Old Growth Red Spruce Top Wood for Mandolin or Violin
Exceptional quality, limited availability
Rare Red Spruce from a few choice trees felled at high altitude in the Appalachian mountains.
Old Growth trees grew in competition with surrounding trees for rain, sunlight and nutrients. Developing slowly, their grain is closer-spaced than other Red Spruce.
Red Spruce was used on the most prized Martins from the late 1920s through 1945, and Gibson also used it until 1945. For many collectors today, there is simply no comparison to the Red Spruce tops from that Golden Era.
Air-dried wedges are ready for edge joining, gluing and carving in your shop. Sized for either mandolin or violin top.
Bookmatched sets of two quartersawn halves, each approximately:
Each half is approximately 23" x 6" (584mm x 152mm) and
tapers from approximately 1/4" x 1" (6.35mm x 25.4mm) thickness.
Red Spruce (also called Adirondack Spruce) responds to the full range of attack on the strings. Where other top woods decay or sound muffled when played hard, Red Spruce stays clear and powerful. It looks like other Spruce varieties, with wider (and often more pronounced) grain lines, warmer color and more color variation. Higher grades have more even color and closer grain lines.