Wood Used by Fender

[Controller]

Originally Posted by Toto'sDad

Fret sprout on a MIM Tele is normal, they are just growin' a mustache. I have personally only seen one MIM Tele that didn't suffer from fret sprout, probably too young to grow a mustache.

I'm just hopin' your Teles aren't female!

[Telepi]

Originally Posted by Toto'sDad

Fret sprout on a MIM Tele is normal, they are just growin' a mustache. I have personally only seen one MIM Tele that didn't suffer from fret sprout, probably too young to grow a mustache.

Interesting. My Baja had a bit of that, so I bought some 400 to 900 grit nail files where my wife gets her cosmetics and smoothed them down. Are American necks made differently, so this doesn't happen? For example, I notice the '52 AVRI has a coated neck. More so than the Baja. Does that seal it better?

[cnote]

It's my understanding that because MIM's are built in a predominantly warm and humid environment, they're more prone to sprout when they are shipped dryer climates.

[notdave]

Originally Posted by cnote

It's my understanding that because MIM's are built in a predominantly warm and humid environment, they're more prone to sprout when they are shipped dryer climates.

It's ~150 miles from Corona, California to Ensenada, Mexico.

What are the chances?

[cnote]

Just an explanation I've heard and it made sense to me. Most Mexican necks that I've personally experienced are fine in the summer and develope sprout in the winter. This personal experience seems to jive with the explanation. Maybe I'm wrong, wouldn't be the first time.

150 miles is far enough for the average climate to be wildly different. Don't have first hand knowledge of prevailing weather in those locations, though, so again I may be talkin out my arse.

[Ronkirn]

Okie Doke…. Here’s the deal…..

As you all know, a tidbit of non-factual information can travel around the planet several times via the internet, before anyone predisposed to try to quench the myth even gets “wind” of it…..

That is how whatever you are jibber-jabbin’ about as the topic of the day gets started…. So let’s look at quarter sawn…. Rumor….. it’s more stable….. more stable is good…. So lets insist on “good” for our necks and bodies.

The basic rumor, "quarter sawn is more stable" is actually true…. But… it requires looking beyond the depths of the parking lot puddle shallow rationalization that would dictate its superiority for use in guitar necks.

First, Lets address what is meant by “stable”… the word has several applications, a hunk of Granite 3 feet high, by 10 feet long by 8 feet wide is stable… like how on earth are you gonna move it… thus such is routinely used in cutting edge labs as a table for doing laser, holographic, and other experimentation where NO damn movement can be tolerated. But . . a granite neck is not viable…

Your Aunt Minnie was stable….. until that episode of Dr. Phil that cut too close to Minnie’s reality… now ya can’t leave her alone with a sharp instrument… don’t worry, this “stable” is also not applicable to your neck, it’s not gonna go loony.

There is also THE stable… and if it hasn’t been cleaned lately, it could be full ‘o shi* much like a lot of these discussions.

A table or desk top, a few feet wide may or may not be “stable” because wood expands and contracts….. If the grain runs at right angles to the top surface, the expansion and contraction are greatly reduced. Thus over time the table tops chances of splitting are greatly reduced. This is known as quarter sawn, where the grain runs perpendicular to the table’s top surface… or bottom depending on if you are under the thing.. Because the top is so wide, a small percentage of expansion or contraction can result in rather large movements, for a table top. An inch is not uncommon.

The grain running perpendicular to the top also greatly reduces the chance of the table top “cupping” or “bowing”. That is an application of “stable” too. Here's a thought.. quarter sawn refers to the grains relationship to the "surface... so if you have a 3 inch wide board, the 3 inch surface may be 1/4 sawn, but the 1 inch surface will be flat sawn, and conversely, If you have a 3 inch wide flat sawn board, it will be 1/4 sawn relative to the 1 inch surface...

However…. A piece of maple (maple is 99% of the necks we concern ourselves with) 1 inch thick by roughly 2 inches wide… is not going expand or contract any where near enough to be concerned about, and cupping is not a problem in a well protected piece of lumber.

