-----Original Message----- On 17.01.2015 20:54, Herbert Ward wrote: >> Do lutes and guitars compete directly for tone wood supplies? >> >> In other words, do lute builders and guitar builders use the same >> criteria in selecting spruce lumber for soundboards? >> >> >> >> > From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf > Of Markus Johann Mühlbauer > Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 3:08 PM > To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Spruce for lute vs guitar. > > There seems to be a lot of confusion about what tonewood is supposed to > be. Some use the term only for wood that is especially suited to be used > as soundboard, others use it for any wood that can be used to build a > good instrument. > > I've looked up some properties of soundboard woods in a book and found > that there seems to be a difference in desired growth ring distance > depending on the type of instrument you want to build. I guess guitars > are not so much different from lutes, so there should be much difference > for the physical properties of the tonewood. This leads me to the > assumption that the desired growth ring spacing is the same for both > instruments. > > Another much more interesting aspect is the species of tree used. Usualy > Lute soundboards are made of Picea abies (Norway Spruce). Guitar > soundboards can be made far greater choice of softwoods (mostly new > world woods not available in Europe at the times lutes were played). > Some of those "substitutes" like Sitka spruce are as good or somtimes > even better than Norway spruce. > > So technically one could say they compete, but guitar builders have more > possible sources for tonewoods. > > Regards, > Markus
I certainly agree with your bottom line, Markus, that "guitar builders have more possible sources for tonewoods." However, Picea abies is still in very high demand as soundboards for modern classical guitars (marketed to US luthiers under many trade names, perhaps most commonly as "European" or "German spruce" (although I believe very little of the current supply comes from Germany). Given the relative volume of guitar production, even considering "classical" guitars in comparison to steel-strung incarnations, I'd wager there is a pretty substantial competition with lute builders for quality timber. That's only an assumption and I have no idea how what kind of influence that has on markets and production. Sitka (P. sitchensis) is really only prized in high-tension, steel-strung modern acoustic guitars. I've only encountered a few classical builds in Sitka. Of the North American spruces, Engelmann (P. engelmannii) is probably the most popular for classical instruments. . . . And of course, western red cedar (Thuja plicata) is also prized as classical guitar tonewood, although its favor seems to wax and wane a bit in comparison to spruce(s). I actually have a vihuela that Chad Neal, a local luthier friend, rebuilt using hybrid Lutz spruce (P. x lutzii) which is actually a white (P. glauca) x Engelmann spruce hybrid. I think it works very well in context. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__F-xZ4YNaFk/SsLPMHXvD_I/AAAAAAAAAAU/wFEGYRuLxOc/s1600/IMG_5096.JPG Very slow growth--closely spaced grain--seems the most highly prized feature of soundboards whatever the timber (assuming an absence of flaw/defect like runout, etc.). However, the very few well-made (and sometimes very old) instruments I've encountered with widely spaced grain bring the rationale for that status quo into question. Best, Eugene To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
