Western Red Cedar Acoustic Guitar Tops

Western Red Cedar comes from Northern U.S.A and Canada, it is a lighter and softer timber than spruce. Cedar has been used for guitar tops only recently when compared to Spruce. It has become known as an excellent soundboard wood and is preferred by many master classical guitar makers, it is also a popular choice for steel-string guitar tops.

Quality - All of our cedar tops are high grade. The timber has a fine, even and straight grain and a bright tap tone.

Look - As the name implies, this timber has a red/brown hue with darker grain lines. On average the grain is slightly finer than spruce. Cedar is a similar colour to Queensland Maple and makes a good aesthetic combination when used with Queensland Maple back and sides.

Sound - Guitars with Western Red Cedar tops are warm and mellow in general. It is believed that a Cedar top will mature much quicker than a spruce top.

Price - The price of Cedar is relatively low. The average price for a Western Red Cedar top is less than a German Spruce top of a similar grade.

Availability/Renewability - This timber is still available in the United States and Canada in good quality. Cedar is used in other industries including the construction industry, so the large trees needed to harvest high quality soundboards are in danger of becoming more scarce in the coming years.