450 Year Old Red Spruce Charles J. Horner F5

[Chuck Naill]

This is a February 2009 Charles J. Horner F5 made with Red spruce from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that was sourced by member and tonewood expert John Arnold in 1995 after Hurricane Opal brought down the tree onto Highway 441 near the Appalachian Trail.

[Skip Kelley]

Nice looking mandolin! Really nice figure in the inlay and maple back!

[mandomania7923]

sold?

[mandozilla]

Man Chuck that's beautiful...I wonder what would one of those set a body back!

[Chuck Naill]

Man Chuck that's beautiful...I wonder what would one of those set a body back!

Send me a PM.

chuck

[Michael Gowell]

Wow, 450 years...I didn't know Spruces in the US could get that old. I think with all fully mature trees (100+ yrs.) their topside mass begins to overpower the anchoring root system and they start to go down...yellow birch quickly, sequoia not so quickly...

[Chuck Naill]

Wow, 450 years...I didn't know Spruces in the US could get that old. I think with all fully mature trees (100+ yrs.) their topside mass begins to overpower the anchoring root system and they start to go down...yellow birch quickly, sequoia not so quickly...

Below is a cross section of the log and the source ( John Arnold) providing written documentation from the "small" end of the log. There are sections where the grain is so dense that they appear as solid to the naked eye. The date at the top is 1588.




John's quote:

"This is a section from the small end of the smaller log, where I counted 407 rings. That tree was already 14 feet tall in the year 1588. The dates I have highlighted are 1588 (at the center), 1620, 1688 (100 years old), 1776, 1788 (200 years old), 1865, and 1888 (300 years old). "

[Scott Austin]

That is a nice piece of documentation do you have an idea as to the girth of the tree? or circumference Thanks Chuck.
Scott

[Chuck Naill]

That is a nice piece of documentation do you have an idea as to the girth of the tree? or circumference Thanks Chuck.
Scott

This is the late Ted Davis measureing one of the Smoky Reds. I will see if I can find out from John the answer to your question.

Where else can you get a mandolin and know the wood from tree to instrument. The added plus is having Charles Horner be your builder.









chuck

[greg_tsam]

So how does it sound?

I researched it (250-350 years) and was wondering how does it differ from others?

http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/subsite/maritimetrees/redspruce

[Chuck Naill]

So how does it sound?

I researched it (250-350 years) and was wondering how does it differ from others?

This Red spruce has been used to make violins, mandolins, and guitars. In each build the tone could be characterized as a mellow tone with good sustain and projection.

What makes the wood unique is where it was sourced and how tight the grain is. Most of the wood was sold as guitar tops making available tops for mandolins and violins scarce.

Here are some photos of the sections were the tree grew.





chuck

[PaulO]

All I have to say is How Cool.

Smokin' Spruce from the Smokies.

Paul

[Scott Austin]

Where else can you get a mandolin and know the wood from tree to instrument. The added plus is having Charles Horner be your builder.

This is a very personal touch which I find very interesting ,I am thinking of the future mandolin .
Thanks for this post .
Scott

[Chuck Naill]

This is a very personal touch which I find very interesting ,I am thinking of the future mandolin .
Thanks for this post .
Scott

For me the musical instrument "package" ,if you will ,is more than going to a store and buying something. The wood was a tree that grew somewhere, weathered storms, parasites, disease, and climate changes to become large enough to be used for an instrument.

At some time a logger cut the tree or something like in the case of Hurricaine Opal brought the tree to the ground. Trucks, equipment, chain saws, axes, wedges, paraffin wax, band saws, stacking, etc went into making the even allowing the wood to become available. While there is nothing wrong with ordering your wood over the internet, there is something profound about making something from the tree.

Lastly, the wood must fall into the hands of a builder. What happens or does not happens then will determine if the tree is properly respected for its centuries of growth.

In the case of this red spruce, the reason that it was not sourced before the park was established was that it was inaccessible. Much of the lands that makes up the Great Smoky Mountains were logged by the Little River Company.

When you consider that in 1588, Stradivarius had not been born and the Amati brother were second generation instrument builders, the whole history thing makes playing a mandolin from this wood something special.

I have included a photo of a guitar John Arnold built Zane Fairchild using Smokys red spruce.

chuck

[Scott Austin]

Chuck ,
I agree with your above post completely,I am a tree hugging carpenter, when building something I think of the materials I am using and their origin and find it gives me a better feel for the finished product as well as a better finished product.
Scott

[Scott Austin]

by the way that is a very nice looking guitar

[Scott Austin]

One more thing a sense of history makes for an enlightened life. In my humble opinion.

[mandopete]

All I can say is, wow! Those are some fantastic photos and some wonderful history. It would be great to have this sort of "provenance" for any musical instrument.

Question - in the picture of Ted Davis above with the tree stump and tape measure I see sections marked 1, 2, 3 and 4. Is this what is meant by the term "quarter sawn" ?

[Scott Austin]

think of the log end as a pie and cut into quarters,better and stronger cross grain in the wood
Scott

[Michael Gowell]

Chuck - I was not for a moment doubting the 450-year age of the Spruce, simply marveling at the age that tree achieved. I am delighted, however, that such a rich thread ensued.

[Chuck Naill]

Chuck - I was not for a moment doubting the 450-year age of the Spruce, simply marveling at the age that tree achieved. I am delighted, however, that such a rich thread ensued.

Not to worry, I just like to provide good documentation. I got that from hanging around John Arnold for the past 25 years he being an ME.

Question - in the picture of Ted Davis above with the tree stump and tape measure I see sections marked 1, 2, 3 and 4. Is this what is meant by the term "quarter sawn" ?

Yes, then the individual quarters are then "sliced" up for guitar tops. At the end of that process and wedge is left. That wedge is what mandolins and violins are carved from.

When you "slice" the wood each adjacent piece becomes the book match for the first slice you cut. This slicing is performed with a large band saw called a re-saw. Any luthier with better or knowledge that what I have described is incorrect, please respond.

chuck

[Scott Austin]

Chuck that is a informative description
Scott

[Bill Snyder]

Here is diagram showing quartersawn, flatsawn and riftsawn. Quartersawn tends to be more stable than flatsawn.

[Bill Snyder]

Book matched would be cutting a board as shown by the dashed line and openning it up like a book and gluing it as illustrated.
The illustration looks more like a flatsawn board, but it still shows bookmatching.

[Scott Austin]

more gooder yet.