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For top bracing on a steel string Dred, Whats the difference between Sitka Spruce and Engelmann Spruce ??
Gregg

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Gregg

On average, sitka is more stiff. But on any given pieces that rule may be broken.

Sitka sounds good, Engelmann doesn't.
Sorry - I don't like Engelmann.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Are you talking about the difference between Sitka and Englemann for the actual bracing? In general Englemann is a little more..........springy. Either material works good for bracing. I hand split my bracing from billets of various materials. Alot of the Englemann bracing I've seen commercially available has alot of runout.
If you're going to use bracing that's already sawed, and surfaced I'd recomment getting some from Shane Neifer. http://www.highmountaintonewood.com/index.htm The species isn't as important as how it's cut.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

On the average:

Sitka tends to be denser and stiffer.
Engelmann tends to have slightly lower damping.
Engelmann comes from smaller trees, so it might be hader to find stock with no runout or grain curvature.
Sitka tends to be darker in color.

That said, some of the densest and stiffest top wood I've got is Engelmann.
Some Sitka spruce has notably low damping.
I've got some old Engelmann that's pretty dark, and have seen some lovely white Sitka.

IMO, spruce is spruce, it all varies a lot, and you have to go by the piece.

Thanks Guys,
Gregg

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Gregg