Tikahtnu -> BC yellow cedar vs Spanish cypress (Jul. 23 2021 16:17:09)
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Next spring I’ll be building a guitar in Spain using no electricity whatsoever, just hand tools and traditional methods. I’ll be building a blanca, and the backs and sides will be either BC yellow cedar (cypress) or Spanish cypress. I haven’t built any instruments yet, though two months prior to this I will have completed a classical guitar build with Robbie O’Brien, so I don’t have a very intimate knowledge with subtleties in different woods. I’m aware that the backs and sides aren’t nearly as important as the top for the sound that is produced but that it certainly does provide its essence. I imagine these two would be very similar, but are there certain qualities that makes them diverge from each other tonally? Since this guitar is being built with purely traditional means, I’m preferring it to be as traditional as possible, so I’m leaning towards the Spanish cypress, but in the end what I really want is a very traditional flamenco guitar with the best possible sound as well. Can anyone provide insight on this? (I tried to use the search feature but wasn’t able to find any5ing to answer my question) EDIT: I found this great website describing the tones and properties of many different woods: http://tonewooddatasource.weebly.com/species-list.html quote:
**Cypress Cupressus sempervirens, Mediterranean Cypress 1) Clear penetrating sound excellent response and tap tone. It has become the wood of choice for Flamenco construction because it s easy to come by. It is also true that it makes for great classical playing. Cypress allows for a crisp sound with little sustain but very penetrating trebles. Also great to accompany singing. The pale coloring of the grain makes the resulting instrument a striking one. Cypress is one of the few coniferous woods, which are suitable for backs and sides for their comparable high density. It is mostly used for Flamenco guitars. Besides its light-yellow color, its appearance is typical for coniferous woods. Remarkable is its intensive, aromatic smell, which lasts for years. 2) True cypress (Cupressus spp.) is hard, sonically reflective, difficult to bend, and absolutely isn't used as the soundboard of modern instruments. There is a tree of southern US swamps that is more properly called bald cypress (Taxodium distichum); this tree is actually a redwood (along with the whopping Sequoia spp.). It would probably be similar to redwood as a soundboard...but that's just a guess. It could be substantially different as most redwoods grow in moist but well-drained soils while Taxodium grows in inundation. The Spanish cypress traditionally used for flamenco guitars (cupressus macrocarpa) is unlikely to be the same as US woods. 3) Canadian Cypress Botanical Name: (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) Canadian Cypress/Yellow Cedar Alaskan Yellow Cedar, aka Canadian cypress, is so closely related to the true cypresses that it has been classified with them by botanists in the past. It is an excellent carving wood, with fine even texture, and very close-grained. It is one of the most stable woods in terms of dimensional change due to moisture content change. It works easily and finishes well. Though YC/CDN Cypress is not a traditional wood, it is gaining popularity. Many custom builders use YC/CDN cypress for guitar tops, including archtops (jazz guitars and mandolins). It is also used for backs and sides of Flamenco guitars. It is a denser wood than Red Cedar, with a specific gravity very close to Sitka Spruce. It has a nice light yellow color and a pleasant aroma. Tonewise, the wood is very well suited for flatpicking steel string guitars. With a specific gravity close to Sitka and Adirondack Spruce it makes a very good soundboard material as well as back/sides. Any other insights from any luthiers who have worked with both would be greatly appreciated
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