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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 1196
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | I was wondering why spruce was always the wood of choice for guitar soundboards? What qualities does spruce have that make it ideal for guitar tops? |
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Joined:
February 2003
Posts: 299
Location: Netherlands | Paul, I thought you swore to woven top Adamases?
No spruce involved.
:)
Seriously, AFAIK spruce has a tight, straight grain and dense and regular structure, which makes it possible to make thin tops which resonate better and are strong enough to hold out when very thin. Spruce is very stiff and strong, and because of it's stiffnes it passes vibrations on very well.
That, added to it's good availability makes it a good wood to build tops with. (The Sitka spruce is just one kind of spruce, which was available in big quantities in the US and Canada, but has been reduced thnx to guitarindustrie amongst others. There are various other species. European luthiers don't use Sitka, but european spruce species most of the time).
Martin |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Martin
Right on, spruce has one of the straightest grain structures of any wood. It is almost as if the grain was made up of hundreds of guitar strings streched across your guitar when it is cut right. It also is fairly dense as compared to its closest competitor, cedar, which has a similar structure but is very soft and has very little structural strength but is great for classical guitars that don't ring out but produce a different sort of sound that is just as appealing to the ear, the sense we are most concerned about. I dream of tearing down the 75 year old wooden roller coaster in San Diego's beach and finding tons of 100 year old SPRUCE.
Bailey |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | one of the main factors in using spruce for guitar tops is it's high strength to wieght ratio, which allows the tops to be made thinner than other woods, such as Cedar. A good spruce top is thin & stiff, which helps produces a good balance between the highs & lows. The reason the Adamas top works so well is that it's very thin (about 1/3rd the thickness of a spruce top) and very stiff. |
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Why Spruce?
