Tonewoods

Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) Pacific Northwest coast of Canada and the United States. Actually a form of cypress, western red cedar has long been used as a soundboard wood by classical guitar makers for its increased volume, warmth, wealth of harmonics (overtones) and 'bass-iness'. What is most characteristic of cedar is that it takes only a short time for the voice to mature, and can even sound 'played-in' when new. This is the most popular soundboard choice with my customers, and so has become the standard for my harps.

  

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The best tone is acheived with a solid, non-veneered soundboard made from the finest coniferous woods such as cedar and spruce. 

Fisher Harps

Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) The spruce I offer is from coastal rain forests of British Columbia. This spuce is the primary soundboard wood for North American stringed instruments It has a light, creamy-red colour, and is harder and stiffer than cedar. The tone it produces is punchy, round and more or less evenly balanced between the treble and bass. Spruce can sometimes take up to a year to develop it full tone.

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Yellow Cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis) Pacific Northwest coast of Canada and the United States. Actually a form of cypress (AKA Nootka Cypress), this timber produces a soundboard which is a bit harder and heavier than western red cedar (WRC). A favourable characteristic of cedar is that it takes only a short time to develop it's voice. The tone is somewhere between WRC and sitka spruce.