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Hi
I just bought a beautiful Redwood Soundboard from the Zootman.

Problem....

I know very little about the properties of a redwood top.
Is it warm like cedar or is it more like spruce.
Based on its properties, what would be the ideal guitar for it???

Thanks
Andy

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Andy, I have built a few guitars with it and the general theme has been a guitar with all the great warmth and sensitivity of a good cedar top with an added dose of sparkle that you would hear in a nice Sitka top.

Thats been my experience.

The ideal guitar, hmm, I think the smaller the better,
I did an OM that sounded fantastic.
I would stay away from the jumbo or Dread size.LanceK38757.9366898148

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Hey Lance
Is that the OM you had to pry out of my hands to get back? Just gorgeous and sounded fantastic. Andy your going to love redwood.

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Andy, you know I'm gonna say this! The classic combination, at least on this side of the pond, is a mahogany/redwood OM. George Lowden, the greatest guitar builder in the world,(discuss) has it as one of his guitars, and this combination has formed the basis of a lot of contemporary music.

I'm currently building one in this combination using a curly mahogany B&S and neck.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

My first guitar was a Redwood / Mahogany dread & it sounded absolutely great. The Redwood was very high grade, (Master Grade from Luthiers Mercantile... Long before they added the "International") perfectly quartered & STIFF.

I'm wondering how it would sound with Acacia in for an OM. I have a set of each that I've been thinking about trying together.

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Scott Thompson
Port Townsend,WA

"In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room"
-Billy Bragg

Scott, it will sound a lot like Koa with redwood.


Figure it to be something between mahogany and rosewood.

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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."

the timing here is great. I was really wondering the same thing, since I've
never actually played redwood, but think its a gorgeous wood, and would
really like to use it. I was actually curious about a small body redwood/
claro walnut combination. It seems quite a few builders have had success
with cedar/ walnut, so I thought maybe redwood/ walnut would be even
more vibrant.

Any thoughts? Andy, have you thought about any combinations yet?

Thanks for that clarification, Don. It's approproate that you answered since both sets were from you!

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Scott Thompson
Port Townsend,WA

"In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room"
-Billy Bragg

Just a quick note on Redwood for you guys planning to use it for the first time.

Like WRC you have to be real careful about the dust, so make sure you have adequate dust control and masks etc.

[QUOTE=EHeisler]   It seems quite a few builders have had success
with cedar/ walnut, so I thought maybe redwood/ walnut would be even
more vibrant.

Any thoughts? Andy, have you thought about any combinations yet?[/QUOTE]

Evan, Redwood Walnut is a wonderful combo. Ive never built with it my self, but those that have say the two woods were made for each other. Just like Sitka and Mahogany, right Colin

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Did you just swear Lance ?

I was thinking
Redwood/Cocobolo...The reason is that I have made 3 cedar/cocobolo deep
bodied OM that everyone has loved. I like the warm cedar, but just a hint
better high end would be nice. Based on what Lance said up top, this could
be a great combination
Andy

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Andy, I did a Redwood Coco OM and it was killer.
Warm and rich sounding with shimmering highes.
I try to say away from discribing tone because its so subjective, but this guitar was clearly the best sounding guitar ive made to date.

Redwood COCO!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Lance, could we see a picture please ? I am interested by the sound and looks of that guitar when you have a chance! TIA

Serge

[QUOTE=EHeisler] the timing here is great. I was really wondering the same thing, since I've
never actually played redwood, but think its a gorgeous wood, and would
really like to use it. I was actually curious about a small body redwood/
claro walnut combination.
[/QUOTE]

Yes, talk about timing. I'm planning a "California Wood" Guitar: Redwood Top w/ Claro Back, Sides and Neck. I even found some nice Manzanita Burl for rosette / headstock. Found a good neck source, now need to select the rest.
I've heard nothing but praise for the tone of a RW/Walnut guitar.

Hey Alan,

Did you find a lot of sand in your burl? I got a chunk once and my band saw started sparking! I spent a lot of time with high pressure air, vac, & dental picks trying to get the stuff out, but alas, I think the root grew around the gravel

[QUOTE=Terry Stowell] Hey Alan,

Did you find a lot of sand in your burl? I got a chunk once and my band saw started sparking! I spent a lot of time with high pressure air, vac, & dental picks trying to get the stuff out, but alas, I think the root grew around the gravel [/QUOTE]

Yes, all manner of minerals. I guess Manzanita burl is part of the root so it'll pick up whatever. Once clean it's great looking!

[QUOTE=RussellR] Did you just swear Lance ? [/QUOTE]

Yes he did Russell, fancy using the S**ka word here on a polite forum. I've just had to go and lay down! At least he didn't use the Dr***n****t word as well.

Colin Colin S38759.2026851852

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Now amagine if you will, a wonderful guitar... DREADNOUGHT shape with nice silky SITKA top, mmmmm.

Like that Russell and Colin. I should go wash my mouth with soap, I hope the kids don't read this.

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[QUOTE=LanceK] Andy, I did a Redwood Coco OM and it was killer.
Warm and rich sounding with shimmering highes.
I try to say away from discribing tone because its so subjective, but this guitar was clearly the best sounding guitar ive made to date.

Redwood COCO!

[/QUOTE]

Yes, a real beaut. Can you post a pic?

Rod, i did not know that animal side of you.. but who am i to judge?

Da bear!

I feel Sick

[QUOTE=Rod True] Now amagine if you will, a wonderful guitar... DREADNOUGHT shape with nice silky SITKA top, mmmmm.

Like that Russell and Colin. I should go wash my mouth with soap, I hope the kids don't read this. [/QUOTE]

Gentleman, gentleman, please! There ARE other forums for this kind of talk.

Perhaps the offenders should "get a room"



Cheers Kim

[QUOTE=azimmer1] I was thinking Redwood/Cocobolo...[/QUOTE]

I started an SJ of that combination...it had such great promise....until I wrecked the most beautiful set of redwood that I put on it.
I got so mad that I put my fist through it. Do you know what? That's a really easy way to remove a top quickly!
I ended up replacing it with a red spruce top, but I still want to try that redwood/coco combo.

Today I was rumaging through the 50+ redwood tops I have and realized I could never use that many tops. These are mostly all the best of the best that I saved for myself. I guess I'll just have to sell some more redwood.....Oh well...such a pitty. I think I'll keep 15-20 of them, but the rest are going to end up in some lucky person's wood stash.

Now I have to go plan a Dreadnought using a Sitka top....Mmmmmmm one of my favorite combinations!



Don Williams38759.7194097222

_________________
"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."