Western Red Cedar Soundboard for Dreadnought Guitar
Beloved by fingerstyle players, Western Red Cedar's warm tone and look is the perfect alternative to many spruces.
For players with a light touch, Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) is an ideal choice for an acoustic soundboard. Delicate tones and rich harmonics come alive in the player's hands. The sound and volume stay very focused when fingerpicking or flatpicking. The reddish hue and sandy color bring a well-aged look to a new build, and pairs well with any side wood. Coloring will vary from set to set.
Bookmatched sets of two quartersawn halves. When joined they're large enough for a Dreadnought guitar.
- Each half is approximately 8-1/2" x 21" (216mm x 533mm)
- Unsanded soundboards are approximately 5/32" (4mm) thick, ready for thickness-sanding to your own specs.
Use our grading system to choose your soundboard:
Color: Higher grade soundboards have more consistent color (color affects the instrument's appearance only, not its tone).
Grain straightness: Higher soundboard grades have straighter, tighter, and more uniform grain. While closely spaced grain has been traditionally favored, luthiers have found that wider grain can produce very good tone.
Quartersawn grain: The higher the grade, the more closely quartersawn the wood. Perfectly quartered wood is more dimensionally stable and moves proportionally with changing temperature and humidity environments. This helps to ensure structural integrity and resists cracking better than other types of cuts.
Grain run-out: Our soundboards are sawn from split billets to reduce the amount of grain "run-out," caused by a twist in the tree. By splitting the log, the twist is followed when sawing. Higher grade soundboards have less run-out.
Origin and drying: Our soundboards (unless otherwise noted) are from western North America, and have been kiln-dried and stored in a climate controlled environment.