Red Spruce Top Wood for Mandolin or Violin
Exceptional tonewood tops from a few choice trees felled at high altitude in the Appalachian mountains.
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 half is approximately 16" x 6" (406mm x 152mm) and
tapers from approximately 1/4" to 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.
Limited availability: See our special selection of Old Growth Red Spruce (sold separately). Old Growth trees grew in competition with surrounding trees for rain, sunlight and nutrients. Growing slowly, their grain is closer-spaced than regular Red Spruce.