to get reasonable recoveries of nicely quartered sets.

Don't be discouraged, just keep looking and keep asking. When you find the right bit of wood we will all yell "BUY IT!!"

Shane

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Canada

How lucky can a guy get. All of the experts right at the tips of my fingers. (slow as they are on the old keyboard).
Thanks Shane. When I'm over looking at his stuff I'll now be aware of that and also I'll take the old tape measure with me.
Is there anything else I look at on an already felled tree? How can I tell if it's got some figure by looking only at an end cut?
Man, I've got a lot to learn.

Peel some bark back and look for a real lumpy and bumpy rippled suface. The more the better and that will indicate figure (curl) in the wood. Also sight the log lengthwise and stay away from logs that have even the slightest bit of twist to them. Straight is mandatory for us.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

[QUOTE=BlueSpirit] Has anyone ever used Alaskan Yellow Cedar for a guitar project? Is this a good tonewood? What can you tell me about this wood?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks[/QUOTE]


   Doug

   I built a guitar for a customer that was Yellow Cedar ,back, sides and 5 pc neck (Yellow cedar , Maple) with a bearclaw sitka top .

It made a great sounding guitar ,...and believe it or not it was a beautiful looking guitar.

I would warn ,..that most Yellow Cedar is very pulpy ,...and taps like cardboard.
   
I have found very ,very intense yellow wood with some streaky brown lines in it is the highest quality ,...and is very stiff.

   If its a pale yellowish white color with no steaking ,..its probably young pulpy wood.

It is true Doug....he sent me some of what he had and wanted me to send it back......but that hasn't happened yet .....of course he is like a brother to me and if he wants it he is going to have to come here and get it!!

I build flamenco guitars with Yellow Cedar sides and backs and it has a couple advantages over Spanish Cypress. It is slightly heavier than Cypress but is light, light in color (traditional for flamenco), is very stable, and more split resistant than Cypress.

The smell of Yellow cedar (not really a cedar) is strong and fragrant...people either like it or hate it. Before I build with WRC, yellow cedar or Port Orford Cedar I explain about the scent and if they handle the wood in person will always either like it or hate it.

I have used Yellow cedar for a flamenco neck and it carves very easy, is stable and the grain is much finer than the spanish cedar I usually use for necks. I have only tried it on a flamenco as the wood is so light (but distinctive) that it only would match with a lighter color guitar.

I have only used it for a top once but have seen very nice classicals built with it although I would not use it as a primary choice for top wood as I have doubts that it can resonate as fully as a prime wood like Euro Spruce or Englemann. I have not tested but think that Port Orford Cedar makes a better top wood. Perhaps I will try a flamenco with Port Orford for the top and Yellow Cedar for the sides and backs.

I bought some of my sets from Ed Dick of AC Woods (an OLF sponsor) and the quality was excellent.

Thanks guys. I've now got some great info for when I go over there again today. You are the Best!BlueSpirit38612.5349189815