Usually comes down to this - Spruce vs. Cedar. Folks use other materials, but I would guess that a strong majority of soundboards are made out of these two materials.
I use Carpathian Spruce for soundboards in all my instruments (except those very early instruments where extant pieces call for a hardwood). Spruce will start out thinner and weaker in sound than cedar, so if you are wanting to rush an instrument but not cost yourself too much on the back end you use cedar. Most cedar tops will never attain the fine, edgy clarity that a spruce top will attain after a lot of aging. But there are exceptional pieces of cedar and marginal pieces of spruce, and everything is merely a statement of averages and bell-curve observations. Some people swear by cedar, others swear they would never use it. Most will use spruce if they have to, even if they consider it their second choice. I don't play well enough that any instrument's 'distinctive qualities' can be heard over my attempt to make sound. One day I will play well enough that I could tell and make use of the difference between the two. Till then, I suspect that a piece of Luan plywood doorskin would be sufficient to adequately display my performing skills... Chris *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 9/19/2008 at 8:27 AM Jim Petersen wrote: any advise on soundboard material? i have always considered the difference in what is used for a soundboard? the main ones i think of are * stika spruce * cedar (mmmm) * redwood * mahogany * koa not ever really being able to listen to any instrument made the exact same way with these different soundboards. all other variables being the same, what do you all think are the qualities of each? which do you prefer? of course this is all HG related... i have cedar on mine i love the color and it sounds good to me but compared to what? how about a curved soundboard compared to flat one? peace Grey Aengus (aka Jim) http://www.greyaengus.com often in error, never in doubt
