What is your favorite top wood for a baritone?

[Dustinfurlow]

Feel free to share your experience determining your vote. Thanks!

1. Sitka
2. European
3. Adirondack
4. Cedar
5. Redwood
6. Other

[The Bard Rocks]

I owned one baritone with an Adk top and had owned another with a Sitka top. Plus the guitars were different in other ways as well. They were both nice, but what does that tell anyone? My experience is too limited to give a meaningful vote.

[L20A]

I have owned 2 baritone guitars. Both have Sitka tops.
Not by choice but rather by what was available in my price range.

I would love to play one with an Adirondack top.

[Wade Hampton]

I haven’t played enough baritone guitars to develop a pronounced preference. My McAlister baritone has a Sitka spruce top over koa and it sounds terrific, but it’s a statistical sample of one.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Erithon]

Hey Dustin, I too haven't played enough baritones to have a general opinion, but I remember you are looking at a build with Marc. My Baritone is a Beneteau M with Adirondack over Brazilian. The lower register produces a dark-sounding instrument, but even so it still maintains a crisp, defined timbre. No doubt a lot of that has to do with the full 28" scale and Marc's lutherie, but I imagine some of it also stems from the stiffness of the Red Spruce. The lower register, bigger box volume (in my case), longer scale, and heavier gauge strings thrive with the qualities of Adirondack. I could see Sitka working well, too, but something like Redwood or Cedar might be too muddy. Of course this is speaking in general and any given set of wood might act differently.

[s2y]

I have one with a sitka top. Like others, mine is the only nice baritone I have ever played and can't draw a lot of conclusions at this point.

[Scott of the Sa]

Mine has a solid spruce top and laminate back and sides. It sounds cool. Just got it. So my answer is spruce.

[Tim Porter]

Dustin: I had a 12 fret Santa Cruz custom baritone for many years with koa back and sides and a European spruce top. 27" scale. 1 13/16" nut and 2 5/16" saddle spacing.

It worked very well with medium ga. strings but I only tuned it down one whole step from concert pitch. With the koa/euro combination, it was powerful and clear, with great sustain for slide. Just a great package altogether.

So that's one data point among many. Love your music, btw. Tim

[islandguitar]

Hey Dustin.....not sure on top woods....but when I was further researching Lance McCollum, I came to realize that he was quite famous for his baritone guitars. If you look further, his top woods might yield helpful info. I know he specialized or used a lot of Italian spruce in his career.

https://youtu.be/lSnWhsmlGec

[usb_chord]

I dont think you could go wrong with any of the spruces, Dustin. i've played a few baritones with cedar or redwood from Lowden and wondered if I might've liked them more in spruce. I picked Sitka from your list as my choice if having something made for me out of nothing with minimal awareness of the luthier's experience. I like how forgiving sitka is when compared to a lot of euro builds I've owned and played. My own baritone is Euro though and it's great! (not forgiving, tho . . . )

[Mycroft]

Baritones are not very common on the ground, so this is a hard question to answer. And I've probably played more than most people: 20-25 by at least a dozen builders. I've never seen one with Redwood or Cedar tops, though. I answered "other" because there was no option to just say "spruce." Interestingly, I don't even know what the top is on my Beneteau, except that it is "spruce."

Whatever it it is, it sounds exquisite.

[Dustinfurlow]

This is all very helpful, thanks folks. I am debating between Sitka and Carpathian (a stiffer Euro spruce that is closer to Adi in it's behavior and grain stiffness) that Marc said would be good. Interestingly, he said his Alaskan Sitka is stiffer than the Carpathian, despite Euro spruce very often being stiffer than Sitka.

My first Beneteau was a Carpathian/Ebony Model M which I felt was nice for a light touch and extra nice for a stout attack so I think this might be the best option, so far. I for some reason failed to list Engelmann as an option on the poll, Marc does great work with that top wood and it's worth me asking him if it might be a good option before we move forward.

BTW, Mycroft, that Beneteau is absurdly good sounding, if it's the SJ with Padauk. I wish my back/shoulder could handle the SJ size...we are going with a 4.25" deep Model M which is 16" wide, so hopefully it still sounds half as good as yours. That's definitely the best sounding baritone I've ever heard, in terms of online audio sample. Bar none.

[scotchnspeed]

I've owned many baritones ranging: Yairi, Lowden, Webber, Kronbauer, Brook, and Froggy Bottom. Sitka always seemed the best overall. Not sure if that wood loves those bari frequencies, or best strength/overtone content for how I played, but sitka. Followed by port orford cedar, which in my experiences behaves very similarly to sitka, just even stronger along the grain (hence the historic use as arrows).

[Ryan Alexander]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

Baritones are not very common on the ground, so this is a hard question to answer. And I've probably played more than most people: 20-25 by at least a dozen builders. I've never seen one with Redwood or Cedar tops, though. I answered "other" because there was no option to just say "spruce." Interestingly, I don't even know what the top is on my Beneteau, except that it is "spruce."

Whatever it it is, it sounds exquisite.

I can confirm the top on the Beneteau is Engelmann. I still think about that guitar frequently Hope you’re enjoying the heck out of it and making it rumble on the regular. It was the first baritone I ever played and it left quite an impression on me.

Dustin - my experience with baritones is also very limited; I owned the ex-Don Ross Engelmann/Padouk SJ that Mycroft now owns and I spent a few hours with Don’s sunburst fanfret which is Adirondack/Cocobolo. I also did quite a bit of research over the years and had intended to order one from Marc at one point. If I was in your position I would probably choose Sitka or Engelmann, but I agree that any spruce is likely a good choice. I can’t recall hearing any outstanding examples in cedar or redwood, but I’m sure they’re out there! Sounds like you’ve identified at least a few of the recorded examples of Mycroft’s SJ on Don’s recordings, but another cool one you might not know the details on is the Beneteau owned by Craig D’Andrea. It’s a 27” scale in Engelmann/Padouk:

[soma5]

I own one and I’ve played a total of four baritones. One had a Sitka top and the other three had Adirondack tops. All were impressive. Mine has Adirondack over quilted mahogany. It’s *alive* !