What's Your Preference, Spruce or Cedar Topped Acoustic?

Top Wood - Spruce, Cedar, or other


  • Total voters
    5

arcaxis

Well-known member
I know cedar will sound 'warmish' and spruce 'brightish' and I have a cedar topped Takamine that I'm happy with the way sounds for most of what I play. What wood do you prefer for recording (probably miced) or live (amped PU's?). Toying around with getting a fairly decent spruce top for something of a different color for both recording and playing (amped and not amped), possibly something from Seagull.
 
As far as acoustic recording, I wouldn't think about the top wood as much as the overall sound. And, if you've got one guitar with a certain sound, steer towards something that goes in a different direction just to give you more options.

I've got a mahogany dreadnaught (I built back in 1980 when I was doing that sort of thing) with a western red cedar top. Pretty mellow by now, considering it's "walked into a few bars" (literally). My other guitar is a newer one of those a/e cutaway orchestra size things. All solid wood with Sitka top and rosewood sides and back. Still a steel-string, so not night and day, but for recording it's a brighter box with more overtones. I might use either when recording at home, but even with their differences, in a recording, I've come to realize most of what I'm hearing is the way I play, for better or worse :).

If you're playing out with an acoustic, I think the pickup system matters more than the top wood. And for that, I'd simply choose based on how a guitar sounds when plugged in, and how easy it is to quickly dial in at different places, maybe even with different sound systems. My a/e's electronics have more possibilities than I can use, but there's one knob I can turn to quickly change the sound (Fishman Aura - selects different microphone models), and that lets me change things in a hurry if it's just wrong when I plug in.
 
For classical guitarists, it's pretty well established that Cedar tends to record better - rounder fuller tones. Think John Williams playing a Greg Smallman guitar.

Spruce can sometimes project better but recordings tend to sound a bit thinner.

I am not sure why the discrepancy is so clear on recordings when in a live setting it is seemingly not as pronounced.

---------- Update ----------

I answered Cedar but I actually have a spruce guitar made by Dake Traphagen. My answer is for classical only.
 
Mahogany should be on there as a 3rd option, then "another wood" for all the rest.
Out of those two I like spruce better. Cedar is warmer but tends to be indistinct (kinda muddy) to my ear.
 
It's all in how/what you play. If you're a strummer with a thick pick, cedar can sound muddy. If you're a finger player, then cedar can give you a nice warm rounded tone. Spruce will be brighter for a finger player, with more sustain ( you might not want that). Mahogany will be drier.
For recording, the back/sides is just as important. For live playing (with an internal pickup), the woods are far less important.
 
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