The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum-Western Red Cedar / Port Orford Cedar / Redwood vs Alder / Sassafras? (2024)

Maybe I'm a little off topic, but I'm looking at building a solid body guitar to start.

I'm also considering these tonewoods for use in an eventual acoustic guitar.

For a body blank, I'm looking at a combination of a Redwood drop top with a Myrtle or Western Red Cedar base.

My impression is Western Red Cedar would be closer to Alder. Myrtle is more often used as a back and side wood, and has highly irregular grain patterns at times.

The supplier I'm looking at, Oregon Wild Woods, lists Port Orford Cedar neck blanks as well.
My understanding is Port Orford Cedar is somewhat like Sitka in stiffness, and harder than most Cedar. I know Spanish Cedar has been used as neck wood in the past. Is Port Orford Cedar a good choice for a neck?

For a drop top/veneer, I'm looking at Redwood since it comes in some really nice curly examples.
Would Redwood have much impact on the tone of the guitar, similar to the way a maple cap might add brightness, or a spruce cap might add clarity?

Longer term when I make an acoustic, I'm strongly considering using Redwood as a top wood, in combination with Walnut back and sides to make a fingerstyle guitar.

Any thoughts on any of these woods in general as tonewoods?

I recommend that you stick with hardwoods for a solid body electric.

Both redwood and Western red cedar are soft and ding very easily. Is your goal light weight? They have that.

Alder is a bland, light-to-medium weight hardwood. Fender used it for bodies, probably because it is cheap and easy to work. I would never have thought of saying that it is close to Western red cedar. What they call 'myrtle' in Oregon is also called Bay laurel, or California laurel. It's a medium weight hardwood, light in color but often with dark stain/pigment patterns, and occasionally with curl. It is not known for irregular grain. Also easy to work.

POC is a lovely, off-white, fragrant softwood, easy to work (but some don't like the smell, which can be a bit overwhelming). Like most "cedars," it is really a cypress. It has been used successfully as a neck on flamenco guitars, but more often it is used as a top wood. And, like all the softwoods called "cedar" it is no relation to Spanish cedar, which is a soft, lightweight hardwood. What they have in common is a pungent fragrance.

You have said nothing about your intentions for this guitar, what kind of pickups and hardware you plan to use, what kind of finish, or your sonic goals, and type of music you want to use it for, or why you are considering these woods. That makes it hard to advise you, other than to repeat that it's generally a good idea to use hardwoods for a solid body electric.

Howard Klepper wrote: ↑

4:46 PM - 1 day ago

I recommend that you stick with hardwoods for a solid body electric.

Both redwood and Western red cedar are soft and ding very easily. Is your goal light weight? They have that.

Alder is a bland, light-to-medium weight hardwood. Fender used it for bodies, probably because it is cheap and easy to work. I would never have thought of saying that it is close to Western red cedar. What they call 'myrtle' in Oregon is also called Bay laurel, or California laurel. It's a medium weight hardwood, light in color but often with dark stain/pigment patterns, and occasionally with curl. It is not known for irregular grain. Also easy to work.

POC is a lovely, off-white, fragrant softwood, easy to work (but some don't like the smell, which can be a bit overwhelming). Like most "cedars," it is really a cypress. It has been used successfully as a neck on flamenco guitars, but more often it is used as a top wood. And, like all the softwoods called "cedar" it is no relation to Spanish cedar, which is a soft, lightweight hardwood. What they have in common is a pungent fragrance.

You have said nothing about your intentions for this guitar, what kind of pickups and hardware you plan to use, what kind of finish, or your sonic goals, and type of music you want to use it for, or why you are considering these woods. That makes it hard to advise you, other than to repeat that it's generally a good idea to use hardwoods for a solid body electric.

Thanks for the thorough reply. I know they're softwoods, but don't know about the pros and cons of using a softwood in an electric solid body.
My goal is to make a Strat, either SSS with a Dimarzio HS2 in the bridge, or an HSH style configuration, possibly with a mini Humbucker in the middle.

I'm looking into doing rear routed controls and wood mounting the pickups, which led me to look at alternate body woods. I know fender did a run of Cedar body guitars at one point, and has used Pine in Telecasters recently. I like the sound and vibration transfer Alder provides.
Oregon Wild Woods offers many options for Cedar body blanks, so presumably it works ok. But I don't really know the pros and cons of them sonically in a solid body.

Eric Johnsons main strat is Sassafras. He noted that the Sassafras body seems to have more velvety high notes with more sustain. So that got me interested in Sassafras and alternatives. Sassafras is a hardwood, but with a janka rating of around 650 lb/ft, vs around 450 for Redwood, a softwood. So they're pretty different but not too far apart.

In terms of finish, I'm looking at hand finishing it with Watco Danish Oil(maybe not ideal) or TruOil, which seems common.
For hardware I might make it a hardtail, or just do a traditional Strat trem.

I'm looking at buying a Maple neck blank, though I see there are many Port Orford Cedar neck blanks. I don't know if Port Orford is really ideal for an electric neck.

For type of music, a big range, but mostly classic rock, some jazz/fusion tones, and Grateful Dead style sounds. I'm leaning towards HSH for more of a full frequency hifi sound.