"I would add, that I think cedar makes a better first-impression-sound because of the extra volume and rich bass, but with time, the clarity of spruce becomes my personal choice."

Indeed Marc, guitars as with people, the loudest one in any room is rarely the most interesting or the most beautiful.

It's been a while, but that fits with what I've heard in the classical 'shootouts' at the GAL conventions as well.

Interestingly, I've got a Red spruce top in my stash that has _exactly_ the same density, and stiffness along and across the grain, as a Western Red Cedar top I've got. Obviously, this is a relatively light piece of Red spruce, and relatively dense piece of cedar. The only real measureable difference is in the damping factor: the cedar has much lower damping. At some point these two will become a 'matched pair', when I think I have things enough under control, and then we'll be able to compare them directly.

There is a classical builder that builds multi piced tops with Cedar in the center, and Spruce in the wings of the top - or vice-versa! I can't recall his name.