eastern red cedar

**MandolinTim** · May-11-2005, 7:35pm

hi everybody,
I have a friend who is wondering if you can use eastern red cedar(i.e juniper spiecies)for tonewood on mandolin or guitar. maybe for the back, too? how would this sound?
it is very beautifull wood and we think it would look great on ,say a D-35 dreadnaught copy.
thanks,
MandolinTim

**sunburst** · May-11-2005, 7:44pm

I have a guitar top blank of red cedar that I've had around here for years. I probably will never use it. It is heavy and not stiff. One of the things that make top wood good is a high stiffness to weight ratio, and the sample that I have doesn't measure up very well in that regard.
There may be pieces that would make acceptable tops, but the books don't give it very high marks for the characteristics that indicate good top wood.

**Bill Snyder** · May-11-2005, 9:36pm

Backs and sides are generally hardwoods.

**Paul Hostetter** · May-13-2005, 5:56pm

Eastern red cedar is a conifer, a softwood, which you usually associate with tops only, but I have seen a few all-spruce guitars now and it seemed to work fine. Mahogany is quite soft, yet it's still used for bodies, tops and necks.

Most spruce is too soft or ugly for instrument tops, that's why so much of it becomes newsprint. So maybe a piece of Juniperus virginiana could be found that would meet the standards for a top, or be big enough and bendable and stable enough for other parts as well. I have never seen any prospects though, certainly nothing big enough for a guitar top with decent-looking grain.

One serious drawback is the resins that cause the aroma also mess with finishes. Perhaps straight French polish would stick, but it doesn't seem like the most promising top material. But one never knows. If you find some stock big enough, see what it does and give it a try.

**layers5** · May-14-2005, 11:05am

I use clear and well-quartered eastern cedar for many of my tops. I get the stock from big yard trees, the only cedar around here which is clear enough. So far I've used it for violin, guitar, and octave mando tops. It is a resonant and stiff wood and I've had no trouble with finish adhesion. I always use shellac as an undercoat and sometimes as the sole finish.

I like to use old-growth Douglas Fir for braces with cedar.