European Spruce Soundboard for Dreadnought Guitar
Through our partnership with Madinter, Europe's premier tonewood supplier, we've finally secured this highly sought-after wood.
Revered by instrument makers for centuries, European Spruce (Picea abies) has been challenging to source and costly in the US. Thanks to our Madinter connection, we have a direct European source for this incredible wood. We're now able to offer this premium tonewood straight to you—far easier and more affordable than ever before.
You won't find a better price on these premium tops in North America.
Why is European Spruce so sought-after?
Also known as Carpathian Spruce, the exceptional stiffness-to-weight ratio gives each top impressive responsiveness and sustain. It's an ideal tonewood for any flat-picked or fingerstyle steel string acoustic guitar. The consistent grain structure and beautiful, creamy light color makes your build look as good as it sounds.
Bookmatched sets of two quartersawn halves. When joined they're large enough for a Dreadnought guitar.
- Each half is approximately 8-1/4" x 22" (210mm x 560mm)
- Sets are unsanded and approximately 3/16" (5mm) thick, ready for thickness-sanding to your own specs.
Use our grading system to choose your soundboard:
Color: Higher grade soundboards have more consistent color (color affects the instrument's appearance only, not its tone).
Grain straightness: Higher soundboard grades have straighter, tighter, and more uniform grain. While closely spaced grain has been traditionally favored, luthiers have found that wider grain can produce very good tone.
Quartersawn grain: The higher the grade, the more closely quartersawn the wood. Perfectly quartered wood is more dimensionally stable and moves proportionally with changing temperature and humidity environments. This helps to ensure structural integrity and resists cracking better than other types of cuts.
Grain run-out: Our soundboards are sawn from split billets to reduce the amount of grain "run-out," caused by a twist in the tree. By splitting the log, the twist is followed when sawing. Higher grade soundboards have less run-out.
Origin and drying: Our soundboards (unless otherwise noted) are from western North America, and have been kiln-dried and stored in a climate controlled environment.