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Hello FOrum
Here’s the one you have beed waiting for. Richard Hoover stirs the pot of rumor and hear say and floods us with science on the properties and sonic possibilities of Redwood. For the first time, SCGC can determine how your Redwood topped guitar will sound backed up by Stanford and Naval Post Graduate. Yes there are charts. As I said, this one ends the rumors, truly revolutionary. Thank you Richard Rick and the whole staff at SCGC.
Youtube https://youtu.be/CNyZy-XOnaU
Soundcloud https://on.soundcloud.com/ieBsA
Apple Podcasts
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LOVED this episode. I am over the moon about redwood after getting my SCGC sinker 000 a few months ago. It gives me the things I was always fighting to get out of spruce topped guitars. Instant response and lush overtones with no cloudiness. The slightest inflections let me convey emotion the way a high-end classical does. As soon as I can move a couple of my adi spruce guitars I’ll be getting another SCGC in redwood.
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Wonderful….I hope this finds a wider audience in the Guitar world….
When Hoover speaks of wood, any tone wood , all should pay attention. Because the words are from the soul and the facts are the facts.
Here is the 2019 FTC Redwood /Granidillo that is I Purchased from Eddies Guitar based upon Tad’s influence . He has I think a twin to mine. It is the first time I gambeled on a Redwood top…..It is ALL that R.H. describes and more.
I keep it in open G….. When I play it for friends or give to some of the very well known Recording artists who live in my area in the winter, they all ask “What is this ?”.
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Tad will appreciate this one.
One of my luthier friends (Mark Blanchard) arrived late to an NCAL (Northern California Association of Luthiers) being held at one of the builder members shop. A fellow builder who had died was having his estate’s woods for sale at this particular meeting. When he arrived to the meeting a bit late, builders, including some well known luthiers such as Ervin Somogyi were busy going through the piles of wood on the table. They also had a buffet of “free” food available and my friend was hungry. So he went for the food first while others rifled through the wood.
After he was done eating and had seen others go through the piles of wood, he went over to the wood table. He took the piles of sets of wood and inverted them to start at the bottom of the piles first, knowing that some experienced hands had gone through the piles ahead of him. On the bottom of one of the piles he found two sets of redwood that looked like this. The sets with their distinct beeswing interlocking grain he immediately recognized as “Lucky Strike” redwood.
The “story” behind LS is that it was a storm felled Redwood tree up in Humboldt County, CA. The large tree happened to fall over a small ravine and it left a large section suspended up in the air off the forest floor. The felled tree was discovered about 30-years ago and over the next few years, Craig Carter, his wife Alicia and others harvested a 3’ diameter x 60’ long portion of the tree and subsequently processed it as instrument tonewood. The experts have suggested that the redwood tree harvested to make LS tonewood was estimated to be between 600 to 800-years old.
He also saw “CC” initials on it. The two sets were purchased for $50/set! The moral of the story is always flip the wood pile and start from the bottom!
r
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Damn,,, That’s just a Climax Avalanche of Redwood Goodness .
How are the Sonics ?
That geain is JUST INSANE !… What size body ? what B/S ?
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Hank, that set has not been used yet. Mark is saving along with some special 4-piece Brazilian Rosewood back sets to build a matched pair of guitars (a nylon string and a steel string).
Here is a set of more aesthetically mortal “Lucky Strike” Redwood that he will be building me a carved back 12 fret 000 sized guitar with either later this year or early next.
He will use some California Black Walnut from a tree that he harvested in the Bay area (e.g. not orchard wood grafted to English Walnut, aka Claro Walnut). Richard would be happy to know that other reputable builders are using some of the materials that he loves.
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Honestly, I wasn’t sure I really liked my redwood topped FTC at first – it was a bit too dry and fundamental. But I also know that SC guitars open up with some playing – so I just hung on and played it from time to time. Sure enough, after some months, I started to hear it open up, and loosen up, and the tone started to develop a bit more complexity and warmth. I now consider it an extremely special guitar – and agree that redwood can make an outstanding guitar. I have also believed that I wouldn’t want just a single redwood guitar, that it doesn’t have the complete tone that I want – but the more I listen and play it, I’m coming to think that I’ve just spent most of my life playing spruce guitars, and there may be some internal wiring in me that has me believing I prefer that. Almost a hard-coded preference that I will need to keep aware of in the future – and I also need to remember that usually it’s not the instrument as much as the musician –
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