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So, a while ago I received in addition to my order a top that's unsellable by the standards of the tonewood dealer because of a knot (shadow) in the OM template area. I used it to practice jointing and found that after jointing it's perfectly usable as a smaller body top (L-00, parlor). If I turned the top around, it would appear defect free from the outside, and the know would sit on the kerfing of an OM guitar (if I moved the pattern a bit from the one drawn on the piece.

The tonewood dealer's specialty is Red Spruce, but he also sells Sitka and Engelmann. I measured the density of the piece and it comes in at 7.79 g/in3. The taptone is incredible. It rings much longer than any other Spruce top I've tapped (I have limited experience though...2 Sitka, 1 Lutz, and this one). It's nicely quartered and super stiff along and across the grain. And it has tight grain and even color.
From my description I would guess Red Spruce, but I somehow can't belive getting such a nice top for free if it's Red Spruce (even though it's only usable without "cheating" for smaller guitars).

Is there any way you could help identify the piece? Here's a pic.



The cross marks where the knot comes out on the other side and I can still move the pattern down 1 inch or so.

thanks a lot,
Christian

My understanding is that there is no way to reliably tell which species of spruce you've got simply from looking at the wood. Even under a microscope it can't be done. It's true that Sitka 'usually' has a certain color cast, and Red a particular smell, but they don't always, and other species can end up with the same color or smell depending on how they're processed. Density varies all over the lot as well: I have some wood that was sold to me as Engelmann spruce that is among the most dense in my stash, and that's usually a low-density wood. This is one place where we have to trust our suppliers.

Thanks Alan,

I kind of feared this would be the answer...oh well, I'm glad I got a usable set for free, and if I should ever sell the guitar with the mentioned set, I'll just call it "Mystery Spruce"

Christian

Chris, I think it would help our guessing if you would plane the surface smooth.

As Alan said, Sitka tends to have a red buttery darker tone than the other spruces. It becomes very obvious if you put one next to the other. Euro and Engleman are near white but Euro has a bit of a golden cast, plus red to it. I didn't handle much Engelmann but my pieces have less distinction between grain lines, and the dark lines are very thin. There is also a sort of yellowish-green color content which is different from the golden/red of Euro.

Here's a side by side with Lutz (Sitka color), Engelman (small billet), Swiss and Austrian spruces (not that the country would matter).

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Build log

Thanks Alexandru,

I'll appreciate any educated guesses (although I think after looking at the image that the answer will be Sitka )



Christian