...looks like butternut to me......

 

DAN

www.dulcimore.com

it might be butternut

Danny, I just might take you up on that offer haha! And Ken, I never had a good nose, unless it was cattle yard or gasoline... Might see if I can bribe the girlfriend into a sniff test!
I was contemplating sending a message to Cedar Creek, don't know if anyone knew but a guy around my age or younger is running it. And he and his wife seem like really nice people...

Just do the "scratch n sniff" test!  Slip a piece if coarse sandpaper inside where that deer is, and sand around in underside. If is does not smell of 'root beer', it's not sassafras!

I don't disagree, but I say it's impossible to tell from a photo, even if it were a professional one. I work sassafras albidum nearly every day, it's one of the staples in my shop. It's heavy, only slightly lighter than black cherry (31 lbs per cubic foot, to 35 for cherry). The pore structure, as usual,  is the key to positive identification, and if you're a science type person you'll like to see http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141635903000771

If you want, send me your address and I'll mail you a little scrap of S. albidum, so you can compare it yourself.

 

*similar model with a purple heart top...

I think you both are right! It is lighter, and louder,than my similar mode with a purple heart top...

It does look like sassafras.

I just went to Cedar Creek's website, and they list sassafras as an available soundboard wood.

Could be that.  Does it seem like dense, heavy wood or is it lighter?  Sassafras is relatively soft and light.

Full front view...

Hello,
My friends recently found me a 2002 Cedar Creek at a local auction. It plays great but I am curious about what the sound board is made of? It looks like white oak to me but I figured I would let the real experts have a look too! Thanks in advance!
updated by @stewart-mccormick: 06/18/17 09:28:08PM