I've got a POC topped tenor and a sinker redwood tenor. Both are great. The POC is more of a Cyprus than a cedar, however it smells so good, and feels great. It's more responsive than redwood or spruce, so say it will be the brighter of the two. Redwood is between red cedar and spruce, a great place to be. It will be warmer than POC.
In the hands of a skilled luthier, either will sound great.
BTW Here is some good info I lifted from :
http://tonewooddatasource.weebly.com/species--attributes.html
Port Orford Cedar Chamaecyparis lawsoniana
Actually a rare variety of Cypress (Lawson Cypress) which grows along the S. Oregon Coast where it's endured for over 50 million years. This is an incredibly light weight, yet tough wood possessing phenomenal tonal qualities. Acoustic and electric guitars made of POC are light weight and sound magnificent. The tone of Port Orford Cedar could be described as bold and direct throughout the fundamentals with little overtone content. It has slightly better headroom to Sitka spruce and but responds to the touch in the same way.
Port Orford Cedar –– also known as Port Orford White Cedar, Oregon Cedar, Ginger Pine or Lawson Cypress, is a rare variety of Cypress that grows in a very limited range along the Pacific Coast, from far northern California into southern Oregon. Despite harsh conditions, these trees have existed in the Pacific NW for over 50 million years and can grow to 180 feet and live to be over 500 years old.
Port Orford Cedar is one of the more unique woods growing in North America. It is a creamy, off-white color with straight, somewhat uneven medium grain and often completely free of knots. It has an almost ginger like aroma. Ring counts can exceed 40/inch. It is very light, yet very strong, (an unusual combination), and highly workable for carving, turning & machining. It’s highly prized for boat building, cabinetry, furniture, doors, built-ins, etc. Port Orford Cedar is also one of the most acid, pest and rot resistant woods known and highly sought in China and Japan to make coffins. In addition to its exceptional beauty, strength, and durability, it has also been used for back and sides as well as necks. Much of the US production is exported to Japan for furniture.
The lumber has a faint yellowish white hue with very fine grain and an even texture. It is stiffer and lighter than Alaskan Yellow Cedar. The aroma is peppery which is typical of the cypress family. In use, it is durable and easy to work. It was once used as arrow shafts due it’s split resistance. Luthiers find it is more resistant to splitting than any other top wood. It has a Janka rating of 720 and a specific gravity of 0.44.
Port Orford Cedar is both beautiful and distinctive when finished. Because of the nearly white color, it has often been stained to mimic other woods. It takes a high polish and has a lovely satiny look to it. It forms good strength glue bonds and takes a finish very well without need of fill. It’s great stiffness and lightness has appealed to flattop makers Greg Byers, James Goodall and Les Stansell.
Les Standsell says: “Oregon Cypress (Port Orford “White” Cedar) displays all the most desirable structural and resonance qualities sought after by instrument makers…….it has the highest stiffness/weight ratio of “all” wood species. In addition, when compared to all other North American softwoods, POC ranks highest in elasticity and resistance to crushing, shearing, denting and splitting. POC is ideal for Flamenco guitars as a substitute for: other Spruces and Cedars (tops and bracing)... Spanish Cypress (backs and sides)…and Spanish Cedar (necks).”
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Redwood Sequoia sempervirens, endl
Another tonally superior wood from the coastal mountains of Northern California, the only significant alternative to cedar tops is redwood. Redwood has come into its own as a legitimate tonewood. It is richer in color than cedar with darker reds. Though similar tonally to cedar, some say redwood is more robust & brighter.
Salvaged old growth Redwood can be found in burl, straight and curly grain. This beautiful tight grain wood provides the finest quality acoustic guitar soundboards, highly resonate solid bodies. Redwood has long been used for decking and other architectural features, and for fancy furniture when burled or figured. Redwood also makes very high quality acoustic guitar soundboards, highly resonate solid bodies, and stunning, intensely figured tops for electric guitars.
This is among the largest living organisms on the earth, often reaching a staggering 300 plus feet in height. It is extremely resilient to rot and infestation, so we are fortunate to be able to salvage very old stumps, (often 50 or more years old), and reclaimed beams, which still yield high quality monster curl and tight, straight grain old growth wood, without endangering the few remaining old growth groves.
The timber has a deep red hue with straight grain and can often have curly grain. Coastal Redwood is valued for its straight grained beauty, light weight, and resistance to decay. Due to old age and large size of the logs, tops can vary greatly from soft to very stiff and whilst the very best tops can display an exceptional stiffness to weight ratio, some can physically resemble cardboard. It is used for soundboards for guitars and the burls as top plates for electrics. Redwood is extremely light, but soft and brittle, so care must be used when working with Redwood. and stunning, intensely figured tops for electric guitars.
You could characterize the tone of Coastal redwood as being a crisper than Cedar with all the rich, complex overtones of cedar. Sinker redwood sounds like across between cypress and regular redwood. When the present supply of it is used, there will be no more due to changes in California environmental law. Use it with light gauge strings.
Noted luthier, Dana Bourgeois says: “Redwood is usually darker in color than cedar and often displays the same general tonal characteristics, leaning slightly toward darker tones, less definition in the bass, and lower velocity of sound.”
Tom West:"Redwood makes excellant top wood. The right piece will be light and stiff and very responsive and seem to want to ring forever.........maybe not quite that long. It is also very stable and does not move as much as spruce due to RH changes. The only knock against redwood is that it is not very resistive to a shock from a bang against another object."
Michael Bashkin: “Assuming the quality of the redwood is good, it can have an excellent strength to weight ratio and longitudinal and cross grain stiffness. In fact I find the cross grain stiffness is stiffer than many other top woods. It works well but is prone to splitting along the grain which is a bit off a mystery to me as the woods exhibits a high degree of cross grain medullary rays, or cross-grain silk.”
Redwood (Northern California) is more rich in the bass than cedar and responds to subtle playing with a round, piano-like crisp balanced sound. Lacquer and glue do not bond quite as well as the spruces. Because of this (as with Cedar), light gauge strings are recommended only on guitars with these tops. Many luthiers (i.e. Breedlove) get redwood from recycled lumber and timber salvage.
The janka of redwood is around 450 and it has a specific gravity of 0.45.