The % of expansion and contraction in a piece of wood 2 inches wide is so small, as not constitute any real problem, and simple fact is…. There are some pieces of flat sawn lumber that will expand or contract more, or LESS that the same piece cut from a quarter sawn hunk of wood.

What’s this gotta do with traveling around the planet a few times….

I suspect somehow a “wood worker” making necks or what ever, heard about quarter sawn being more “stable”… without knowing exactly which “stable” was being discussed.. some luthier read the same info, or had heard the same thing, and thought…., “I’m gonna make my necks from ¼ sawn ‘cause it’s stable, and advertise ‘em as such. Since a stable neck is better, my necks will be better ‘n everyone will buy my stuff, and not his stuff.”

So… it’s out there.. someone else sees it, logs onto whatever “bull of the day.com” forum they can find and starts telling how great stable necks are, no one is gonna argue, ‘cause no one knows shi*, and they all wanna jump on the “band wagon” like everyone else, and sound like the knew it all along, and are intellectually “cool” like everyone else….and they start touting the “superiority” of ¼ sawn…. Some “kid” that really doesn’t have a clue logs on as a newbie… hears this shi*… thinks Way Cool…. Goes and tells the whole 9th grade guitar class at his High School… they all jump on the computers during study period…. And round ‘n round it goes…

Here’s something that won’t go too far….There is evidence to support the hypothesis that flat sawn is actually a better choice for a neck simply due to the natural layering the grain rings create. It’s kinda like a natural plywood and Plywood is probably the absolutely most stable hunk of wood you can find. It’s why Howard used it to build the Spruce Goose.

Ron Kirn

[James J LaRue]

I only use adamantium necks.

[Telepi]

Originally Posted by Ronkirn

…. A piece of maple (maple is 99% of the necks we concern ourselves with) 1 inch thick by roughly 2 inches wide… is not going expand or contract any where near enough to be concerned about, and cupping is not a problem in a well protected piece of lumber.

The % of expansion and contraction in a piece of wood 2 inches wide is so small, as not constitute any real problem, Ron Kirn

Whew. I was getting concerned my Baja's neck was going to be the size of a toothpick in about 50 years, if I have to keep smoothing down the fret sprouts each winter.

Great complete answer too, by the way.

[J.E.M.]

Originally Posted by Ronkirn

Okie Doke…. Here’s the deal…..

As you all know, a tidbit of non-factual information can travel around the planet several times via the internet, before anyone predisposed to try to quench the myth even gets “wind” of it…..

That is how whatever you are jibber-jabbin’ about as the topic of the day gets started…. So let’s look at quarter sawn…. Rumor….. it’s more stable….. more stable is good…. So lets insist on “good” for our necks and bodies.

The basic rumor, "quarter sawn is more stable" is actually true…. But… it requires looking beyond the depths of the parking lot puddle shallow rationalization that would dictate its superiority for use in guitar necks.

First, Lets address what is meant by “stable”… the word has several applications, a hunk of Granite 3 feet high, by 10 feet long by 8 feet wide is stable… like how on earth are you gonna move it… thus such is routinely used in cutting edge labs as a table for doing laser, holographic, and other experimentation where NO damn movement can be tolerated. But . . a granite neck is not viable…

Your Aunt Minnie was stable….. until that episode of Dr. Phil that cut too close to Minnie’s reality… now ya can’t leave her alone with a sharp instrument… don’t worry, this “stable” is also not applicable to your neck, it’s not gonna go loony.

There is also THE stable… and if it hasn’t been cleaned lately, it could be full ‘o shi* much like a lot of these discussions.

A table or desk top, a few feet wide may or may not be “stable” because wood expands and contracts….. If the grain runs at right angles to the top surface, the expansion and contraction are greatly reduced. Thus over time the table tops chances of splitting are greatly reduced. This is known as quarter sawn, where the grain runs perpendicular to the table’s top surface… or bottom depending on if you are under the thing.. Because the top is so wide, a small percentage of expansion or contraction can result in rather large movements, for a table top. An inch is not uncommon.

