Redwood Soundboard

[sonnyjammer]

I was shopping for tone wood a while back. One of our favorite wood suppliers from the North West offered a good deal on some Redwood wedges for a sound board. I bought a set but have yet to use it. I am interested in your thoughts. Tone quality, volume, Strength, etc. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[PaulD]

I haven't heard one, but I've seen pics of some curly redwood topped Oldwaves that are beautiful. From what I've heard of other Oldwaves I would expect them to sound great too.

pd

[Brier]

My friend Bill has a Ron Cole curly Redwood/walnut and it sounds great!
Peter.

[Jim Rowland]

I've built several Redwood topped F styles and have been happy with all of them. The wood is ordinarily so easy to carve that I don't bother drilling out the inside at all..just go at it with the finger planes and have a lot of fun doing it. The sound is warm and loud with good tone. Carving is a little different (for me anyway)as I tend to go a little thicker than with spruce. I installed Redwood bracing in the first one I made and it was a little woofy..huge bottom end,but lacked the bell like highs. Plenty of volume on the A and E,but just high notes without the "sping".
On subsequent efforts,I used a Redwood bass bar and a spruce bar on the treble side
which gave me the balance I was after. It can look great too.
Jim

[Paul Hostetter]

Where is Michael Lewis???

[Michael Lewis]

Here! Just soaking it all in.

If your redwood tops are woofy you might have better response if you left them a bit thicker. Both redwood and cedar, in my opinion, need to be left a bit thicker than the spruces, especially the hard and heavy ones. I generally use redwood for the bracing in a redwood top. Others may have good reasons for using redwood differently, but my way has brought me good and reliable results.

By the way, redwood ranges tremendously in stiffness, hardness, and weight, so select your wood for the properties you need.

[dperry]

does anyone have any pics of these that they have built?

[Luthier]

I have used Redwood for some of my custom guitars and Octave Mandolins and it has been awesome.
Very balanced, rich, sound.

Don

[WoodyMcKenzie]

You can get an idea of the variability in redwood by looking at the two instruments at my website. The octave mandolin is straight grained and that wood has darkened some in the last two years from when the picture was taken. This gives it a nice aged look. It was finished with tung oil. The curly redwood mandolin looks especially nice in the sun. It was finished with Tru Oil. The mandolin behaves as described above. X braced with redwood it is sweet on the treble but lacks power. On the bass, it almost sounds like a mandola, big and woofy. I am very pleased with the octave mandolin. It is X braced with spruce and projects well across the strings. I can cut through jams with it. It isn't as bassy as the few others I have heard. Maybe it's because of the carved hard maple back. I also have a conventional looking A style mandolin with a straight grained redwood top that I made and am currently playing. It is warm and has a deep chop, but not as powerful in the treble as most bluegrassers would want (I dont' play much bluegrass.)

All the redwood I have used was bought from Spruce, and I highly recommend him.

And when I wanted advice for carving the top of the octave mandolin, Michael Lewis came on this board and gave me the most valuable advice.

What a great resource! Thanks! Keep posting!!

Woody

[MANNDOLINS]

I really like using redwood for both it's good looks and nice woody tone. I usually brace with spruce and carve the tops a little bit thicker than spruce. It smells good to when working with it.

[MANNDOLINS]

Here's another

[Bill Snyder]

It smells good to when working with it.
That is amazing. I have spent several hours cutting, sanding and planing redwood (not instrument related activities) and have always thought it had a very unpleasant odor and it stains your hands.
I do have a RW top joined and ready to install on a little flat topped mandolin I may eventually finish though.

[Spruce]

"One of our favorite wood suppliers from the North West offered a good deal on some Redwood wedges for a sound board."

Me, or someone else? #Just curious who's selling the stuff....

"I am interested in your thoughts. Tone quality, volume, Strength, etc."

