Red cedar and red Spruce are two different trees. Both are native to
North America. red spruce (picea rubens) is also known by Adirondack
spruce and comes from, you guessed it; the Eastern part of North
America along the Adirondack range. Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)
is native to the Pacific Northwest.
Adirondack or red spruce is famed for pre-war Martin guitars. It is
supposed to exhibit properties close to that of European spruces which
is not surprising since at one time the western shore of Europe and the
eastern shore of North America where probably one. I don't know of
anyone who has made the connection and tried it for a lute yet, but
it's on my bucket list of things to do. It is very expensive and
difficult to get wide pieces because it was indiscriminately logged out
by our thoughtful ancestors, but you can still get it.
Western red cedar is offered as an option by Dan Larson and Mel Wong
told me one of the nicest sounding lutes he built had a WRC top, and I
re-topped my cheap Pakistani-built lute with a WRC top and it sounds
beautiful.
My first "from scratch" build was a vihuela with an Engleman spruce
top. I think it also sounds very nice despite my inexperience in
luthiery.
Cheers,
Mark
On Thu, May 17, 2012 at 7:52 PM, James Jackson
<[1]weirdgeor...@googlemail.com> wrote:
Shouldn't red spruce be synonymous with red cedar?
I've heard of cedar topped lutes - from what I understand (And I
really
don't understand much yet!), cedar can work well on smaller lutes,
A,
B, C and D ren lutes.
Unless I'm getting this wrong and red spruce IS different?
My Englemann soundboard arrived. It's really an excellent piece of
timber. No run out, or short grain, amazing tap tone, feels lovely
and
dry crispy under thumb, and the grain is VERY fine in the area
where
the rose is to be cut, which is a plus!
It's actually the nicest soundboard I've bought yet...I've bought
several middle grade Alpine spruce boards, non of them have the
tap
tone or the lack of short grain this one has. I'm very happy!
On 17 May 2012 22:57, Tim@Buckeye
<[1][2]tam...@buckeye-express.com>
wrote:
James,
To further confuse the issue, Northern Tonewoods offers Red Spruce
soundboards.
[2][3]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
<[3][4]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][4][5]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
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References
1. mailto:[6][7]aul...@comcast.net
2.
[7][8]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
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References
1. mailto:[9]tam...@buckeye-express.com
2. [10]http://www.hvgb.net/~tonewood/acousticguitar.htm
3. mailto:[11]weirdgeor...@googlemail.com
4. mailto:[12]aul...@comcast.net
5. [13]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
6. mailto:[14]aul...@comcast.net
7. [15]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
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Mark Day
[16]http://neowalla.smugmug.com/
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References
1. mailto:weirdgeor...@googlemail.com
2. mailto:tam...@buckeye-express.com
3. http://www.hvgb.net/%7Etonewood/acousticguitar.htm
4. mailto:weirdgeor...@googlemail.com
5. mailto:aul...@comcast.net
6. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
7. mailto:aul...@comcast.net
8. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
9. mailto:tam...@buckeye-express.com
10. http://www.hvgb.net/%7Etonewood/acousticguitar.htm
11. mailto:weirdgeor...@googlemail.com
12. mailto:aul...@comcast.net
13. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
14. mailto:aul...@comcast.net
15. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
16. http://neowalla.smugmug.com/