The grain running perpendicular to the top also greatly reduces the chance of the table top “cupping” or “bowing”. That is an application of “stable” too. Here's a thought.. quarter sawn refers to the grains relationship to the "surface... so if you have a 3 inch wide board, the 3 inch surface may be 1/4 sawn, but the 1 inch surface will be flat sawn, and conversely, If you have a 3 inch wide flat sawn board, it will be 1/4 sawn relative to the 1 inch surface...

However…. A piece of maple (maple is 99% of the necks we concern ourselves with) 1 inch thick by roughly 2 inches wide… is not going expand or contract any where near enough to be concerned about, and cupping is not a problem in a well protected piece of lumber.

The % of expansion and contraction in a piece of wood 2 inches wide is so small, as not constitute any real problem, and simple fact is…. There are some pieces of flat sawn lumber that will expand or contract more, or LESS that the same piece cut from a quarter sawn hunk of wood.

What’s this gotta do with traveling around the planet a few times….

I suspect somehow a “wood worker” making necks or what ever, heard about quarter sawn being more “stable”… without knowing exactly which “stable” was being discussed.. some luthier read the same info, or had heard the same thing, and thought…., “I’m gonna make my necks from ¼ sawn ‘cause it’s stable, and advertise ‘em as such. Since a stable neck is better, my necks will be better ‘n everyone will buy my stuff, and not his stuff.”

So… it’s out there.. someone else sees it, logs onto whatever “bull of the day.com” forum they can find and starts telling how great stable necks are, no one is gonna argue, ‘cause no one knows shi*, and they all wanna jump on the “band wagon” like everyone else, and sound like the knew it all along, and are intellectually “cool” like everyone else….and they start touting the “superiority” of ¼ sawn…. Some “kid” that really doesn’t have a clue logs on as a newbie… hears this shi*… thinks Way Cool…. Goes and tells the whole 9th grade guitar class at his High School… they all jump on the computers during study period…. And round ‘n round it goes…

Here’s something that won’t go too far….There is evidence to support the hypothesis that flat sawn is actually a better choice for a neck simply due to the natural layering the grain rings create. It’s kinda like a natural plywood and Plywood is probably the absolutely most stable hunk of wood you can find. It’s why Howard used it to build the Spruce Goose.

Ron Kirn

Well expansion and contraction seems to be an issue when it comes to fretsprout, or are you going to explain how frets grow while ur at it.

Is it possible you somehow missed the point, na… can’t be, is that internet stuff and the rest of it a sideshow, or what is that?

Just so you know my comments had nothing do with stability.

It was to do with which way and how much the neck expands and contracts when it does move, but surely you must know that as a “guitarbuilder” and you’re just messing with us, right???

Better yet, why don’t you explain in your own parlance how a flat sawn neck expands/contracts across it’s width (the fretboard) far more than within it’s thickness, and that if you rotate the grain 90 degrees (quartered) the neck expands/contracts far more within it’s thickness than across its width (the fretboard) - you know the stuff you find in text books written 200 years ago, grade nine shop stuff – then we’ll all be on the same page about what’s best regarding fretsprout, and we can factor that into the equation when discussing neck woods, yes?

PS, there is no correlation between the stability of plywood and the stability of flatsawn lumber, even though you think they look similar, I think you got hit by that internet thingy you mentioned on that one.

Just so you know plywood gets its strength and stability from crossbanding, layered lamination and glue, none of which (in case you don't know) are present in flat sawn lumber…you know if I were you I’d have left that comment out, just in case a “woodworker” was reading.

[Picton]

Hoo boy...

Can't we all just get along? When your frets sprout, file them down. If you want to build a quartersawn neck, do so; if not, then don't. After awhile, all these debates (quarter or flat, tube or SS, MIM or MIA, CV or "real" Fender, Phillips or flathead, etc.) become decreasingly meaningful, IMHO. And locked in the end, too.

[xtrajerry]

Originally Posted by J.E.M.

Ya there's always exceptions as you say, but until you qualify your results I'm not sure we could call your experience an exception - do you know the difference between flat, rift and quartered? is your experiment based on any controls?

