TOOL
Cedar top
Opens fast, plays warm, and marks if you look at it wrong.
| Typical density | 0.33 – 0.38 g/cm³ |
|---|---|
| Specific stiffness | High, but lower than spruce |
| Grain | Fine, straight, often very tight |
| Colour | Warm light brown, uniform |
| Common species | Western red cedar |
| Typical use | Classical, fingerstyle and small-body steel-string tops |
| Thickness range | 2.6 – 3.4 mm for a steel-string top |
|---|---|
| Moisture at glue-up | 6 – 8 percent |
| Opening time | Weeks to months rather than a year |
| Stiffness test | Flex and tap; expect a lower pitch than spruce |
| Dent resistance | Low — soft under a fingernail |
| Price band | Moderate |
Western red cedar reaches its best sound almost immediately, where spruce takes a year or more. It is slightly less stiff than spruce for the same weight, so a cedar top is normally thicknessed a little heavier — and the result is a warm, full, responsive instrument that flatters a light player.
The trade-off is headroom. Cedar gives up earlier when you dig in, and it dents and gouges far more readily than spruce. Classical and fingerstyle builders use it heavily for exactly the reasons flatpickers avoid it.
At this stage
Cedar is easy to over-thin because it feels soft. Judge it by stiffness, not by thickness: a cedar top that flexes as easily as a spruce top of the same size is already too thin.
Suits these instruments
- Classical
- Fingerstyle steel-string
- Parlour
- Flamenco
Works with
- Hide glue
- French polish
- Mahogany back and sides
- Sanding sealer
- Cedar dust is a well-documented respiratory sensitizer and can cause occupational asthma. Extraction is not optional when you sand it.
- Cedar splits along the grain very easily. Handle joined tops flat and support them under the whole surface.
Working notes
- Cedar takes a finish differently from spruce — seal it before any water-based product.
- Because it dents easily, do the rosette and any inlay work before final thicknessing.
- A cedar top paired with a mahogany body gives a warm, quick-responding fingerstyle instrument.
- Keep the top at least 2.6 mm if the guitar will ever be strung with medium gauge.
Related
Spruce top
The default soundboard: stiff along the grain, light, and loud.
Mahogany back & sides
Dry, focused and punchy — the working musician’s back wood.
Rosewood back & sides
Deep bass, long sustain, and a wall of overtones.
Maple neck
Stiff, stable, bright — the electric default.