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Getting ready next month to build my first lattice topped classical guitar.Went to michaels and purchased a piece of balsa which I thought could be used for the cf /balsa .w cedar cl top. The thing that puzzles me though is when I perused an online balsa wood dealer catalog. I found that the density of balsa wood varies from ultra lite.08-.1o, to almost .40 that is quite a wide variable . The piece I picked seemed light but not too light. How does one know which density of balsa to pick for a cedar top ??? I watched a video from a luthier in Oz who discussed his construction method of lattice braced guitars, but gave no clues as to the density of balsa he used.

Balsa is not stiff enough for bracing .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

In classicals it is used together with carbon fiber.

I don't know what is the best target, but it should definitively be lighter than WRC, otherwise what is the point? So it needs to be lighter than .300 Probably .200 tops to be truly worthwhile.

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Build log

Thanks alex that would probably be a good starting pt., somewhere halfway between the lowest.10 and .40.I/m assuming that the WRC /s density is abt .30 -.32 so .20 would be a good starting point for balsa.How would one go abt testing the relative densities of the different balsa/s ?? .Guess you could go around and get several samples an weigh them on my gram scale against a similiar piece of WRC to see if the balsa weighs 2/3 as much as the WRC.