Unofficial Taylor Guitar Forum - UTGF
Taylor Acoustic & Electric Guitars => Taylor Acoustic & Electric Guitars => Topic started by: ctkarslake on January 05, 2012, 08:39:13 AM
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I was checking out the descriptions of top woods on Taylor's site when I realized they don't list redwood as an option anymore (have they eliminated it completely?). I'm curious if anyone here has a redwood topped guitar and what it's like. I thought maybe Western Red Cedar may be a similar top but I just thought I'd ask members their experiences with redwood.
What are the upsides in sound, are there any downsides (like softness, tendency to crack easily...?)
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I've got a redwood top on my BTO, and I only have positive things to say about it. I think the beauty of redwood is that you get the warmth of cedar but without cedar's sonic limitations. I'm able to flatpick or strum with the redwood top and still get gorgeous string definition. I'm so spoiled by the redwood that I can't imagine ever buying a new guitar with any other material.
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Here's another question...where does redwood fit in by hardness compared with other tops? I'm under the impression that this is the order of hardness listed from softest to hardest:
Cedar→Engelmann→Sitka→Adirondack
Where does Redwood fit in? ???
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I've been most impressed by two redwood-topped R. Taylors that I've played (both mahogany back and sides). I'd characterize it as similar to cedar, but with more responsiveness and dynamic range. So much so that I ended up with a redwood-topped guitar (not a Taylor) that I am really enjoying now. I'm not sure exactly where it would fit into the hardness scales, but I suspect it is harder than cedar.
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Good to know that redwood hasn't been eliminated entirely. Maybe I will shoot Bob T. a email about this. I'm sure he's got plenty to say about the + and - and how the hardness/durability rates compared to the other woods. I just love the color!
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I already had an older redwood-topped Taylor when I specked out the redwood top on by BTO, but I did some additional research. Like any top wood, different top sets can vary in stiffness. I knew that redwood was typically in between cedar and sitka spruce in terms of stiffness, and discussed this with my dealer. I don't particularly like cedar-topped guitars, so I requested that my redwood top lean more toward the stiffness of sitka rather than cedar.
My dealer was actually out at Taylor before my guitar was built and sent me photos of several redwood sets. One was prettier that the others, but I asked them to pick the stiffest set (which turned out to not be the best-looking one).
I could not be happier with my guitar. Very nice and warm for my solo fingerstyle - not mushy like most cedar guitars I've played - but can be crisp and somewhat punchy when flat picked. I agree with DennisG about great string separation.
If you play fingerstye, I do not think you can go wrong with a redwood top.
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Where does Redwood fit in? I wish Herb was here, he even knows the Latin names.
Clearly, Cedar is the softest and warmest among the standard top woods and I think
we can safely say that Adirondack is the stiffest, with the greatest potential for wide
dynamic range. As previously stated, it depends on the individual top. My experience
is that Old Growth Redwood responds much like Engelmann and can approach Sitka
in its characteristics, again depending on the individual top. For BTO purposes, I would
regard Redwood in a middle position between Cedar and the stiffer spruces for tonal
dynamics.
As for Sinker Redwood, my hands, ears and subjective perception is that it is just a
notch higher on the range toward stiff. I'm not sure there is any agreement on that,
but it seems so to me. Maybe it's the mineral deposits in the grain that simply make
me feel that way.
Of course, the various top woods seem to respond differently with the various back
and side woods, and also with different bracing patterns and woods. For example,
I think Redwood paired with EI Rosewood responds noticeably different with forward
shifted Standard II Sitka bracing than with CV Adirondack braces. But I think the
relative stiffness and responsiveness continues to follow the same relative relationship
to each other in their different applications.
st
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... My experience is that Old Growth Redwood responds much like Engelmann and can approach Sitka
in its characteristics, again depending on the individual top. ...
I've heard others say that as well, but my experience has been different. The only old growth redwood guitars that I have ever played are the two I have owned. Both Taylor Grand Concerts with EI rosewood. The engelmann-topped Grand Concerts I have played have been drier, with less tonal complexity than either of my redwood guitars. But maybe it was just my particular guitars.
To me I would agree that Sinker redwood is even closer to sitka, but still has most of the warmth of redwood. I suspect that with the mineral deposits it has marginally higher density than non-sinker redwood and in general is slightly stiffer.
I believe there was a comment in a Wood and Steel that all of Taylor's sinker redwood tops have come from just one log. So if you look their sinker-topped guitars you see lots of color and striping variations. So I suspect density and stiffness variations as well.
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All my experiences with redwood have been largely positive. Good volume, warmth and articulation. Each of my four Taylors has a diffferent top: cedar, engelmann, sitka and sinker redwood (oldest to newest). I love them all for different reasons, and would be inclined to duplicate all but the sitka, simply because it's so common.