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I've been away from a lot of my lutherie plans for years but have collected a good deal of wood for some future projects and I was wondering what the forum thinks about pairing different top woods with back/side sets.

I've got hard/glassy/brittle sets (Cocobolo, Ziricote, Chechen, Wenge) and also have some lighter woods (Mahogany, Imbuia, Red Maple, Sycamore, Claro Walnut). I also have some Padauk and Pau Ferro that seem to fall somewhere in-between.

For tops, I've got Sitka, Englemann, Redwood and Western Red Cedar.

Would anyone give some suggestions for which tops might go well with certain backs/sides and for a particular style of build? I know that I'm looking at making a Maple/Sitka jumbo and possibly a jumbo 12 string. Gotta love those old Guilds. I'd also like to make a Claro Walnut/Redwood OM-sized guitar for some fingerpicking and light strumming. Any other thoughts that have worked well for you?

Generally I don't put much stock in these 'magic wood' threads. There's enough variation within any species to produce a lot of overlap between them, so you really have to work 'to the piece'. That said, I feel that pairing a low-damping top wood, such as the usual redwood or cedar top, with a higher damping back, such as walnut, or cherry, works well. I don't like the look of cedar tops on maple B&S, but that would be OK if you like it. Other than that it's mostly a matter of getting the top 'right' and making it work well with the back.

George Lowden seems to do well with a Walnut/Cedar combo.

What Allan said, it's more about the building technique than which woods.

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I'm in total agreement with the aesthetic no-no of matching a Cedar top with a Maple Back/Side set. Doesn't sit right with me either.

I guess that over the next few years I'll go with my gut as I build. I've listened to many, MANY recordings of different wood combos and from what I can tell, lots of successful builds have been made with all sorts of combinations. I suppose that frees me up to match woods as I see fit and use good building practices.

Also, mikeyb2, I do appreciate how George Lowden offers a heck of a lot of different wood combinations in his line. His guitars have always stood out to be following the beat of their own drummer.

In general, I think it is best to downplay the importance of species, and emphasize instead the characteristics of the actual pieces of wood used. You get some players who have developed this belief that one species gives X sound, and a different species gives Y sound. I think that we should shepherd players away from that way of thinking. Just my opinion.

Yes!

I agree with Don, Alan, James et al!