wood experts.. please

[Hany Hayek]

I hope I am not boring you with this question
I ruined my first top, Douglas fir. It was my first attempt. I put my trust in the wrong person. I'll be carving my next top all the way through alone.
Now to my question. Is this Spruce. Here they call it Swede wood.

132807132808132809132809

[billhay4]

Hard to say from a picture, but, Hany, does it really matter? Is it a soft wood? Is it cut on the quarter? (Looks like it in one picture). Does it have a nice ring to it? If all of that is true, try it. Tops have been made of many different woods -- cedar, spruce, redwood, cypress, Douglas fir, etc. They all can sound nice if carved properly. Carve the outside first. Use a set of calipers and carve the inside to a specified dimension and then refine from there until it sounds nice.
Bill

[Hany Hayek]

Bill,

Thanks for your reply. You have always been a great support. I am not giving up yet. I'll start carving again.
I knocked on the wood and compared to the Douglas Fir it sounded the same.

[billhay4]

Hany, considering where you live, wood is a real problem. But, since you're a novice and an amateur (like me), the real issue is developing the technical woodworking skills you need to make a good instrument. Carving is not easy, so doing a few tops and backs will serve you well as this is where you develop the ability to make small changes with your gouges.
It's a process and a long one. I'm building a tenor guitar now and I'm amazed at the different issues I run into at every stage of the process. Got ready to glue the back on yesterday and found a brace that had split (not come unglued) lengthwise. I still don't know how this happened, but I'm darn glad it did before the top went on.
Good luck with this top. Let us know how it comes out.
Bill

[John Arnold]

Norway spruce (AKA European spruce) does grow in Sweden. I bought some 1 X 4's at the local lumberyard.