Eastern redcedar top?

[Jay McClellan]

Anyone have experience using Eastern redcedar (juniper) for top wood? I'm scouting materials for a guitar made entirely from local trees, and we have plenty of back/side options and a few acceptable fretboard/bridge woods (hard maple, osage orange) but none of the conventional top woods grow here in lower Michigan as far as I know. Easter redcedar is not closely related to Western red cedar, and it may be a challenge to find anything large and clear and straight enough but offhand it seems the most likely option. Have any of you tried it for top wood on anything guitar-like?

BTW I'm not looking at this to save money and I understand that even a student-grade Sitka top would likely sound "better". I just enjoy working with local woods and I'm looking for the best option I can find that grows around here.

[ken cierp]

Welcome Jay,

I believe the trick will be finding 1/4 sawn material (width is not a problem you could always edge glue) -- for any sound-board that is very important since the expansion contraction characteristics are some what predictable -- same for the bracing.

Guitars have been made out of just about every wood imaginable. Taylor has their "pallet" guitar made from salvaged Oak and Benedetto has his famous Knotty Pine model.

At least "Eastern Red Cedar" AKA Aromatic Cedar will smell nice -- there's a lot of resin, oil and pitch in the wood so I'd check and see if there are any glue up (failure) concerns.

Keep us posted

[Jay McClellan]

Thanks Ken.

Getting quartersawn won't be a problem as I can resaw logs myself up to about 16" (good luck finding cedar that big) and I know someone nearby with a bandsaw mill that will handle larger stuff. I think the bigger problem may be knots, because junipers typically keep their branches down low for many years so navigating around the knots may be fun. I'll probably need to do a 4-piece top anyway so it should be doable. Then again maybe I'll just cut the knots out and turn them into "natural" sound holes.

Yes it should smell nice, and I can store it in my closet to repel moths! I think it should glue fine if cedar chests are any indication, as sometimes they're all cedar and not just cedar-lined. I have an electric range I can move outside to "kiln-dry" it (after air-drying it slowly) in order to set the resin.