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There is a range of top woods available in my instruments. You will find a brief account below of some of them. For a good article on the characteristics of the Spruces, have a look at Dana Bourgeois’ article from Acoustic Guitar magazine March/April 1994.
Sitka Spruce Alaskan Spruce
This spruce from Northwest America is the current mainstay of steel string guitar making. The Sitka Spruce I use comes from buying trips I made to Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska in 1984 and 1990. My wood comes from split billets from four very big logs, each of different character. One of the logs was a float log which had been floating in the ocean for a long time before it was collected. I can select spruce to suit different voicing requirements. Some of this wood, being nearly 20 years drying in my loft has started to darken with age and ages to a golden orange colour on the oldest guitars, giving a real 1930’s vintage appearance. In steel string guitars it gives a strong fundamental tone. It can take a long time to mature in sound, up to ten years in my experience. Most of the steel string guitars in my pictures are of Alaskan Spruce. If you can load a very big image there is a very detailed picture of some excellent Alaskan Spruce in one of my Model 3 guitars - click here if you dare.
Englemann Spruce
Englemann spruce grows in the Rocky Mountains from Canada down to New Mexico. It is lighter and less strong than Sitka spruce and gives a warmer, more harmonically rich tone. It is more suited to classical guitars than Sitka Spruce as it is more easily driven by the nylon strings. In steel strings it responds better to a lighter touch. The pictures of the Studio Jumbo in these pages shows a fine Englemann top
European Spruce
This is the time-honoured traditional instrument wood, found throughout Europe. I have a great stock of it. My violin woods come mainly from near Bolzano in Northern Italy. My guitar woods come from Southern Germany. This wood is very light and strong. It seems to have a greater surface hardness than the American spruces and in all instruments is very strong and rich in the high harmonics. In some steel string guitars it can be overpowering. For smaller bodied fingerstlye guitars played in the newer Celtic styles, with controlled right hand attack and strong left hand techniques it is very good. Many classical guitarists will not accept any other top wood.
Red Spruce
Red Spruce is now very rare but once grew in abundance at higher altitudes and latitudes in Eastern North America. The big American companies of the early 20th century, Martin and Gibson built a fine reputation using this wood. It grew in relatively close proximity to their workshops. When the supply became scarcer in the 1930s, they switched to Sitka Spruce. I have a little Red Spruce from a fallen dead tree in New Hampshire, consisting mainly of mandolin tops, but do have some four piece guitar tops as well. The annular rings are wider in this wood generally, as the trees are not as old as the other spruces, but the tap tone and cross grain stiffness is excellent. It is a wonderful tonewood.
Western Red Cedar
A relative newcomer amongst tonewoods, Western Red Cedar has been adopted widely by classical guitar makers. Much lighter and softer than the spruces, it responds well to nylon strings, lighter steel strings and a light attack. It scratches and dents easily and has only endured in steel string gutars made in Japan and coated in polyurethane. Ramirez classical guitars have been very successful in this wood. Guitars in cedar usually have a warmer sound which can still be quite bright. They play in quicker than spruce guitars and are said to not have as long a tone life. I use Western Red Cedar in Fleta - style classical guitars.
King Billy Pine
Like the spruces, this fine grained Tasmanian pine grow in the snow country. It has a pinkish colour and fine aroma. It is not as strong as the spruces and has to be worked thicker. I use it in Irish bouzoukis for its strong midrange voice. Some Australian violin makers use it exclusively for tops.
Huon Pine
Huon Pine grows along the rivers in Tasmania. It is an aromatic, oily timber which has very close annular rings and a butter yellow colour when new. Being softer and heavier than spruce it makes quieter guitars, but has a very rich sustained sound. Steel string guitars with smaller bodies tend to sound bigger in this wood. I first used it experimentally in the early 1980s and have had repeat orders based on the sound of those early guitars.
Bunya
Bunya is an Australian conifer which used to be plentiful in North Eastern Australia. It has an excellent stiffness to weight ratio like the spruces but is not as differentiated in the annular rings as it grows in sub tropical and tropical areas with less seasonal variation in temperature and sunlight. Its use was pioneered by Bradley Clarke when he was in charge of production in the Maton guitar factory. I like it very much for some models of steel string guitar and am still experimenting with it. It makes loud, strong sounding instruments with a different sound to the spruce guitars. There are some pictures of a Bunya top here
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