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Post by michaelwatts on Jul 28, 2020 9:43:01 GMT
Hello everyone!
Several redwood guitars have passed through my hands recently and I've put some of my thoughts on this wood in this video, I hope you enjoy it!
All the best
Michael
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Post by skyetripper on Jul 28, 2020 12:34:07 GMT
Very informative as always and very nicely described. Never played a redwood topped guitar, but had always assumed it would be quite like Cedar, but apparently not. That Taran is gorgeous by the way!
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Post by michaelwatts on Jul 28, 2020 16:00:17 GMT
Very informative as always and very nicely described. Never played a redwood topped guitar, but had always assumed it would be quite like Cedar, but apparently not. That Taran is gorgeous by the way! To start with Redwood was often marketed as a sort of "Super Cedar" or superseder I suppose... As it happens I'd say the two woods are often very different
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Welshruss
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Post by Welshruss on Jul 29, 2020 10:10:30 GMT
I enjoyed the video. My main guitar is my LS Redwood flamed mahogany 00-12 Bashkin. Michael made it for me 9 years ago. it lives predominantly in CGCGCE tuning. It was my first 12 fret guitar. I’ve owned some good cedar topped guitars but this guitar is very different.
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Post by jonnymosco on Jul 30, 2020 12:43:40 GMT
Thanks Michael, very interesting.
I made a classical some years ago, an exact copy of 'Wanda' by Richard Schneider using Kasha's bracing concept - the original was from 1973 and featured a redwood top. They did break the mould with guitar design and seemed open regarding soundboard wood - classical guitarists are notoriously sceptical towards anything beyond the Torres design, which explains why their concepts remained niche and perhaps why nobody else adopted redwood for tops.
Jonny
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colins
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Post by colins on Jul 30, 2020 13:29:08 GMT
I've used redwood for about a dozen guitars over the years, a caveat though it has always been from the Carter's Lucky Strike tree, my wood was obtained direct from the Carters or from their friend Hank Mauel, there is a lot of suspect origin LS redwood out there! LS redwood is usually thought of as redwood on steroids but I think of it more as bridging the gap between Cedar and spruce. A couple of the members on here have had redwood topped steel strings of mine. it has a brighter tap than WRC and in my opinion produces a more balanced guitar than cedar. Though I'm a bit of a Torres purist, the guitar I made at Siguenza with Romanillos had a LS redwood top on a Maple body. I took a Euro Spruce top with me as well but at his wood inspection Jose said I should use the redwood as he felt it to be one of the best two soundboards on the course, along with some Lutz. The guitar turned out well, perhaps in my best half dozen classical guitars really suiting the Spanish sound, though maybe not the more Northern European, luckily it was bought by a player from Seville. Colin Joe with my (his) LS redwood/Yew OM
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Jul 31, 2020 8:37:30 GMT
I've used redwood for about a dozen guitars over the years, a caveat though it has always been from the Carter's Lucky Strike tree, my wood was obtained direct from the Carters or from their friend Hank Mauel, there is a lot of suspect origin LS redwood out there! LS redwood is usually thought of as redwood on steroids but I think of it more as bridging the gap between Cedar and spruce. A couple of the members on here have had redwood topped steel strings of mine. it has a brighter tap than WRC and in my opinion produces a more balanced guitar than cedar. Though I'm a bit of a Torres purist, the guitar I made at Siguenza with Romanillos had a LS redwood top on a Maple body. I took a Euro Spruce top with me as well but at his wood inspection Jose said I should use the redwood as he felt it to be one of the best two soundboards on the course, along with some Lutz. The guitar turned out well, perhaps in my best half dozen classical guitars really suiting the Spanish sound, though maybe not the more Northern European, luckily it was bought by a player from Seville. Colin Joe with my (his) LS redwood/Yew OM That's the guitar that I wrote a piece called 'New Day' to try and win in a competition a few years back. I didn't win of course but it's the only time a guitar I didn't own gave me inspiration to come up with some music. I consoled myself knowing that the nut width would probably have been too wide for me. Lovely looking guitar..... Phil
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Post by vikingblues on Jul 31, 2020 9:19:03 GMT
A very informative and enjoyable video. With the added bonus of hearing the clips of you playing and producing beautiful sounds. I was interested that you brought into the video the need for the right technique, and possibly a change of technique to get the best out of the Redwood sound. That need to control the guitar in the right way is something that so rarely comes up in reviews .... but should! I'm impressed that you can spot something like that because when you can play as well as you can it must be very easy to take so many skill factors needed on an instrument for granted. Like the problem for a teacher in being able to think at the level of someone much less skilled! Mark
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Post by andyhowell on Aug 1, 2020 10:03:53 GMT
Mark is right i pointing out this subject is all too rarely addressed. I think it always takes a while to adjust your technique to any new guitar. I have guitars made out of Sitka/Indian Rosewood and Sitka/Wenge and they are very different instruments to lay in terms of attack, feel and sustain. I can make a case for saying that I generally never choose Cedar. It is not that I don't appreciate its sound and the guitars made with it – I do, but they are not really for me. But even when it comes to Spruce there seems to be a world of difference which I guess is both depepndent on the piece of wood used and the construction techniques employed!
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