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Someone would like to buy a curly redwood guitar I built about 3 years ago.I haven`t had any problems with it at all .I know there has been a lot of talk about Curly and it`s problems, but has anyone really had any problems and what are they? I also have another curly top that I`d like to maybe use someday.Is there any way to determine if it`s useable.Deflection testing maybe?
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

The top is fine.Nothing visually different than when it was first built.Im actually more concerned about building another one.As you said there are a ton of opinions and conjecture,but has anyone had any real life experience with problems.If so ,what would be a sensible approach to deciding if a top is acceptable for a build.I know there have been a couple of suppliers that have sold some they advertised as suitable for a top on it`s own without a double top.I`m wondering what criteria they used?
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

I built an OM with curly redwood a few years back. From a deflection standpoint it wasn't as stiff as my typical lutz spruce. For my set up on an OM my lutz spruce is typically thicknessed to 0.085 to 0.095 based on deflection. The curly redwood was thickessed to 0.113 for the same deflection. Granted everything is relative based on your specific setup.
The customer has been very happy with the guitar. No problems with the guitar.

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

So Andy ,how did you do your deflection testing and what criteria did you use.I thinned my curly to around .120.
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

All of my deflection is done the same way. I have a 5# bar weight. The apparatus is a 2 dowels that are separated on a frame. I try to have each joined top the same width and length so I can have comparable numbers. I use a digital dial indicator for measuring. For each body size I have a different target deflection that is based on the tonal properties I want. My parlors are thickness to a greater deflection than my SJ's. I measure and weigh after each run through the thickness sander and everything is logged on a spreadsheet.

Keep in mind, each persons setup is different. I take my parlors to around 330 to 350 but my SJ I take to around 240 to 280.

Here are the actual number to that piece of redwood from my spreadsheet
Species Def length width thick weight density
Fl Redwood FRW 17 23.875 16 0.259 902 9.116820635
Fl Redwood FRW 44 23.875 16 0.215 795 9.679775965
Fl Redwood FRW 83 23.875 16 0.174 654 9.839321177
Fl Redwood FRW 165 23.875 16 0.138 560 10.62296077
Fl Redwood FRW 228 23.875 16 0.124 480 10.13342341
Fl Redwood FRW 246 23.875 16 0.120 470 10.2530541
Fl Redwood FRW 252 23.875 16 0.118 468 10.38246517
Fl Redwood FRW 269 23.875 16 0.115 441 10.03869793
Fl Redwood FRW 279 23.875 16 0.113 428 9.915211046

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Wow,now I`m totally confused.Thanks for the input but I don`t have the slightest idea what all those numbers mean.I`m a redneck from Tennessee.But hey I was in San Diego where I was raised a week ago.You live in paradise.
Skin

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee