​​GERMAN SPRUCE

​A pale, homogenous, creamy coloured material that has a similar look to engleman spruce.  It is a highly prized soundboard and has been used for generations on bowed instruments.  This material is light weight but stiffer than Engleman and is known to produce a balanced tone, quick response and impressive headroom.

​ADIRONDACK SPRUCE

​Adirondack or red spruce is a material that has been widely used on north american flat top guitars for many generations.  It is a relatively new soundboard in the gypsy jazz context, but it is a great selection due to its ability to remain sweet and strong when an aggressive attack is applied.  Because the logs red spruce is harvested from are relatively small the soundboards often exhibit more 'character' than is typically seen in other spruces.  This can include thick, dark grain lines, significant colour variations and less uniform grain widths across the soundboard.

​BEARCLAW SPRUCE

​The term 'bearclaw' refers to a figure that can occur in a spruce soundboard.  It is most commonly found in sitka spruce and can be as subtle as just a few swirls or in the most extreme cases appearing as a consistent, almost lightening like pattern throughout the soundboard.  It is difficult to discern how bearclaw might contribute to the tone of a guitar but from a woodworking point of view, these swirls and twists of the grain appear to be a little stiffer so may add some rigidity to a soundboard.