Spruce or Cedar top classical guitar?

Struggling to decide on Cedar or Spruce? This video could help.
Mark is down at Fret Central in Minneapolis, MN playing two identical guitars. A Cordoba C10 with a spruce Soundboard, and a Cordoba C10 with a cedar soundboard.

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1081 21st Ave SE,
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[brianchambers]

To my ear, allowing for it being a YouTube video, the spruce has a more "forward", more immediate sound, not necessarily brighter per se. The cedar was noticeably different, sounding like it was at the far end of a larger more echoey room, if that makes sense … on the other hand, the cedar has a deep warmth that is very attractive.
Personally I go with spruce, which seems more suitable for the varied range of music
I play.
All of which only goes to reinforcing the argument for having more than one guitar, but hey, let's deal with one rabbit hole at a time! 🤪🤓

[davidwollpert]

To my ears the Spruce is more musical, with a warm low end and well defined and beautiful high end. Get the humidifier case to offset the lower resilience of the wood, and that gets you a lifetime warranty for the guitar...win/win!

[AndRyznar]

Cedar feels like a warmer tone. thanks for reviewing these

[Prajnana]

Gerat comparison! When first learning classical guitar, I preferred the tone of a cedar top, but as I progressed I've come to appreciate that spruce generally has a more articulate attack, better projection and brighter harmonic content. Spruce has a piano like tonal quality, too, which I find very appealing, compared to the cello like 'rounder' warmth of cedar.

[maxhighstein]

Thank you! One might expect the spruce to have a tighter, more focused sound, especially in the high end, and that's what it sounds like here. However, no two acoustic guitars sound the same, so there could be other factors involved. Every piece of wood is different.

[scottconnuck]

For your style playing and technique, I would go for the spruce. The spruce brings out the individual treble lines better. However, if you opt for playing a lot of Spanish pieces, which require more dramatic base lines, I would choose the cedar.

[timothyschmitt]

They both are nice. I prefer Cedar for the softer tone. Which for me, allows for more expression. Spruce has more bell like tone and I know this is a cliche. But accurate. The differences are subtle and somewhat subjective. However, comparing new guitars is like comparing two recently made bottles of wine. It is how they age that will give them defining characteristics. It comes down to personal preference and playing style. 95% of the time I use my cedar top Cordoba's. But once in a while, the subtle bell like tone of my one spruce top just suits the piece and the mood. The only bad decision is not to invest in the guitar that suits you.

[chuckc]

They both sound very nice. I think the spruce is brighter sounding, and the cedar is a little quieter and slightly darker sounding. I like them both.

[yanto]

I liked both. Spruce was immediately punchier, brighter. Cedar more balanced and warm.
Might be my ears both the bass notes on both sounded really boomy. Quite overbearing at times.
Nice comparison and playing though so many thanks

[jeffhatcher]

My first classical was spruce (Cordoba C9 Spruce), and I just recently picked up a lovely 50-year-old Pablo de la Cruz cedar topped instrument. Taking into consideration that these are two different manufacturers, the basic construction (fan-braced, Spanish heel, all solid construction)....the differences in tone are considerable. As others have noted, the spruce seems a lot livelier, more crystalline trebles, more overtones and harmonics overall. The cedar's trebles are more subdued. I believe the tendency of cedar is to push more of the fundamentals, less of the overtones, and to have a little less sustain... which is what I am hearing. Still good, but noticeably different.

[FlorentinoGarcia-rxhs]

Both guitars are awesome. I'm a big fan of cedar however this demo really illustrates the great projection of spruce. I believe the spruce was significantly brighter than cedar and may possibly allow me to better accompany steel string players. Still a fan of cedar but also impressed with the spruce. Nice job!

[mwj]

I bought a cedar top one, a Takamine No.10 from 1986 for the same price as the Cordoba and it's still coming in the mail. From what I hear I like the spruce top better. I was relying on the Takamine name and history behind them, and on divine intervention and decided to buy it, thus breaking a rule to first actually play a classical guitar before deciding to buy. They also don't have a truss rod, so more expensive to change the distance from string to fret if you have to. I think though all is going to be okay and I'll soon have a phenomenal guitar. You are very talented and thanks for creating this major question classical guitar buyers encounter.

[roberteccles]

Just bought a ramirez 135th anniversary I felt the cedar a little warmer the spruce was nice and a bit brighter will buy spruce next time and have both I'm very lucky to be able to that

[PeekaPeep]

For classical guitars, cedar just hits the sweet spot for me. Cedar top with maple back/sides is my dream combo and I pray Cordoba or another prominent guitar brand/ luthier will come out with a left-handed model of what I'm looking for. Until then, cedar/mahogany will do in the meantime...
;-)

[CedarSam]

Dangit, I wanted to like the cedar but the spruce has such a clear tone. It's probably more sustainable than cedar anyway. We have massive protests here over the logging of the last pieces of old growth cedar for tonewood.

[SRImperio]

The trebles on the spruce is miles ahead. More present, clear yet beautiful. For some reason the cedar trebles are dull and subdued, being swallowed up by the basses. Sometimes it's also the fact that the guitars are new.

[jetdeleon]

I’m new to classical guitars so thank you for making this video.

Because I’m new, I can only go by Feel. To me, the cedar grooves better.

As soon as you started playing that same tune on the cedar, my body started to move with your music. Uncertain whether you played it better or the guitar sounds better…. But if I had to decide now, I’d take the cedar.

[CatsPajamas]

At the end of the video, my 1st reaction was that the cedar guitar had a nicer, deeper, richer tone, but the intro, played on the spruce guitar sounded beautiful. Difficult choice. (go w the 1st one.)

[tincupserenade]

left his lav mic on for the guitar recording part. Just sayin', but thanks, this is awesome. I like the spruce sound better. Cedar looks better imho. It could be that cedar is more gratifying in person. In the recording it has much more low end, which muddies up the clarity compared to the spruce a bit. But hey, they both sound good. Nice playing too!

[piedpeter]

Cedar, gotta hear it live side by side, cedar more musical, spruce clean not as dimensional as cedar. I ordered 5 guitars all different woods and sent them back as my inexpensive solid cedar top with mahogany back and sides just has a sweet musical tone, in my opinion.