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Home : Bodies, necks, wood : Acoustic guitar: Soundboards, tops

Acoustic guitar: Soundboards, tops



Dreadnought Soundboards
Sitka Spruce
Engelmann Spruce
Bearclaw Sitka Spruce


Small Guitar Soundboards
Classical, 000, and parlor size guitars
Sitka Spruce
Engelmann Spruce
Western Red Cedar
Use our grading system to choose your soundboard...
Color: Higher soundboard grades have more consistent color (color affects the instrument's appearance only, not its tone).

Grain straightness: Higher soundboard grades have straighter, more uniform grain due to slower wood growth, with more grain lines per inch. Variations in grain straightness generally don't affect the wood's structural integrity. Closely spaced grain has been traditionally favored, but luthiers have found that wider grain can produce very good tone.

Quartersawn grain: The higher the grade, the more closely quartersawn the wood. Higher grade soundboards are usually stiffer, stronger and more resilient, and less likely to deform under string tension.

Grain 'run-out': Our soundboards are sawn from split billets to reduce the amount of grain "run-out." Run-out is caused by a twist in the tree: by splitting the log, the twist is followed when sawing. Higher grade soundboards have less run-out, for more strength. However, properly braced lower grades can be excellent soundboards, especially for classical guitars. Englemann spruce trees grow at higher altitutes, and usually have some run-out due to their smaller diameters.

Origin and drying: Our soundboards are from western North America, and have been kiln-dried and stored for up to a year.

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