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Master Grade tops - Carpathian or Euro'???   You are logged in as Guest
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Ramón

Posts: 440
Joined: Feb. 23 2005
From: La Jolla, Ca

Master Grade tops - Carpathian or Eu... 
Can any of you guys 'across the pond' there give me more than the Sales Pitch Hype about the differences/qualities in these? Buying a Master Grade top to start, and curious about the Carp' on LMII. Used the Euro' last time.

Gracias
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 31 2007 0:30:07
 
Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006
 

RE: Master Grade tops - Carpathian o... (in reply to Ramón) 
Forget about the name. A good top is a good top. Each tree is different and things like altitude and climate in general influences a lot. And it depends more on your way of building and what you are looking for.
Some of the best and most regular tops are Engelmann Spruce from Acoustic tonewoods on Vancouver island.
Carp is strong but a bit on the heavy side. If you are the kind of builder who thinks narrow and tight grain is the way to go, it can be your choice.

To me, stiffness/weight ratio is what counts and thats it. I work mainly German spruce, because I get it at a good price and because a lot of people think its the only "real" top wood.
If I lived in the states, where european wood is VERY expensive I would only use Engelmann spruce and sometimes a piece of Sitka. The consistency of these woods is superior to any kind of spruce from europe and this helps you a lot in your building.

The problem with these internet sales is that because its called master or whatever, it might not be what you are looking for. Narrow and straight grain doesn´t nescessarily mean a good stifness/weight ratio Sometimes the opposite. It gets to heavy

Good luck
Anders

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 31 2007 8:15:09
 
nhills

Posts: 230
Joined: Jul. 13 2003
From: West Des Moines, IA USA

RE: Master Grade tops - Carpathian o... (in reply to Anders Eliasson) 
quote:

Carp is strong but a bit on the heavy side. If you are the kind of builder who thinks narrow and tight grain is the way to go, it can be your choice


quote:

...with slightly wider grain than the other European Spruces
(re Carpathian from LMI product description)

This sounds like a contradiction - or am I mis-reading something?

Cheers,
Norman

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"I'm just a poor crazy man in love with his art." - Santos Hernandez (as translated by R. Brune)
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 31 2007 12:56:56
 
Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006
 

RE: Master Grade tops - Carpathian o... (in reply to Ramón) 
Lmi talk about their wood. I talk about my wood. Obviously not from the same tree

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Mar. 31 2007 16:43:22
 
TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

RE: Master Grade tops - Carpathian o... (in reply to Anders Eliasson) 
I have some Carpathian spruce here that has wide grain as is common with this wood. It's also a lot stiffer than my finestEnglemann with tight grain.

I like what Anders said. "stiffness/weight ratio is what counts and that's it." The first guitar I ever made was with a Sitka spruce top. Not the closest grain but nice and stiff. I loved the end result. Too bad it's not used more in classicals/flamencos.

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Tom Núñez
www.instagram.com/tanunezguitars
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 2 2007 20:41:32
 
jshelton5040

Posts: 1500
Joined: Jan. 17 2005
 

RE: Master Grade tops - Carpathian o... (in reply to TANúñez) 
I have over 80 tops of Carpathian spruce. The stiffness and weight varies but the grain is uniformly fine.

Grain width is the result of length of growing season, annual rainfall and nutrients in the soil where the tree grows. High elevation usually results in fine grain.

John Shelton
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Apr. 2 2007 22:25:27
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