Cedar RW vs Spruce RW Dreadnought

[fingerstyle_me]

Hello all,

I currently have 2 guitars :
- a Dowina Grand Auditorium : 14 frets, Thermo cured alpine spruce top / Madagascar rosewood BS
- a Faith Dreadnought : 12 frets, Red cedar top / Mahogany BS

Surprisingly I enjoy the sound of the Faith more than the sound of the Dowina (I play mostly with bare fingers). I agree that from a 'technical' point of view the sound of the Dowina is 'better', however the Faith for me is more 'musical', it sounds fuller and rounder.

At the same time I have seen that Eastman is selling a really nice guitar, the E20D TC : Dreadnought, 14 frets, Thermo cured adirondack / East Indian rosewood BS; also the Eastman has a really beautiful vintage Martin look.

Should I take the plunge ? What I like about the Faith is because of the Dreadnought shape or because of the Cedar top ? or the Adi top of the Eastman would bring me the same sort of sound of my Dowina ?

Thank you!

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Personally I think manufacturer has more to do with overall sound than tonewoods.

[CollingsPicker]

Sorry but I got the visual of speaking with a friend about a new girlfriend. “My last girlfriend was tall and blonde.” “My friend has two girls for me to meet”, “one is tall and brunette and one is short and blonde. Do you think I liked my last girlfriend because she was tall or because she was blonde? Do you think I will like the short blonde? My last girlfriend was blonde”

The only answer is … who knows? Guitars, like people, are the sum of their parts not definable (or predictable) by any single factor. Each one is different and you’ll have to play the guitar to know if you will like it.

[TBman]

A brief summary of what I have learned over time regarding tone woods.

A cedar topped Furch has a brighter, more piano like, sound than a spruce topped Martin.

A spruce top and mahogany back and sides Martin sounds completely different than a Gibson J-45 and a Larrivee OM-05 with the SAME woods.

99% of the time Taylors will always sound the same regardless of the woods used.

Yet, I still would like to have my next guitar a different combination of woods (maybe cedar/walnut; cedar/cobobola, moon spruce/rosewood), but my tone wood choices remain the same regardless of the builders I am looking at. Odd huh?

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Actually, do you want to pick up a fun cedar-topped finger-picker for $500? Go here.

https://www.eastmanguitars.com/e2om

[bufflehead]

Others will disagree, but I find that one dreadnought is sufficient.

[jaymarsch]

In my experience, Adi takes a while to break in - ever if thermo cured - but once it does, it can be wonderful. If you play with bare fingers though you might not be maximizing what Adi brings to the table. My bare finger with bit of nail playing style is why I prefer German or Euro spruce tops over Adi. Engelmann is also another great choice. It does depend on the builder and the bracing so probably too many variables to give you a succinct answer without playing them.
Adi with Madagascar can be a great combo but will not sound like most cedar/rosewood guitars even after breaking in.
Best,
Jayne

[Woodchoppersbal]

https://youtu.be/bLph6b9Tn7c

[jmjohnson]

With near everything being Sitka/Rosewood or Sitka/Mahogany, etc., I look for any opportunity for something different. Adirondack on a Guild or D-28 Marquis? Yes please! Adirondack braces in a dread - why not? Western Cedar on a Taylor 514? Sure! Lately its Lutz Spruce on a 714.

Are they better? Meh - they ARE different, and I just know I like em!!

[johnhes]

You really should investigate the wood options offered by Dowina

[coder]

If things are being equal, except for the top wood selection:

A very simplistic way to look at the top wood selection:

I find cedar louder, and spruce less loud, but more complex and interesting sounding. (I own many spruce and cedar topguitars, and the above is based on the few where I was able to try the same exact model, where the only difference is the top wood). If a particular guitar model you are considering has sufficient reserve volume for you, I advise going for Spruce, For a guitar where you do not have enough volume, the cedar top selection will fix that.

For me it comes down to whether I have enough "loudness" in the instrument so that I can give some of it up, and trade off for a more complex and interesting sound.

Adirondack is useful for a guitar that is going to be played hard. Guitar tops tend to distord when overdriven. ( Overdriven as in strummed really hard)
An Adi top has more headrom before distortion sets in.
Others said that Cedar sounds like spruce, after many years playting "opened up" and matured a spruce top.

For a custom built guitar, where the builder had the luxury of making changes to optimize the guitar, the bracing could
have been adjusted to balance out the individual top, all bets are off.

[fingerstyle_me]

I have finally ordered Eastman E20D-TC, I receive it next week, we’ll see…
I admit that I love the look of the guitar and Ian Meadows youtube videos have achieved me

[jacot23]

Originally Posted by bufflehead

Others will disagree, but I find that one dreadnought is sufficient.

Blasphemy!

[Marisab828]

Originally Posted by fingerstyle_me

I have finally ordered Eastman E20D-TC, I receive it next week, we’ll see…
I admit that I love the look of the guitar and Ian Meadows youtube videos have achieved me

I have sent you a PM!