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U.s. Cherry As A Tonewood?


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Hey there,

Im a carpenter and i have an old stock of US cherry,

First project is done im looking for the next now...

I have 2 slabs US cherry for about 15 years in my store,now the question is can that wood be used as a maple alternative?Is it used before on guitars?I was planning to use it as a top on a hollow body electric guitar with mahogany back.

It would be a shame to use a 15 years old(at least) wood to carpentry...

Anyone that has some info about that please tell me what's goin on with that wood.

Thanks :D

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  • 1 month later...

Not to bump an old thread or anything, but could anyone give me a quick tonal comparison of cherry to other popular woods? It's pretty cheap at the store I buy from, and I'm planning on going down to buy wood for project 3 in a few weeks. Before I drop a bunch of money on (most likely) khaya, I'd like to know what others think.

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Not to bump an old thread or anything, but could anyone give me a quick tonal comparison of cherry to other popular woods? It's pretty cheap at the store I buy from, and I'm planning on going down to buy wood for project 3 in a few weeks. Before I drop a bunch of money on (most likely) khaya, I'd like to know what others think.

Well, I hope it sounds it great. Just picked up some 8/4 figured cherry to use for body blanks. I'm expecting a tone similar to Mahogany, but brighter. Cherry does seem to be used in acoustic guitars from time to time. I found the following description:

http://www.northstarguitars.com/tonewoods.html

Cherry is a different tonewood. It is medium density, and is quite strong. It has a 'dark'

tone, and a strong fundamental. It is a great wood for a strumming guitar, where it's tones

can really be brought out. It has a reddish brown color, which tends to darken with

exposure to the air. This darkening stops when the finish is applied. This to us, is an

under-utilized tonewood. We will be using this more in the future. It would also be

interesting to see how Cherry would sound as a guitar top.

--Dave

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Not to bump an old thread or anything, but could anyone give me a quick tonal comparison of cherry to other popular woods? It's pretty cheap at the store I buy from, and I'm planning on going down to buy wood for project 3 in a few weeks. Before I drop a bunch of money on (most likely) khaya, I'd like to know what others think.

Well, I hope it sounds it great. Just picked up some 8/4 figured cherry to use for body blanks. I'm expecting a tone similar to Mahogany, but brighter. Cherry does seem to be used in acoustic guitars from time to time. I found the following description:

http://www.northstarguitars.com/tonewoods.html

Cherry is a different tonewood. It is medium density, and is quite strong. It has a 'dark'

tone, and a strong fundamental. It is a great wood for a strumming guitar, where it's tones

can really be brought out. It has a reddish brown color, which tends to darken with

exposure to the air. This darkening stops when the finish is applied. This to us, is an

under-utilized tonewood. We will be using this more in the future. It would also be

interesting to see how Cherry would sound as a guitar top.

--Dave

Prunus Serotina(Black Cherry) is not quite as heavy and stiff as Hard Maple, but higher in weight and stiffness than Mahogany. It is great to work with and usually is nice and stable. You can find nice clear straight grain well quartered cuts at a reasonable price. Certainly could be one of the most overlooked woods out there for instrument building.

Pay attension to the species though. There are significant differences. Prunus Serotina(Black Cherry) is the one most commonly found, and is great. Prunus pensylvanica (Pin Cherry) is a tree that has a wide range, grows large enough to be milled, but is much weaker and lighter than Black Cherry. It is not what you would find normally in the commercial pipeline, but local mills could likely saw some up and you may run across it, this is one that you would avoid. There are MANY species some of which grow large enough to become lumber. Weight, hardness, and depending on the dimension of the lumber strength(hard to try to flex 12/4 lumber LOL). Use caution when buying, and ask if they know the species. Also what out for the term "wild" because it is used with many species including at times Prunus Serotina(Black Cherry). So someone telling you the tree was wild cherry tells you nothing really about the species.

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Thanks guys! So I'm thinking something like a swamp ash or walnut, something in the middle. The next project is going to be a thinline RG for my jazz studies, so I might want to stick with an mahogany body. It's definitely going to be on the list of woods to tinker with, though, because it's readily available and pretty cheap. I'll do some more research into it.

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