Curly Cherry?

[pak1001]

I was at a very high end furniture shop this week and saw a table with a curly cherry top. It was exquisite. Does anyone here work with this as a top material? What would the sound properties likely be?

[Terry McInturff]

Isnt that wood pretty?

Cherry is a fairly dense wood. It tends to be rather bright. Used as a top on a laminated body, it will tend to shift the primary resonance of that body notably higher as result. This may or may not be a good thing, depending of course upon your desired result.

A dense piece of cherry will act quite like rock maple would in this way.

[Pfeister]

I would love to see what curly cherry sounds like.

I agree with Terry about cherry being bright. I've never used it on a guitar before, but I've tested it out by tap tuning. I'm not exactly thrilled with the sound. Even if it was combined with the right wood, it seems to sit so far on the higher end of the sound spectrum, at least as far as wood is concerned, that I can't see ever using it. Some brighter sounding woods still have a pretty well rounded, even complex sound, but, in my experience, cherry is a little too shallow. Not all pieces will be the same, though.

Maybe a very thin laminate top would be okay. If it's curly cherry, I could probably see justifying that.

[jakes guitars]

I personally love cherry. I find it reaches a good middle ground. Then again. I lean toward the brighter side, with maple If i have to compare. None the less, It makes a fine tone wood. When i use Cherry I like a maple neck, and rosewood fretboard. then again, just my personal choice.
Recently, i have paired it with a mesquite top. I feel it represents the best of both worlds, but , as with any wood, it depends on the piece itsself. I cant say just because I have had good luck with it, that it is the best. There are PLENTY of guitars made of hardware store grade pine that I think sound amazing, but then again, ...... just because I like the way it sounds.............. and on and on....

[RSRelic]

I've used curly cherry on one guitar as a top (mahogany back) and thought it sounded good (not great) with lower powered alnico II buckers, but I've built three basses using it and found it makes a wonderful piano like sound with great low end definition.

[Mike Dresch]

I've never used cherry as a top (but would love too). I have used it as a neck (quartersawn) and have really liked the results. I have it paired with an ebony fretboard and an alder body. This particular guitar has a nice acoustic guitar like woodiness to it with a deep low end punch. I plan on repeating this build to see if the sound is repeatable.

[Pfeister]

I personally love cherry. I find it reaches a good middle ground. Then again. I lean toward the brighter side, with maple If i have to compare.

I can see that. I don't like cherry still, but I also tend to steer away from woods like maple.

But, it's a good thing that we all like different styles.:beer