Red Wood Tops,

[Hank]

The FTC that I recently purchased from Eddies Guitars is Granadillo / Redwood.

What should I expect from the Redwood top as it ages?  With lots of playing time ,how long might it take to ‘Mature” ? I may be too old to be around when it reaches its’ peak tone.

I’m VERY happy with its’ voice now….. and I love the neck. I do not know the neck shape but it is the easiest neck/fingerboard to play of any of the current Ramuda.

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1993 Martin HD-28 IR/Sitka
2001 SCGC F Cutaway Maple/German
2008 SCGC OT Madi/Italian
2015 SCGC OM “The Tree” Hog/ European
2016 SCGC 1934 D45 Braz/ Adi
2016 Taylor K62 CE Limited Edition 12 string all Koa
2019 SCGC FTC Granadillo/Redwood
Life is a journey…not a guided tour,
The Bay,The Gulf Stream , The Open Ocean are particular about who they share their secrets with.

[tadol]

I think we’re gonna find out – I don’t think it’s been used long enough, in enough higher-end instruments, to really know how it will respond over the years – plus, the FTCs are kinda unique as well. If I were to hope, it would be to mellow and relax just a little bit – to soften slightly, if that makes sense –

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Lots o’ SCGC guitars! But never ask which is my fav

[Matt Hayden]

The oldest redwood-topped instruments I know about are from the 80s, and they still sound excellent (made by Frank Fuller, several redwood/walnut things, which are really nice).

Redwood as a material is a little more brittle than spruce (I don’t know why).  It’s got a very bright ring when tapped.

I would guess that properly dry redwood is going to sound good right out of the gate and maybe get brighter as it ages (and dries).   In an FTC, this would probably translate to more incisive chop chords (go Freddie Greene!) and maybe more cut on the leads when coupled with the reflective granadillo on the back.

I suspect it’ll sound something like Steve Khan’s redwood-topped rosewood David Russell Young guitar on Donald Fagen’s True Companion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4ULgo1MTl8 – bright and punchy but not dry.

Alternate and probably better listen: Steve Khan playing the same guitar on Evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02BgGKgtjZ8&list=OLAK5uy_kwPLwg0TFcJXi2pbrxlRopJUno2C5q8QM, which is basically 50 mins of the same guitar with only Rob Mounsey’s keyboard behind him, playing mostly Monk tunes.  This is pretty much a high-wire act in which both the payer and the guitar are laid bare without a lot of ornamentation.

I’m presuming the back and sides are dalbergia granadillo – there are a lot of woods called ‘granadillo,’ unfortunately, including the excellent red macacauba, platymisicum pinnatum, which I learned about from Brazilian builder Roberto Gomes.   Either way, it’s probably a very reflective material and will increase brightness….

Enjoy it.

 

[Hank]

Wow Matt…That’s a whole bunch of insight….. I really appreciate it.

I have much appreciated the extreme sustain that the guitar produces now……so much so that I have to adjust my “attack” (such as it is) to allow for it. IE: i slow down to allow the notes to express themselves.

I think Acoustic Soul should give this a spin .

Tad would know the exact woods involved.

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1993 Martin HD-28 IR/Sitka
2001 SCGC F Cutaway Maple/German
2008 SCGC OT Madi/Italian
2015 SCGC OM “The Tree” Hog/ European
2016 SCGC 1934 D45 Braz/ Adi
2016 Taylor K62 CE Limited Edition 12 string all Koa
2019 SCGC FTC Granadillo/Redwood
Life is a journey…not a guided tour,
The Bay,The Gulf Stream , The Open Ocean are particular about who they share their secrets with.

[Author]

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