SITKA SPRUCE - Picea sitchensis - A classic acoustic guitar tonewood - Tommy's Tonewoods
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- Опубліковано 17 вер 2024
- Are you a sitka spruce or european spruce person? This isn't the finest example I've handled but it should give you an idea of whats going on with this soundboard material, Picea sitchensis.
Very nice tonewood, i have two old Larrivee and i found the "mature " Sitka soundboard on both Guitars very versatile, glassy sounding and warm, exellent for the flat picking ang good for the fingerpicking
versatile is a great way to describe it!
Thank you so much for sharing this kind of knowledge. I'm so grateful that the algorithm or whatever other forces finally brought us together. I didn't know if it my soul was quietly craving this kind of knowledge and content. Much love and gratitude to you brother.
I’m convinced there’s a kind of magic re all of these woods, such as altitude, growth rates and that’s before we delve into sinker, bog stuff and seasoned stuff from tunnels ect? Whatever it is, I’m kinda ok with the mystery of it all.
Its one of the (many) joys of making guitars!
Sitka is probably the most used top on acoustic guitars. That said - there must be a good reason - after all, it does sound very nice indeed. When I compare my Cedar top guitar to my Sitka top guitar, both made by the same luthier, I hear the warmth of the Cedar compared to the brighter sound of the Sitka. Of course, the back and sides of these guitars have different tonewoods, the former Madagascar Rosewood and the latter East Indian Rosewood. This, in my opinion, does have a genuine influence in the overall sound of the guitar, however, the outcome still makes sense with the top wood being the dominant influencer. I have heard Sitka - via the tap-tone test - demonstrating more vibrancy and sustain - so perhaps this set just needs the luthiers touch to bring it to life :) I would love to hear Sitka compared to some of the German or Swiss spruces - what do you think Tom? K.
Its a great top wood for sure Kevin and would totally agree with your characterisation! I definitely want to do a topwood showdown to compare and contrast in one video. Really appreciate your contributions to this channel Kevin!
Cheers Tom... I’m enjoying every moment...
I would like to see how Port Orford Cedar (POC) differ from Sitka spruce too. People said they are similar but POC for sure is not belong to spruce. And I seldom hear about it. I'm looking forward to have more information about POC ^^
Sitka Spruce grows close to the ocean. The tight growth rings are probably just a result of a cold climate, not necessarily the result of high elevation, as you suggest, since Sitka does not grow at high elevations. I like your videos -cheers!
Either way, climatic conditions explain tight growth rings. Thanks for watching ❤️
I have read where Sitka Spruce, pound for pound is stronger than steel. Sitka over Mahogany is a classic combo and can make an extremely fine guitar . . . IMHO
I'd totally agree with you on that! I made a sitka over sapele (close enough) guitar during my apprenticeship and it was as sweet as you like.
Its all very personal but the older I get the less I like the sound of Sitka maybe that its used on endless jangly mass-produced guitars means I never really hear a great Sitka guitar but Adiriondak or European is the general tonality I like to hear. But thanks another informative tonewood selection
Thanks Jez! It's all so personal isn't it?
Really enjoying the video's. I'm binge watching at the moment...I've used several sets of italian spruce, which i quite like. Any chance of a video on italian Spruce???
Great suggestion!
My guitar has Engelmann Spruce so I’d be interested to know what the deal is with that?
Same here. I got an Engelmann spruce top Dreadnought.
Listen to Stuart Ryan's recently acquired Collings OM JL. Amazing sound.
Sitka top.
Oh boy!! what a guitar, perfectly complements Stuart's amazing playing, the guy is a beast.
Shall have to check that out myself.
I like Sitka for Braces as, even if it's a bit denser, it has a very high resistance to creep, so the top tends to fatigue and deform less in the long run.
interesting! can you expand on the creep resistance? ty!
@@TomSandsGuitars Trevor Gore explains somewhere in his book that spruce species not only have excellent stiffness to mass ratio and low damping, but also good resistance to creep (or fatigue) : when submitted to repeated stress (vibrations from the top), they tend to stay stiff longer and deform very little. Whereas Red Cedar for example, although it's stiffness/mass and damping are often amazing and superior, it is much more susceptible to lose it's properties as a result of stress : The brace doesn't hold as well in the long run, becomes less stiff, so the guitar doesn't sound as good any more and may deform in ways that cause action problems. It could still be an option for a guitar you want to sound amazeballs but don't expect to last very long. Some Flamenco players can live with that, especially if it's very light.
As for Sitka in particular, one of my teachers told me that it fatigues less than Engelmann or other spruce species. I can't confirm that it's true, but I trust him enough to believe it is :)
Enjoyed your video. How can one tell the difference between Sitka and Adirondack spruce from looking at material to be used for a guitar top?
Any possibility of a demonstration of Lutz spruce, a naturally occurring hybrid of Sitka and either Engleman or White spruce?
i'd love some lutz, i'll look to bring some in
I found a set I used in a build from High Mountain Tonewoods in Terrace, B.C., Canada. They were great to work with, even sent me some bracing stock. The top was beautiful with very tight grain. I paired it with some very straight grained Cocobola I’d been saving for four or five years. Needless to say I was pleased with both timber’s.
So European Spruce has more brightness or mid and top end than regular North American spruce?
I'd say thats a fair assessment
Dude you need a better mic or need to turn the mic up. Can barely hear you. Otherwise I love these tonewood talks. I love learning about them and seeing what they can look like!
Hi William, what device are you watching on? I highly recommend using good headphones for these videos. This mic is a broadcast quality lavelier mic so I'm not sure thats the problem? The volume on my phone and mac appears to be fine. Thanks for watching!
@@TomSandsGuitars Watching on my laptop and even with my bluetooth headphones it's light on the sound. Maybe you are just a softer spoken guy haha I love the channel though
@@williamcatalano1762 🤣perhaps! Can you do me a favour and see if you’re having this problem on other TT videos? Thank you!
@@TomSandsGuitars No problem. I will let you know!
@@TomSandsGuitars I think it's across the board. I would try to turn the volume up a bit more on it and let us turn it down if needed. Just my view on it though do what you wish. Still love the channel and what you do though!