How long does it take to cedar to open up?

[Nickster]

Compared to other tone woods, would you say half as long, two thirds as long, or something else?

[The Bard Rocks]

I think you will find it more "opened up" right from the beginning and you should not expect as dramatic changes over time as you might hear from spruce.

[JKA]

The answer to your question is going to depend on believing that wood 'opens' up'

It's by no means a unanimous belief as no doubt you're about to read...

[Jwills57]

Cedar tends to have a more blooming, warm, and enveloping sound right off the get go, to my ears. A lot different than the more articulate and punchy spruces. But as for opening up, JKA makes a fair point. Is "opening up" just "settling in" or just "drying out"? Very hard to quantify.

[jaymarsch]

I have had my cedar topped guitar for 20 years and it’s never changed in tone at all. It is as brilliant and lush as the day I acquired it. I can say the same for my all mahogany guitar.
My two custom built guitars have spruce tops and went through some “settling in” over the first year of playing them.
Best,
Jayne

[TheGITM]

I mean, that all depends... which cedar, specifically?

African Pencil Cedar?
Alaska Cedar?
Australian Red Cedar?
Central American Cedar?
Incense Cedar?
Japanese Cedar?
Lebanon Cedar?
Pink Cedar?
Port Orford Cedar?
Red Cedar?
Red Eastern Cedar?
Red Southern Cedar?
Red Western Cedar?
Spanish Cedar?
White Atlantic Cedar?
White Northern Cedar?

[Nickster]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

I mean, that all depends... which cedar, specifically?

African Pencil Cedar?
Alaska Cedar?
Australian Red Cedar?
Central American Cedar?
Incense Cedar?
Japanese Cedar?
Lebanon Cedar?
Pink Cedar?
Port Orford Cedar?
Red Cedar?
Red Eastern Cedar?
Red Southern Cedar?
Red Western Cedar?
Spanish Cedar?
White Atlantic Cedar?
White Northern Cedar?

Red western cedar. But I guess the consensus is that the way it sounds now is the way it’s gonna sound years from now. Which is fine.

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by Nickster

Red western cedar. But I guess the consensus is that the way it sounds now is the way it’s gonna sound years from now. Which is fine.

I suspect if the tone of the red cedar doesn't change, your hearing will. Either way, I suspect it will sound different at some point. The question is, how will you know if the tone changed, or your hearing changed? And if you hear it consistently over the coming years, how will you know WHEN it changes?

Seemingly out of nowhere, he picked up the guitar he'd been playing regularly for the past 14 years, and at 3:33pm on Saturday, November 17th, 2039 he strummed an open G chord and exclaimed, "Finally! This cedar guitar top has opened up!"

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

I think you will find it more "opened up" right from the beginning and you should not expect as dramatic changes over time as you might hear from spruce.

This is in line with my experiences with cedar tops.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Nickster]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

I suspect if the tone of the red cedar doesn't change, your hearing will. Either way, I suspect it will sound different at some point. The question is, how will you know if the tone changed, or your hearing changed? And if you hear it consistently over the coming years, how will you know WHEN it changes?

Seemingly out of nowhere, he picked up the guitar he'd been playing regularly for the past 14 years, and at 3:33pm on Saturday, November 17th, 2039 he strummed an open G chord and exclaimed, "Finally! This cedar guitar top has opened up!"

Couldn’t you say that about every kind of guitar?

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by Nickster

Couldn’t you say that about every kind of guitar?

Indeed, you could.

[kizz]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

I suspect if the tone of the red cedar doesn't change, your hearing will. Either way, I suspect it will sound different at some point. The question is, how will you know if the tone changed, or your hearing changed? And if you hear it consistently over the coming years, how will you know WHEN it changes?

Seemingly out of nowhere, he picked up the guitar he'd been playing regularly for the past 14 years, and at 3:33pm on Saturday, November 17th, 2039 he strummed an open G chord and exclaimed, "Finally! This cedar guitar top has opened up!"

Why imply that it is about type of Cedar in one post and then claim that it is about hearing in another?

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by kizz

Why imply that it is about type of Cedar in one post and then claim that it is about hearing in another?

I was not serious about the types of cedar.

I can't believe I have to explain that.

[Gasworker]

Luckily I don’t notice subtle changes in tone. Maybe it happens as the cedar darkens.

[jmagill]

I acquired my first cedar-topped guitar only recently, so I have no first-hand experience of how cedar might change over time, however, I've owned enough vintage instruments topped with spruce and other woods to become convinced that time and playing improve their sound. It only makes sense.

Instruments that are played for several decades just don't sound like new ones. Does anyone really believe that Itzhak Perlman's Stradivari violin doesn't sound any better than it did when it first came off the bench in 1714?

I have no empirical proof that guitars 'open up' and until someone invents a way take a guitar back in time to compare it to itself when new, I don't think there will ever be a way to prove it.

However, I think the guitar I've played for 15 years sounds better, but what I can say with certainty is that my satisfaction with its sound has absolutely improved. Perhaps that's all anyone can say conclusively about whether or not guitars 'open up'.
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