Torrefied Red Spruce Soundboard for Dreadnought Guitar
Get the tone of Old Growth spruce from new sets!
We found the wood time machine! Torrefication gives new guitars the properties of seasoned vintage wood for that rich "played-in" tone. With fresh wood, it takes decades to achieve this kind of tone and performance.
Torrefication involves carefully heat-treating the wood in an oxygen-free kiln. The wood actually changes at the molecular level—the end result is new wood that has the same cell structure of well-aged decades-old wood.
We took our best Adirondack Red Spruce (Picea rubens), and made it even better by torrefication. The change is notable: builders have reported improved tap tone, greater strength, and lighter weight.
Amazing to build with
Not only do these tops sound great but they're also more dimensionally stable than untreated fresh wood. It's less prone to cracking, splitting and warping, not only when building, but over the life of the instrument.
If you warranty your instruments, you'll love the extra assurance of knowing you're not as likely to see complicated repair work that's a result of humidity or temperature changes.
Old growth tone with new growth value
New growth and old growth Red Spruce are the same species, the only difference is these sets are from second growth Red Spruce which have grown faster under less harsh growing conditions.
These sets are more readily available and more affordable for higher grades than Old Growth Red Spruce. We hand select our Red Spruce for the best specimens that have the highest quality, stiffness, and the straightest grain.
After torrification, this amazing wood is closer to vintage sound and performance than ever before.
Get vintage tone from new wood!
Bookmatched sets of two quartersawn halves. When joined they're large enough for a Dreadnought guitar.
- Each half is approximately 8-1/2" x 21" (216mm x 533mm)
- Sanded sets are thickness-sanded to 0.125" - 0.130" (3.18mm - 3.30mm)
- Unsanded sets are approximately 5/32" (4mm) 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.
