Little bit of bearclaw in the euro, Bruce. Most of it carved away though.
Little bit of bearclaw in the euro, Bruce. Most of it carved away though.
John Hamlett
www.hamlettinstruments.com
There was some wood that Collings picked out himself (yes, Bill) several years ago. That supply is probably long gone, but there was some maple that was harvested there, specifically for violins from what I was told, that was acquired on the same visit.
"your posts ... very VERY opinionated ...basing your opinion/recommendations ... pot calling ...kettle... black...sarcasm...comment ...unwarranted...unnecessary...."
One of my friends acquired a few sets of spruce for guitar tops from one of the known italian (or perhaps german) suppliers. Beautiful tight staright grain and perfect color but... one of the set still had original stamp/sticker of US dealer specializing in Engelmann...
So whenever I see such nice "European" spruce set I am really skeptic about its real rigin. European spruce rarely grows older than 350 years even in good conditions - most trees die naturally before hey are 300 - so anything that is above 20 gpi for guitar size is suspicious at least.
I've heard about spruce for guitars being imported from caucassian mountains which is likely different species from european.
Adrian
I ran into Hans Fuchs (a well-known German tonewood supplier) in a logyard near Liverpool, picking out about 5 truckloads of English Sycamore to be milled into what would be called "German Maple" by the English violin makers when they bought it back...
He made no bones about traveling the world in search of wood that would eventually carry the German tag, and he's right...
It wasn't his company who called it German--it was the tonewood re-sellers and luthiers who gave it that moniker...
...and yes, he loved Engelmann...
Orcas Island Tonewoods
Free downloads of my mandolin CDs:
"Mandolin Graffiti"
"Mangler Of Bluegrass"
"Overhead At Darrington"
"Electric Mandolin Graffiti"
1994 Gibson F5L - Weber signed
"Mandolin brands are a guide, not gospel! I don't drink koolaid and that Emperor is naked!"
"If you wanna get soul Baby, you gots to get the scroll..."
"I would rather play music anyday for the beggar, the thief, and the fool!"
"Perfection is not attainable; but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence" Vince Lombardi
Playing Style: RockMonRoll Desperado Bluegrass Desperado YT Channel
Provenance...oh boy...
What's really weird are all the vintage instruments for sale (several in our own classifieds) that state the species of spruce that is in the instrument, without any proof whatsoever...
There are quite a few well-known vintage instrument dealers who profess to know what species is in everything, and then that instrument goes throughout it's lifetime with an "Engelmann" or "Adi" label, all based on bogus conjecture...
Again, under varnish, you or I cannot tell what species the spruce is (with the exception of Sitka which can be ID'd with a 30x hand lens and a bit of practice...)
...and yeah, I'm on record as stating that the Loars are all Adi, but I sure as hell wouldn't bet my house on it...
It's just my opinion, and I'd actually be surprised if I was right...
Orcas Island Tonewoods
Free downloads of my mandolin CDs:
"Mandolin Graffiti"
"Mangler Of Bluegrass"
"Overhead At Darrington"
"Electric Mandolin Graffiti"
Thanks for this thread; I found it enlightening. I am in the process of putting together a bouzouki. It is my first build and I am going to do a carved top and have been trying to decide what type of spruce to use. It sounds like without the years of experience it is really a roll of the dice.
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