What is musical grade lumber?

What is musical grade lumber?

Tonewoods include the spruce & cedar most typically used for the tops of stringed instruments, the maple, mahogany, rosewood, walnut & cherry used for the necks, backs & sides, fingerboards & bridges. Tonewood is quartersawn – split through the center of a log, perpendicular to the tree’s growth rings.

What is Music wood?

Music wood is sometimes referred to as tonewood. It is used to create the tops, backs sides, fretboards and bridges of musical instruments. Woods cut from different trees or trees in different regions will vary in sound. They will also have slightly different weights and different densities.

What wood has the best resonance?

Redwood, the softest wood, had the lowest amplitude of 3580MU and resonated at a lower level of 87.0dB on loudness at 1480Hz. My experimental results showed that denser and harder wood such as red balau, birch, maple and red oak produced larger amplitude and higher power sound.

What kind of wood is used for instruments?

Wooden flutes, recorders, and baroque and classical period instruments may be made of various hardwoods, such as pear wood (Pyrus species), boxwood (Buxus species), or ebony (Diospyros species).

Why is spruce used in guitars?

Spruce is the most popular wood used for guitar tops, and recognisable by its pale colour and (usually) understated figuring. The reason for its popularity is because it has a tone that makes it a very good ‘all-rounder’. Engelmann spruce is typically from North America, and has a warmer, creamier tone than Sitka.

Which wood has the best sound?

You’re not going to be tested, but here are the ABCs of tonewoods — various woods and the sound qualities they’re noted for:

• Mahogany. As a guitar top, dense mahogany has a solid, punchy tone with low overtone content and good high-end response.
• Maple.
• Sitka Spruce.
• Red Spruce.
• Brazilian Rosewood.
• Indian Rosewood.
• Koa.

What is the most resonant wood for guitar?

“Rosewood is dense and heavy compared to other woods—almost so heavy that it sinks in water,” Boak says. “And it produces extremely warm and resonant tones.” In no small part due to its use in classic Martin guitars, Brazilian rosewood has long been considered the Holy Grail.

Is spruce good for instruments?

Softwoods. Spruces are often used in the sound boards of instruments from the lute, violin, oud, mandolin, guitar, and harpsichord families; as well as the piano. Spruce is particularly suited for this use because of its high stiffness-to-weight ratio.

Is spruce good for guitars?

Spruce is the most popular wood used for guitar tops, and recognisable by its pale colour and (usually) understated figuring. The reason for its popularity is because it has a tone that makes it a very good ‘all-rounder’. Spruce is a common species of wood, adding to its guitar material credentials.

Which is better spruce or cedar?

Cedar tends to be a less hard wood than spruce and gives, generally speaking, a quieter projection but more character, losing clarity when strummed hard; consequently, it tends to be favoured by finger pickers (hence its use in classical guitars!).

Is Spruce good wood for guitars?

Is Adirondack Spruce better than Sitka?

It is the king of spruces. For the most part, Adirondack spruce can be found on select high-end instruments. It’s a relatively heavy and stiff wood, having strong fundamentals, but a greater overtone content than Sitka, and it tends to be the loudest and liveliest of spruces as well.

Where do they get the best German spruce?

Moreover, if you have ever spent time talking wood with instrument makers in Germany, they will chuckle and tell you they consider “German spruce” not just a misnomer but an unlikelihood. They generally get their spruce from farther south, in Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland or France. This has always been the source of the best lutherie spruce.

What kind of stain to use on Spruce?

Workability: Easy to work, as long as there are no knots present. Glues and finishes well, though it can give poor (blotchy and inconsistent) results when being stained due to its closed pore structure. A sanding sealer, gel stain, or toner is recommended when coloring Spruce.

What kind of things can Sitka spruce be used for?

Common Uses: Lumber, boxes/crates, furniture, millwork, aircraft components, musical instrument soundboards, boatbuilding (masts and spars), wind turbine blades, and virtually any application where a wood material with a good strength-to-weight ratio is needed.

Which is stronger white spruce or white spruce?

Stronger than white spruce: medium in strength and above average in stiffness. 4.1% radial and 6.8% tangential, 13% volumetric. Plentiful. Temperate Northern Hemisphere: Throughout Canada’s Maritime Provinces and as far South as North Carolina, US.