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Why No Guitars Made With Cherry Wood?

PaulLaRue

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Jul 2, 2003
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268
Not sure where to post this, there is no Luthier / Build area?
I am wondering why I do not see Guitars [electric & acoustic] built with Cherry wood.
It has long been a beautiful furniture wood.
A hard wood very similar to maple that darkens with age.

Some may reply with "it's not a tone wood" but guitars are made with junk wood today and sound great.
Fender is even making Tele's from pine !

So whats the deal with cherry?

*I know, ask Bob Taylor right?
 

Dave P

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Oct 13, 2001
Messages
976
A friend of mine built a set neck guitar out of lightweight cherry. It actually was pretty nice.
 

PaulLaRue

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Jul 2, 2003
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268
Seems like a fine choice to me?
Looks very similar to maple so non figured maple is probably less expensive?
And finding flamed cherry is very rare.
Maybe heavier than maple & mahogany too?
 

mattnew33

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Jul 14, 2016
Messages
138
Cherry wood makes great furniture... I think part of it is if your up on stage you don't really want to be holding something that reminds you of your underwear drawer at home...:hmm then again that could be made of mahogany too.....
 

Wilko

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Mar 11, 2002
Messages
20,853
Ed Roman.

Hahahaha....

I went to his joint.

In the big dry ditch of Las Vegas.

Many moons ago.

Saw a homeless dude taking a dump in the parking lot.


I gave him 5 dollars.

Did Ed Roman thank you for the Five?

Cherry trees are small. That's probably the biggest obstacle to their being used more for guitars.
 

Texas Blues

Active member
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Messages
4,641
Did Ed Roman thank you for the Five?

Hahahaha...

If it had actually been Ed.

He'd have told me how his poop was better poop.

And worth way more than 5 bucks.

Truth is.

I was in Vegas when the recession hit.

A lot of folks that worked and did business there during the recession.

Lost their ass.

I remember when Ed's joint just off of Trop and Industrial closed.

I felt bad for the guy.

His business.

And everyone that worked there.

A damn shame really.
 

musekatcher

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Apr 15, 2018
Messages
135
American Black Cherry is a good wood for lots of stuff. Its not as available as Maple, and it is harder to cut, carve, or sand. It does work well though, with the extra effort. For production, I'd say the availability and tool wear constitute higher costs.
 

guitplayer

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Mar 8, 2008
Messages
2,114
I made some display cases out of figured cherry. Its hard to find. I only
had a small piece to work with. Its was that curly/cat eye figure you see in some guitars.
Yes, very hard. I ended up using a wood conditioner on it. To do a guitar top might take
3pieces.
 

PaulLaRue

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Jul 2, 2003
Messages
268
Yes, I agree with the 3 piece top problem. I have seen some cherry that was so beautiful.
I have years of wood working experience and only a few times worked with cherry. I found it similar to maple in many ways.
I see no reason not to try it for neck material?
Again, weight may be a factor?
 

RNELEE

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May 16, 2004
Messages
645
Seagull/Godin makes Cherry Wood guitars. Mine is an entry level S6 model about 20 years old. I think they still make them. The bodies are Cherry laminate and the top can be either Spruce or Cedar. Cedar being the more common wood.
 

marshall1987

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Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,278
I would venture a guess that most seasoned guitar players prefer instruments constructed from traditional tone woods.
 

elzb265

Banned
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Oct 26, 2019
Messages
1
Hey ya'll
Happy Halloween.
Is cherry wood soft? why no guitars using cherry wood?
what is the drawback in cherry wood?
 

Big Al

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Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
Quite simply there is no large Cherry Timber market. Where are the Cherry Forests? Large guitar manufactures need plentiful stocks of instrument grade wood of correct dimensions. Small builders can hunt out the few available for their limited output.

So is every furniture wood now going to be the new what if, or why not? Where are all the Pecan guitars? Maybe just any wood? Truth is if anyone needs such things, small independent builders are the way to go. :hmm:hmm
 

marshall1987

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Jan 30, 2005
Messages
3,278
Gibson did a run of "Firebrand" Les Pauls back in 1978-1982 that were constructed from walnut as I recall. These guitars were moderately successful with budget-minded buyers. And some of them had ebony fingerboards. I don't have any direct experience with the tone and sound these guitars produced.
 

Big Al

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Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
Gibson did a run of "Firebrand" Les Pauls back in 1978-1982 that were constructed from walnut as I recall. These guitars were moderately successful with budget-minded buyers. And some of them had ebony fingerboards. I don't have any direct experience with the tone and sound these guitars produced.

IIRC the Firebrands were mahogany, but I think you mean "The Paul", as well as The SG and 335S all solid Black Walnut w/ ebony boards. They sold like ice cream in summer and sound great. Problem is in getting the walnut.

Gibson has had two multi model alternate wood Studio series. I thought they were cool as hell, but with a ridgid, conservative, don't you dare change wood type, customer types, having heart failure over rosewood species and same species, different locality timber strokes, they never stood a chance.
 

Bob Womack

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Apr 8, 2002
Messages
2,191
My mom just sent me home with this lovely little cherry Queen Anne secretary made in Jamestown, NY, in the late '40s. It was in our living room the entire time I was growing up. It is about four feet tall.

sec.jpg


It was considered a pretty nice piece of work for the time, but there are interesting details. The drawer fronts are single-piece but the fold-down desktop is pieced together, as are the sides. Look at the size of the component slabs to get an idea of what sized stock was available, even then.

Bob
 
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