I am having a mandolin built and am trying to decide between a western red cedar top and engelmann spruce. I love the sound of cedar tops, but I know they are not as popular in bluegrass. Does anyone who actually owns a cedar top mando have an opinion on whether or not they have a powerful enough chop for bluegrass? Does anyone have a video or link to one? All of the youtube videos are melody but no chops.

I know what spruce sounds like, but I have a decent spruce top mandolin already and was considering having the new one built with cedar for a different tone. The problem is that I will never play it if it doesn't have a percussive chop. I've read all of the cedar vs spruce threads, but chop isn't really addressed. Info from owners of cedar tops would be greatly appreciated. Thanks