James, To further confuse the issue, Northern Tonewoods offers Red Spruce soundboards.
http://www.hvgb.net/~tonewood/acousticguitar.htm I'm in the middle of building an A lute with one of their soundboards. Tap tone is very clear and bright. I don't know how the lute will sound, but it should be pretty bright. Tim Sent from my iPhone On May 17, 2012, at 8:06 AM, James Jackson <weirdgeor...@googlemail.com> wrote: > Thanks for your advice, > > I've decided to go for Englemann. I'm going for grade 7 (Second down > from highest on their grade) which the timber supplier describes as > "Near perfection - very slow growth, the widest > growth ring approximately 2mm within the template area. > Very limited acceptance of colour variation, otherwise same as > grade 8. Best possible quartering and > the minimum possible run-out (short grain). The wood will > be stiff with a high pitched tap tone." > So hopefully, I should be in for a good soundboard!! > James. > On 16 May 2012 13:35, Louis Aull <[1]aul...@comcast.net> wrote: > > James, > The high grade Englemann I have used produces a very warm full > sound. > It is also by far the best looking wood. It has to be about 20% > thicker > than Alpine for the same strength. I have not worked with Alpine > because the few pieces I have purchased (top grade) were of poor > quality by comparison. I like to use Sitka spruce on ren lutes for > it's > brightness. > Now some words of caution: the soft part of the wood is very soft > and > will pull out with tape. Chip carving on Englemann is extremely > difficult due to that softness. It would rather tear than cut. > Other > rosette carving produces a lot of fuzz and is difficult. I don't > bother with the chip carving and focus on perfecting the rosette. > The > only tape I have found that will not pull the soft wood out is > drafting > tape, used and removed with great caution. I usually leave a few > tenths > of mm around the edges for the final sanding to get the divots in > the > soft wood flat again. It soaks up dirt, stain, and varnish like a > sponge so plan on being more cleanly. That same sponge effect > makes it > glue better. Anyone who plays one of my Englemann lutes wears a > pinky > protector or does not touch the top. (Including Hoppy Smith) > Is it worth it? To me, no doubt. After my first Englemann top, I > wouldn't play the others. I have since replaced all the other > tops. > Louis Aull > -- > To get on or off this list see list information at > [2]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > -- > > References > > 1. mailto:aul...@comcast.net > 2. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
