A European Spruce Archtop Guitar Top

Overview A European Spruce Archtop Guitar Tops:

We know, it's the fundamental part of your next archtop guitar. The spruce top for your next guitar has to be up to the task.

There is no doubt that due to the influence of its direct ancestors violins, violas and cellos, the most sought after wood for the archtop guitar top has been, by far, the European spruce. Although there are many instruments of this family manufactured with laminated tops, the truth is that most of the luthiers who produce high-end guitars prefer the sound, mechanical and aesthetic qualities that only a carved piece of solid wood can offer.

European spruce (Picea abies) is an evergreen tree and is considered one of the best tonewoods. A tonewood is by definition any wood that is used for its properties to make a musical instrument. Spruce has been highly desired as a tonewood for many and varied reasons. As far as tonewoods go, spruce has a very good stiffness-to-weight ratio, which means that even though it is light and has to be carved down to a thin thickness to make a soundboard, it is still very strong. This is perfect for a semihollow guitar, as the wood must be able to retain its shape and withstand the constant tension produced by the strings. And although spruce is a soft wood, it is also very dense. It is this density that really allows the instrument's sound vibrations to resonate through its structure. A wood that is too porous is not as efficient at transmitting sound.

How do we grade European spruce tops?

The A grade archtop spruce tops have a combination of the following characteristics: a generally straight grain, with more spaced growth rings than in higher grades. Color variations, it is possible to find traces of more intense tone. If knots are present, they will be small and will not affect acoustic performance. When cutting, we always try to achieve a 90º grain in the radial cut. If this is not the case, the variation will be only a few degrees in any case.

Features:

• Dimensions: (600x230x25/8 mm)x2
• Botanical Name: Picea abies
• Origin: Europa
• Density: 440-470 Kg/m³