What is Bearclaw Sitka spruce?
Bearclaw Siika spruce has a shallow, cross-grain curl that seems to increase cross-grain stiffness in acoustic guitars. Many luthiers feel that it enhances the tone and sustain of spruce. Strong, focused tone with strong fundamental — perfect for flatpicking styles.
Are spruce wood guitars good?
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.
What Causes Bear Claw spruce?
Bear Claw is actually just caused by variations in the direction of the wood fibers as a tree grows. When spruce grows it generally has a very straight grain. However, sometimes this straight pattern can be interrupted, causing the grain to become wavy in a small portion of the wood.
What is a bear claw on a guitar?
It refers to a pattern in the grain occasionally showing up in all species of spruce. Basically it is a ripple in the fibers of the wood and is similar to the patterns you get in some maples (the curly stuff or “quilt”). But in spruce, bear claws are not uniform but random and asymmetrical.
What is Adirondack spruce?
Adirondack spruce has a “springy” quality. Acoustically, it produces a robust output and more dynamic range than Sitka, which allows it to be driven aggressively for greater volume without distortion. The midrange tones also tend to have a richer, sweeter quality.
Why is Sitka spruce so good for guitars?
Arguably the most common tonewood, Sitka Spruce is a well-rounded tonewood, one suited for many styles of playing. It’s known for its tight grain pattern and its high stiffness and relative lightness, translating to a broad dynamic range that stands up well when strummed heartily.
Which is better mahogany or spruce?
Mahogany’s stronger than spruce. Side/back woods are usually more dense than the topwood. However, Mahogany is light enough and strong enough to be used as a topwood.
What is the difference between spruce and Sitka spruce?
We have sitka is not the best of spruces for flat top guitars. We have no difference between sitka and red spruce if the densities are the same….Buck.
| Red Spruce | Sitka Spruce | |
|---|---|---|
| Specific Gravity @ 12%MC | .37, .43 | .36, .42 |
| Janka Hardness | 490 lbf | 510lbf |
| Modulus of Rupture | 9580 lb/sq.in | 10,150 lb/sq.in |
Is Adirondack spruce better than Sitka spruce?
Adirondack Spruce It is the king of spruces. Prior to World War II, it was the soundboard tonewood of choice for Martin and other makers. 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.
What is the difference between Sitka spruce and spruce?
I very much doubt that two ‘identical’ guitars made with Red spruce and Sitka tops of the same density and cross grain stiffness would sound any more different than two made from ‘matched’ tops of the same log….Buck.
| Red Spruce | Sitka Spruce | |
|---|---|---|
| Crushing strength | 4,870 lb/sq.in | 5,550 lb/sq.in |
Is Spruce good for fingerstyle?
Sitka Spruce It’s known for its tight grain pattern and its high stiffness and relative lightness, translating to a broad dynamic range that stands up well when strummed heartily. At the same time, it’s also quite responsive to fingerpicking, though a light touch may result in a thin sound.