englemann spruce or cedar?

seanw1010

or , should i say taylor 710 or taylor 714ce? anyone have either? i love the 714ce, but i heard it doesnt age well(cause cedar is weak) is it true?

ianvomsaal

Cedar is actually louder and more responsive than Spruce, and cedar is highly sought after for it's bold robust responsive tone (many classical builders use cedar), and Port Orford Cedar is more immune to splitting than absolutely any other soundboard wood (weak???)

However, I prefer spruce (Sitka or Engelmann). I like Sitka best because it's very stiff, and has a MOE-to-density ratio of 1.57 x 106 - the highest of commercially used spruces. This higher ratio, in theory, is the most desirable for soundboards. However some people prefer Engelmann (it's a bit stiffer than Sitka perpendicular to the grain - I honestly don't know if that makes it any better). Most spruce these days comes from Canada, and both Sitka Spruce and Engelmann Spruce run about the same price.
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal