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- 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 |
|
____________________________________________________
*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. |
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