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][email protected]> wrote: James, To further confuse the issue, Northern Tonewoods offers Red Spruce soundboards. [2]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][email protected]> 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][email protected]> 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][5]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > -- > > References > > 1. mailto:[6][email protected] > 2. [7]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > -- References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. http://www.hvgb.net/~tonewood/acousticguitar.htm 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. mailto:[email protected] 5. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 6. mailto:[email protected] 7. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
