- About the Wood -

Old World Tonewood specializes in European Carpathian Spruce and "Sycamore" Maple tonewood.  Our wood is harvested from the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe.  We also offer European ash for guitar, and occasionally other species including indigenous North American species.  Generally, the wood is offered for sale as soon as the moisture content is low enough for shipping - most of the wood is aged 2 years or less.  For pieces listed individually, the last 2 digits of the item number indicate the winter the wood was cut (e.g.  "-06" was cut Winter 2005-2006); for pieces not individually listed please inquire as to age. Current prices are listed below for inventory stock, however many pieces are individually listed and priced - see the Catalog.  We always welcome questions about the wood, and prefer to work directly with you in selection of your tonewood. We are happy to send photographs and descriptions, too.


Carpathian Spruce…

This native spruce of the Alps is known in various languages as Sapin blanc du Nord, Epicea de Suede or Epicea de commun, épinette de Norvège, Abete rosso, Abeto rojo, gemeinefichte, jel europeiskaya, and Norway spruce. The scientific name is Picea abies  (formerly  classified as Picea excelsa). Even though Picea abies is widely distributed throughout Europe, there are subtle differences in its characteristics from region to region - possibly because spruces readily hybridize. Our spruce is harvested exclusively from the Carpathian Mountains.  This spruce has a low specific gravity, a very desirable strength to weight ratio, and is creamy white in color.  It is a joy to carve and has a beautiful ring-tone.  Carpathian spruce has a unique character, and one I think you will find very desirable.

Our spruce tonewood is carefully radial cut*, but is also available hand-split for violin, viola, and mandolin.  Pieces supplied for violin measure approximately 18 inches (45 cm) long, 6 inches (15 cm) wide, and about 2 inches (5 cm) on the thick end of the wedge, and are therefore of sufficient size for viola and most arch-top mandolin.

On average this Carpathian spruce has 18-25 grain-per-inch, which compares with the finest grade Sitka, and is finer than most of the Adirondack Spruce being marketed today.  The combination of high altitude, slow-growth cycles and minimal harvesting in this region has produced some of the finest spruce tonewood in the world.  Many builders will find that our AAA and AA grade tops produce instruments which sound as clear and strong as other, more expensive suppliers.

Carpathian Spruce – Picea abies

 

Grade AAA

Grade AA

Grade A

Violin/Viola/Mandolin - sawn

$31

$21

$12

Violin/Viola/Mandolin - hand split

$41

$29

$16

Violoncello

$175

$114

$85

Double Bass

Each piece individually priced

Guitar (flat-top steel-string and classical)

 Master Grade Grade AAA

Grade AA

Grade A

Grade B

 

 $99  (when available) $71

$31

$16

$7

Spruce Tonewood Grading...

Unlike the lumber industry, there is no standard for grading of tonewood.   Our spruce is graded as "AAA", "AA", "A", and "B".  I will say that very occasionally I will find a very outstanding guitar top that I must set aside as a "Master Grade".  Some suppliers have expanded this older, perhaps more traditional, grade scheme where the highest grade is "AAA" to include 4A, 5A, even 7A, and so on!  Because there is no standard, you must understand how each individual supplier grades.  Otherwise, grading is of little objective use to you in selecting wood sight unseen.  We prefer to stick with the "traditional" tonewood grading nomenclature.

Our Grade AAA has tight to very tight grain lines, very uniform progression of grade width or uniform grain, no color variation, no discernable runout, excellent cut ("quartered"), and will exhibit a clear sustained ringtone (taptone).  Grade B, the lowest grade of spruce, may have wide and/or uneven grain, wide latewood, discernable runout, etc. However, many builders find Grade B wood tonally excellent and compare its appearance to much of the Adirondack spruce used in guitars.  Of course, Grades A, and AA are have qualities between "AAA" and "B".  We are happy to work with you to select wood you will find both visually and tonally desirable. 

Maple…

The maple we offer is Acer pseudoplatanus, which translated from the Latin means “false-sycamore” maple. And as such, it is sometimes referred to as "sycamore" maple.  Acer pseudoplatanus is a relatively low density maple, is light in color, carves well, and is the maple of the violinmaking tradition.  The maple is graded primarily on the quality of the flame and overall beauty of the wood.  Although it is usually impossible to detect minor imperfections beneath the surface of the wood,  visible imperfections (i.e. color, knots, staining, etc) result in a lower the grade.  Density also effects the grading, with lower density being favorable.  Wood for 2-piece violin backs measure approximately 18 inches (45 cm) long, 5+ inches (13+ cm) wide, and about 1.5 - 2 inches (3.8 - 5 cm) on the thick end of the wedge, and are therefore of sufficient size for viola and most carved mandolin patterns.  A customer once told me that selecting maple without first seeing it is like selecting a mate  sight unseen.  Therefore, we are expanding the Catalog to include more and more individual listings of pieces of maple with a photo to help you in your selection. 

  Flamed Maple – Acer pseudoplatanus  (includes wood for ribs**)

 

Highly flamed

Well flamed

Flamed

Violin 1-piece back

$119 - $135

$62

$35

Violin/viola/mandolin 2-piece

$99

$56

$29

Viola and mandolin 1-piece

Each piece individually priced
Violin and viola neck block $23.5 $12 $5

Violoncello 2-piece

$435

$255

$176
Violoncello 1-piece Each piece individually priced
Violoncello neck block $125 $75 $49
Guitar  - acoustic $96 $62

Double Bass

Each piece individually priced

**Rib stock is supplied with 2-piece violin and viola backs.  For 1-piece backs rib stock is not provided separately unless the back piece is not of sufficient size to obtain the ribs.

European Ash...

The wood of the European, or "common", ash (Fraxinus excelsior) has a beautiful open grain.  It is much darker in color then the White ash of North America which is commonly used in furniture, flooring and ball bats.  It does however have some of the same properties - it is tough and elastic.   European ash grows fairly rapidly.  The wood shrinks little in seasoning, sands easily and smoothly, and bends well.   Quantities of Flamed European ash are very limited.

  European Ash - Fraxinus excelsior
  First quality Second Quality
Guitar - acoustic Flamed Ash $96 $62
Guitar - acoustic Plain sawn (aka. slab, flat or tangentially sawn) $62  

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*What do we mean by radial cut ? Spruce tonewood must be either split from a billet or sawn in the same manner as one would split firewood. This puts the annual rings, when viewed from the end of the billet, perpendicular to the faces.  The term "quartersawn" or "quartered" is commonly used describe wood where the annual rings are at or near 90 degrees to the faces.  However, quarter- sawing is a sawmilling technique used to produce lumber having a grain orientation roughly perpendicular to the faces (actually, a grain orientation  of 70-90 degrees to the face meets the definition of "quarter sawn lumber").  If a sawyer desired perfectly "quartered" lumber, the rift sawn method would be used.  Our spruce tonewood is cut or split  radially.