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Location: SoCal | Can anybody here tell me the difference between sitka and engelman spruce? |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Engelman sounds better. |
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Location: SoCal | The reason I'm asking is that I'm suddenly wondering if my rebult Legend has Engemann spruce instead of sitka.
Here's a picture of the Legend and my GC RI which definitely has sitka spruce. Any opinions?
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR |  
Sitka Spruce............................................... Englemann Spruce..... |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Looks to be like the legend is half and half |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | The favorite spruces are Sitka, Engleman, Adirondak(red) and German.
They say Adirondak is the best.
There also is the Carpathian moon beam harvested spruce............ |
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Location: Tennessee | Both Sitka and Englemann are from the western part of North America. Red (Adirondack) is from the eastern US (i.e. the Adirondack Mountains). I like their chairs. My Martin is Adirondack ... and it has wider grain than my other guitars.
Englemann used for guitars come from real high altitude. It tends to be "whiter" than Sitka. It is similar I think to the Alpine spruce that is german or italian, also from real high and also real white in color. My Lakewood is Englemann.
The carpathian is to just die for ...
I agree with Dave. You got a Legend that's half-n-half. |
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Location: Copenhagen Denmark | I was on a forum where there was an interesting debate about tonewoods , present were some Ace -Luthier`s ( one of whom I know is famous for his exellent guitars )incl. the participation of a tonewood supplier , where the use of lab. testing was mentioned in order to establish what/where the wood is from , checking the wood and leaves/needles/seeds/bark and even then ,the lab. is not absolutely sure .. the general consensus was ..
I quote :
" This sure makes some of the blanket statements that are tossed around by both luthiers and guitar players alike about tonewoods and their supposed sonic qualities seem a little foolish.
I don't doubt for a minute that a lot of the "Brazilian" rosewood and(insert favorite species here)spruce that's floating around may well be something else entirely. "
..end quote.
And here I was , wishing for a git. with carpathian spruce etc. ,..
Vic |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by stonebobbo:
I agree with Dave. You got a Legend that's half-n-half. It's just the way the light is hitting it. I was originally thinking that it was select sitka, but I'm startig to think that it's engelmann. I know it's not adirondack.
Some interesting reading here....
http://www.cbguitars.com/woods.htm |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | OK ... Here's another question to throw in ... Which is better, wide or narrower/tighter grain? or for that matter,sraight or bear claw, and/or the burl or other swirling grained wood tops? how do those differencs actually affect the guitar's sound? |
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Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Originally posted by bvince:
OK ... Here's another question to throw in ... Which is better, wide or narrower/tighter grain? or for that matter,sraight or bear claw, and/or the burl or other swirling grained wood tops? how do those differencs actually affect the guitar's sound? Sonically this approaches the hornest nest :)
But I do wonder if tite-grained is the (better) stronger choice in the long run.
Vic |
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Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Originally posted by FlicKreno aka Solid Top:
Originally posted by bvince:
OK ... Here's another question to throw in ... Which is better, wide or narrower/tighter grain? or for that matter,sraight or bear claw, and/or the burl or other swirling grained wood tops? how do those differencs actually affect the guitar's sound? Sonically this approaches the hornest nest :)
But I do wonder if tite-grained is the (better) stronger choice in the long run.
Vic |
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Location: Central Massachusetts | The legend has a bookmatched top, so no half-and-half. Did they use aging toner on the RI's, perhaps? |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I'm with Toby. Engleman rolls off the lips better than Sit-ka! So Engleman sounds better.
Those seedling pictures OMA posted don't do justice to either tree though...... |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by dvd:
The legend has a bookmatched top, so no half-and-half. Did they use aging toner on the RI's, perhaps? The RI is 3 years old and lives on a stand. The top has aged a bit (not a lot, but a bit).... |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Two articles that talk about spruce.
http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/all-about-flat/apr-09/94559
http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/the-troublesome-truth/Jun-07/27... |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | The engleman is more harmonically complex, but more mellow and less loud than the sitka ... or so the experts say. I have a guitar with sitka top, and it's just fine. |
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Location: Tennessee | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
Originally posted by stonebobbo:
I agree with Dave. You got a Legend that's half-n-half. It's just the way the light is hitting it.
Maybe what you've got is half englemann and half sitka. Or maybe it's half carpathian? |
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Location: SoCal | That would be, ah, unique.... |
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Location: Tennessee | They know you well, moody ... |
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Location: Corning, NY | moody, I've been wondering the same about my rebuilt Legend 1756 12... It looks like yours and the grain pattern is very different than before with more figure. The color matches more closely than it appears. The slight angle makes the two pieces take the light differently with the figure.
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Location: Location Location Location | Engelmann is lighter (appearance) than sitka, and will produce a rounder tone with more clarity, in my experience. In my opinion, both of your guitars have different grades of sitka spruce. |
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Location: Verona,Italy | Supposely, the best spruce for musical instruments is from the italian alps, from a valley called Val di Fiemme.
Stradivari and the other masters used that variety of red spruce, now it seems that Martin is offering it as option but it's ridicously expensive, more than once I thought about going north and buy a table to send to the US for a custom guitar, but I seriously dubt that Ovation would make a custom instrument from wood purchased by the customer. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | There's an Idaho mandolin maker who gets his spruce from the woods around our cabin. The supply of spruce was one of the reasons he moved there. I cut a couple of spruce trees down that had beetle or worm infestation and cut it up for firewood. I guess I should have figured out if it would have been useful for guitar tops. |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
beetle or worm infestation Mother Nature's epi makers... |
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Location: Tennessee | The Tom Petty limited edition HD-40TP from Martin used Italian Alpine Spruce for the top.
I think Ovation should seriously consider building bi-tonal guitars. I know that it wasn't much of a success back when they tried it the first time, but heck, socially acceptable behaviour and prediliction have changed in the last 15 years. I, for one, think it's OK to admit to bi-tonal tendencies. We all have them. What a marketing coup it would be for Ovation to capture this vast audience ... especially the yutes out there who are confused about their own tonality and need for some guitar maker out there to just say "It's OK" to experience and experiment with their bi-tonal side. Moody's already been there with his legend and we've all heard him rave about the experience. He'll never go back now. |
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Location: SoCal | For once, I'm speechless..... |
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Location: Utah | One should be cautious, though, not to get involved with an instrument that is atonal. At first it might seem to have normal tonality, but once purchased with a no-return clause, it's true nature is revealed. Even after a few drinks on a Saturday night, no tonality can be coaxed from said instrument, and you are forced to admit that it is in fact atonal. |
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Location: Tennessee | There's an O on eBay right now with an Englemann top. 5777-4ES |
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Location: SoCal | That was the one that got me thinking..... |
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Differences in spruce?