What type of spruce on Gibson Fern

[carleshicks]

I have a 2003 Gibson fern and I am wondering what type of spruce top it has and how can you tell the different types of spruce by looking at them.

Carl it is Sitka.. Sitka is used on the ferns and the other models. Red Spruce is only used on the Master Model.

[carleshicks]

Thanks maveric I guese I should of asked you when I bought the mandolin. Just to let you know I am playing the Fern at least an hour a day I love it.

[Spruce]

"...and I am wondering what type of spruce top it has and how can you tell the different types of spruce by looking at them. "

Here (once again) is a quote from "Identifying Wood", my bible for ID'ing wood, by R.
Bruce Hoadley:

"The woods of red spruce (Picea rubens), white spruce (P. glauca) and black spruce (P. mariana) are usually designated simply as eastern spruce because they cannot be separated from one another. #In fact, they are similar to Engelmann spruce (P. engelmannii), which is often grouped with eastern spruce under the designation 'transcontinental spruce'. #However, Engelmann spruce usually has a more even growth rate, and its narrow growth rings often show a more abrupt transition from earlywood to latewood. #Norway (AKA "European", "German" or "Italian") spruce (P. abies) is indistinguishably similar to eastern species."

"Sitka spruce (P. sitchensis) is different in several ways from the transcontinental spruces. #Sitka spruce has a coarser texture and larger resin canals than the transcontinental spruces, which sometimes causes it to be confused with the pines. Microscopically, on tangential sections, the ray cells in Sitka are rounded or squarish, whereas in other spruces the ray cells in tangential view appear oval or elongated in the grain direction. #Large bordered pits are commonly paired on the radial walls of earlywood tracheids, in contrast to the usually single pitting in other spruces".

So-ooo, theoretically one cannot positively ID the species of spruce under varnish in a mandolin unless it is Sitka, which can be ID'ed using a 30-power hand lens.
That being said, one can make an educated guess based on how uneven the growth rings are (a common trait in red spruce is uneven growth rings) and the hardness of the wood (red tends to be hard under the fingernail)...

But I wouldn't bet the farm on my guess...

Cool Carl. I am glad you are enjoying the mandolin.

[GTison]

how long have you had the fern?

[carleshicks]

I have had it for about a month

[GTison]

I've had mine for about 9. I'm really getting into it's tone now. I think it sounds better(opened up?). I've got it set up better for me. I still feel blessed to have such a nice instrument.

[carleshicks]

Blessed is the word. I was really surprised at how nice a job Gibson is doing now. It sounds great and looks beautiful all but the white binding. I wish it was ivriod or maybe just a little less bright.

Carl the binding was that way because the True 1920's ferns had white binding not ivirod. check out the link below which is a beautiful 1927 Gibson fern.

http://www.frets.com/fretspages/Museum/Mandolin/Gibson/27F5/23f5.html