Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi everyone!

I bought some 400yo Port Orford tops (A great OLF occasion that I didn't miss) that I'll receive soon, and I want to know your opinion about it.


So, the main question is: Have you ever worked with this wood for a top? What are your impressions, results, suggestions, etc...?


And more precisely: Somebody here tried it for an acoustic? I'm planning a Curly maple OM, and can't chose for the top.

Thanks!
Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

I'm building an all POC guitar now. Of course it is as much a cedar as WRC is.
The tops I have are dense and very stiff, on the level of a good red spruce top, I am very optimistic. The set I have for the back has large curls and is much lighter and floppier. So there is variation I would guess. And the smell is wonderful… and potent.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I bought one from someone in Oregon (where the stuff grows), but currently I started to think i was actually hooked with Alaskan white cedar instead of real POC, so maybe the stuff below is not very relevant.

My set has the very low weight of typical WRC (0.32), very very good stiffness/weight ratio, looks like golden tinted spruce.
Tight grain, long and thick medullary rays, really looks like Euro spruce , but clearly yellowish.
Taptone not nearly as nice as a high quality spruce top.
Absolutely *no* smell. Disappointed about this, I sent emails to several folks with experience in POC and they all said the stuff they handled had the killer smell, as expected.

In general, I heard lots of people being satisfied about the resulting POC guitars.

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Build log

I bought a few of those tops too. My question would be, since it is a Cedar, if it should be treated the same as WRC for thickness?

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Laurent,

ALL POC? Back and sides? Interesting idea.

-0.9

Alexandru-

The smell of POC is very potent and never seems to go away. I have a few tops and back/side sets that were sawn over 20 years ago - they are the first thing you smell when opening the door to my wood room.

Sand your wood outside of the template area and smell again. If it doesn't have a very strong peppery smell I would bet it's not POC.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

John, It is already joined, cut and planed. I even heated a shaving. No smell.

Mediterranean cypress can have this kind of monster smell, other wood in contact with it catch it, and planing the wood fills the entire house.

Waddy, it is actually a cypress (same is Alaskan "cedar"). the density is all over the map, so as with all other top wood, needs to be worked according to the density and stiffness etc etc

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Build log

I built a POC Flamenco 5 years ago.
Poc top,back & sides.
The owner loves it !

www.mariazemantauski.com
has a pic of her & me with the guitar.

It's a raspy,loud little(36mm wide) guitar.
I used the 1951 Barbero plans by R.E.Brune'
Available through the OLF site.

I love POC for it's incredible sweet perfume and tonal
qualities.
I wish it was available more and not so rare.
Mike

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Mike Collins

36mm, now that is small
But I found it in the photos there, and it looks great

I too love the smell, and got a set from the 400 year tree. I had Vince send it to me to dry in my own sticker stack, and when it first got here, it smelled up the room for a week. That first day I felt like I was drowning in pine sol It kind of wore out after that, and doesn't produce an aura of smell unless I stack it with the non-stickered stuff for a while. Definitely looking forward to building with it

Cool guitar Mike!
You can get great POC, all grades in fact, from Les Stansell:
http://www.stansellguitars.com/

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/