I think it's a real sleeper in the arched top mando world, but it's gotta be good redwood.
Redwood varies more than any other conifer that I've worked with (and that's saying something), so you really have to pick your redwood carefully...
Use your fingernail to test for hardness. #There's a lot of mushy redwood out there...
Also redwood can be too heavy, so weight is a consideration as well....

"My friend Bill has a Ron Cole curly Redwood/walnut and it sounds great!"

Here's a pic of one:

[Spruce]

"does anyone have any pics of these that they have built? "

Here's one of my favorite instruments right now, a Ted Beringer nylon-string mandolin with a redwood top...
The back and sides are redwood as well....
Ted loves the stuff, and everything he builds these days seems to have redwood in it somewhere....

[Spruce]

Here's another fav right now...

An Earnest 5-string electric Boomerang....
Just screams through a 3-10 Bandmaster...

[Spruce]

A Bussman A-Model...

Thing thing had the best A model tone I've ever run across...
Anyone out there playing this beauty?

[Spruce]

Here's the propriator of The Curly Redwood Lodge (http://www.curlyredwoodlodge.com/) in Crescent City, California, wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving....

[austin]

WOW!! That is one gorgeous counter!
Ok, Bruce, next shipment, I'm sold!

[Ken Sager]

I've played one of Bill's Old Wave redwood topped oval A's and it was fantastic sounding, very responsive and round tone. But that kinda describes all of Bill's oval A's...

[John Bertotti]

Well everyone agrees thicker is better. How much thicker I wonder. I know it is very dependent on the hardness of the redwood used. I am just curious where you start at. 1/32 more then spruce or 1/16th. Just looking for a good strating point for a carved top. Thanks John

[Jim Rowland]

Front and center, the first try with Birch Back and sides.
I sold it to a guy who loves it despite my doubts about the treble end.
Jim

[Jim Rowland]

Wup! Wrong pitcher. That's an RW and Maple. Here's the woofer.
Jim

[Jim Rowland]

Another of the RW and Maple.
Jim

[Jim Rowland]

Last one.

[Michael Lewis]

Redwood and walnut. Great combination.

[Gail Hester]

Michael, Wow that is a really beautiful mandolin. Do you have a shot of the back? I have not used any yet but I have enough figured Redwood (from Bruce) for a few mandolin tops and some very tight grained Alaskan Yellow Cedar. I’m also having a big hunk of old Walnut re-sawed. I had plans for a Redwood/Walnut mandolin and after seeing yours I’m definitely inspired.

Thanks everyone for all of the great pictures and sonnyjammer for starting this interesting topic.

[8ch(pl)]

Michael, what sort of tailpiece is that, looks nice.

[oldwave maker]

Nugget Dave in Tucson has that A Spruce posted, good to leave that baseball sized thick area under the bridge a bit larger and thicker than with spruces. tho the curly I've used from Spruce seems stiffer than the mottled, wondering if the curlyredwood lodge owner would be interested in selling that center slab from the check-in counter?
Micks dola:

[oldwave maker]

The 'mottled' stuff, much thanks to Spruce for finding these redwoods and disseminating them:

[oldwave maker]

I prefer the look of tortoise binding and desert ironwood fretboard and fingerrest, tho curly maple binding looks nice when the sides and back are a darker wood like mesquite or walnut:

[oldwave maker]

Another with 3 ply ibi on quilted sides/back

[sonnyjammer]

Hi there Spruce, yes I was referring to you as One of our favorite tonewood suppliers. The wood I have has been aging for over a year or so. I am also using the really cool quilted maple that you sent. Will post pictures some day when it all comes together. Thanks much for all the input. There are indeed some stunning mandolins being made from redwood.

[WoodyMcKenzie]

Here is the first mandolin and the first octave mandolin I made. Both with redwood tops.
file:///Users/newuser/Desktop/mandooctave.jpg

(The tailpiece on the octave mandolin is a "custom" one that I made from a $3.00 hinge from the hardware store.)

Woody

[WoodyMcKenzie]

And here is a close up of the grain on the octave mandolin. I really like the looks of it without any color added.