OK so you knew I’d have an opinion on this didn’t you! This is just my opinion so don’t shoot the guitar player!
As with anything to do with luthery there is no best wood, only the best for the guitar that you want to build for the style of playing that you want to do. So for one player Sitka would be the wood of choice whereas for another it would only be the best wood for getting the apple logs going in the stove. The soundboard is probably the most crucial element to a particular guitar's sound so the choice of wood species must be right for the sound and playing style you want
European Spruce (Picea abies)
As its name suggests, this species of Spruce grows in Europe, and it is a wood that has been used for hundreds of years in the construction of stringed instruments. Good wood is now a rare resource but worth the hunt. European Spruce is a very strong resilient wood with clean, clear overtones and a great depth of tone. It is generally more responsive than Sitka Spruce but still with good headroom so is ideal for smaller and larger guitars wherever a pure, bright clarity is required, suiting fingerstyle players particularly. Alpine Spruce is a pure milky white colour with darker winter growth lines which can be almost invisible or a contrasting brown colour. It s not always possible to find cosmetically perfect wood now.
I like Germany or Swiss wood, but some Picea abies is now being sold from the Carpathians which many people are comparing to Adirondack. Although there is a completely different species from the Carpathians and Caucasus Mountains with which it can be confused.
Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis)
It is still fairly easy to find straight, even grained pieces. Sitka is one of the strongest and most dense soundboard woods, meaning that it works best when played firmly and it certainly has the greatest headroom of all the common species. Lighter examples tend to give a rich but warm edge to an instruments sound whilst denser pieces can be brighter but always rich in tone. Sitka can sometimes be a little unresponsive for smaller instruments unless you are a particularly strong player. The wood of choice for most flatpickers. Sitka ranges from pale to dark straw colours so is often chosen by people who like an aged look to the soundboard.
Adirondack Spruce (Picea rubens)
The North American species which is perhaps the most similar to European Spruce. It was taken up by early American acoustic guitar makers for this reason and first rate wood has since become very scarce and sort after, some variation in grain width and colouration (these factors are not significant tonally) is now normal. Adirondack Spruce combines the rich, bright overtones of Alpine Spruce with the punch of Sitka and its great strength allows it to be thinned down for a very responsive instrument but with loads of headroom for dynamic players. Visually it is very similar to Alpine Spruce but with generally less pronounced winter growth lines and a relatively wider grain.
Englemann Spruce (Picea englemanii)
Fairly readily available in higher cosmetic grades. Englemann Spruce is visually very similar to European Spruce but with paler lines and very regular grain. It has a slightly lower density than the other spruces making it a very responsive top wood for fingerstyle players, with a full, open tone and clear trebles. It can also work very well for larger guitars designed for accompaniment work, producing a guitar that is more responsive to gentler playing than Sitka.
Caucasian Spruce (Picea orientalis)
I’ve never seen this wood offered for sale by tonewood suppliers in the US. It grows in the Caucasus and Carpathians, the wood I have is pre-war wood from the Carpathian Mountains. It does everything that other European spruces do but with the benefit of being able to be thinned more for a more headroom. It generally has a wider grain than P. abies and can not be considered as cosmetically clean as the better grade US spruces but it sounds like aged Adirondack, I love it!
Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata)
Fits into a totally different tonal category to the Spruces. Cedar has transformed some of the possibilities of the modern steel strung acoustic guitar; giving fingerstyle players the type of responsiveness previously only found in Classical guitars or very old and well played steel string guitars. Cedar has a relatively short grain making it weaker lengthways than most Spruces but its low density means that even though it must be left at least 10% thicker it works wonderfully as a soundboard material. These properties lead to a sound that is immediately open and responsive even in a new guitar, with a tone that is very rich and fruity with an explosive warmth. Cedar excels for fingerstyle guitarists and indeed is a crucial element in many contemporary UK guitarists' sound. It does, however, have less headroom than the Spruces making it less suited to hard flatpicking and strumming. Softer so care in handling.
I know absolutely nothing about Redwood!
Some combinations that I like
European Spruce and Mahogany
Rich, responsive and balanced; these woods give a lovely balance of rich woody overtones and sweet warmth allowing a multitude of fingerstyle techniques to flourish and suiting modern Celtic styles particularly well with Spruce and Mahogany's natural presence. My personal favourite! (I bet you couldn’t guess that!)
European Spruce and Indian Rosewood
Indian Rosewood gives a deeper, darker sound than Mahogany with a clear, solid midrange and rich bright overtones for a classic tone.
Cedar and Mahogany
Mahogany gives the Cedar a very rich and present sound without too much lower midrange making this guitar ideal for altered tuning fingerstyle work as well as earthy blues when fitted with lower tension strings. (My second favourite)
Cedar and Indian Rosewood
A contemporary take on an old design; Cedar and Rosewood give a big, warm, sustaining tone that really sings. A classic DADGad guitar.
Adirondack Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood
Go back in time for a deep, dark sound with ringing overtones.
Remember if you ask 100 lutherers, their opinion then you’ll get 101 answers.
Colin
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