where to buy spruce or cedar for a classical guitar top ?

[buckhorn]

was at a Home Depot in Manchester, Conn. a few years ago just checking out the wood racks.. now, this is 700 miles from home...when in the 2x6 wood rack marked S P F (spruce, pine, fur), I found three 10 foot pieces of spruce (?) with the tightest grain and all quarter sawed... how did someone let this slip past and end up in a wood rack ...could I get them on the plane and fly them home???...goes to show that good wood is everywhere, ya just have to be willing to look thru all that stuff...NO , I didn't get to bring any home....................

[Bernie Daniel]

I have a classical guitar that looks pristine (sides and back and neck), but the top is laminate and it did got de-laminated (imagine a parquet floor that was flooded with water for sometimes, it will bend up everywhere).

Replacing the top sound board is a good project for me to practice.

I need help on these:

1) where could I buy wood for classical guitar top (spruce or cedar) ?
2) what are the steps for removing the top sound board ?

Helps are greatly appreciated.
BTW: I am retired and doing work in instruments is my hobby now (besides playing music).

This looks like a great deal to me!

[Jim Adwell]

was at a Home Depot in Manchester, Conn. a few years ago just checking out the wood racks.. now, this is 700 miles from home...when in the 2x6 wood rack marked S P F (spruce, pine, fur), I found three 10 foot pieces of spruce (?) with the tightest grain and all quarter sawed... how did someone let this slip past and end up in a wood rack ...could I get them on the plane and fly them home???...goes to show that good wood is everywhere, ya just have to be willing to look thru all that stuff...NO , I didn't get to bring any home....................

I've found a few quartersawn boards of Englemann spruce at the local Lowes, and quite a bit of quartersawn tight-grained Western red cedar there as well.

You really just don't know until you look.

[Bernie Daniel]

I've found a few quartersawn boards of Englemann spruce at the local Lowes, and quite a bit of quartersawn tight-grained Western red cedar there as well.

You really just don't know until you look.

Interesting! What section were they in -- siding boards or what? Most of the planks I've seen in HD or Lowes are white pine. Also what was were the dimensions of the boards? Thanks!

[Jim Adwell]

Interesting! What section were they in -- siding boards or what? Most of the planks I've seen in HD or Lowes are white pine. Also what was were the dimensions of the boards? Thanks!

The latest one was a 1x8 finished board in the white wood section. It was stamped with "L Pine E Spr", and it certainly wasn't lodgepole pine, so I'm assuming it was Englemann, though I suppose it could have been some other spruce. It made a nice mandolin top - the knots were in the right places, fortunately.

[kkmm]

This looks like a great deal to me!

Thanks for the link, this is what I probably have to buy as the price is reasonable.
I will double check all the dimensions first.
Is 4mm the standard thickness for a classical guitar with solid spruce top ?
I have one with solid cedar, the thickness may be different.

[Jim Adwell]

I'll just leave this link here in case you might want to look at it.

http://designofaclassicalguitar.com/home

[Bill Snyder]

If you have a table saw, a hand saw and some planes and you can not thickness yourself you don't really want to do it very bad.