I've made a some archtop mandolins with red maple, and I'm making an archtop guitar with it now. I've not made a flat top guitar with it, but I've made a few with both European and Big Leaf maple, which are considered "soft" maples, as is red. I find their working properties similar, although their appearance is somewhat different; European maple is usually very uniformly light and even in colour, whereas the American maples often show streaks and color variation and is a bit darker overall.
Back in the day, Gibson made thousands of mando family instruments and guitars with red maple (as well as other maples, and birch!), some which had slab cut wood, others with quartered, and everything in between. Most have held up fine, but I've heard comments from experienced repair people that the instruments which most often show up with cracked backs are the ones that have flatsawn wood, which stands to reason; maple isn't the most stable wood to begin with, and it will move considerably more with humidity when flatsawn than quartered. I've used both quartered and slab sawn red maple in my instruments, some of which have seen quite heavy use, and none have cracked to my knowledge. I personally don't have enough experience to comment much on the sound of red versus other soft maples, but I do know it can make a fine sounding instrument. Pretty, too! 
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