Empirical data collected over 100's of years (not just my opinion or 35+ years of experience) show that a true flat sawn neck will move predominately across the width of the fretboard while a quartered neck will move predominately within it's thickness - you don't need to be a rocket scientist to see then that a flat sawn neck will in general show more fret sprout than a quartersawn neck - but last time I mentioned this here the response was not too great...looks similar this time, suppose I should have learned but I just can't help responding when I'm called out by someone who apparently still has a ways to go in the learning department...

Sounds perfectly logical to me..

[otterhound]

Just rub Viagra powder into you neck and it will never shrink .

[Toppscore]

Does Fender get ALL of their wood for guitars from American soil or American suppliers?

And, if so, does Fender inspect all of the wood and then ship the wood to all factories world wide?

Or, do all international Fender factories procure their own wood locally?
Or, a combination of both: Local & Imported?

Is all of the Fender Wood totally awesome pieces for Fender to put it's
Fender Brand on with confidence? For instance, when Fender uses
Walnut Wood on a 1952 Fender Reissue Telecaster and Walnut Wood
on a Fender Squire Telecaster, will Fender be willing to use the same cut
of Walnut Wood on either guitar, because Fender wants no "wood issues"?

Or, does Fender divide the Walnut Wood into two or more groups,
one group pile of Walnut Wood for the high-end guitars, and
another pile of "lower quality" Walnut Wood for lower priced guitars?

IMHO, my thinking would be that all Fender Branded wood
would be ALL highly desirable wood installed/used for ALL guitars
to avoid ALL PR and ALL customer return issues as well as
ALL competition marketing claims against ALL Fender products.
What do you think?

Following is some information on Fender Brand wood for Body, Neck & Fretboard Parts:
Enjoy, Toppscore

BODY WOODS
Alder: Alder is used predominantly for bodies because it is readily available, light weight and has a full even tone. Alder's natural color is light reddish tan with little or no distinct grain lines. Its closed grain makes the wood easy to work with and finish. Alder has been one of the main woods for Fender bodies since the beginning. It was primarily used for solid color paints but was also used with three tone Sunburst or Tobacco burst finishes. Because of its proven tonal characteristics and lower price, Alder is one of our most popular woods.

Ash:We offer two different types of Ash, Northern Hard Ash and Southern Soft, or Swamp Ash. Northern Hard Ash: This is a very hard and heavy wood. A body will weigh 6 lbs. and up. With its density, the tone is very bright. Its color is tan, but also tends to have heart wood of pink to brown tints. The grain is open, very much like Oak. This wood is also very difficult to finish because of it's open grain. Swamp Ash or Southern Soft is a prized wood for many reasons. This is the wood many 50's and 60's Fenders were made of. It is easily distinguishable from Northern Ash by weight and in it's lighter appearance. The weight of this wood varies greatly, but the lighter bodies are the most sought after, anywhere between 3 1/2 to 5 pounds per body. This wood sings, offering an even balance across the entire spectrum of brightness and warmth. The grain is open and also difficult to finish but well worth the trouble, a beautiful choice for clear finishes. Swamp Ash is our most popular wood.

Basswood: This is very light in weight, bodies usually weigh four pounds or less. The color is white, but often has green mineral streaks throughout. This is a closed-grain wood, but quite soft, it can absorb a lot of finish. This is not a durable wood and not used for clear finishes, but because of it's dark warm tone is still a fine selection.

Mahogany: Honduran Mahogany, is the same wood used in many fine solid and hollow body guitars. This is an excellent wood with good musical properties, covering the gamut from Blues to Jazz, the tone is warm full and sweet with good sustain. Mahogany varies in body weight averaging 5 lbs. or more for a solid body. The grain is open yet easy to fill. The wood varies in appearance from very plain to a beautiful array of ribbons, a good wood for clear finishes.

Maple:There are two types of Maple which we use, Northern Hard (Hard Rock Maple) and Western Soft (Big leaf Maple). Hard Maple is the same wood used for necks. It is very dense, and weighs quite a bit. The grain is closed and easy to finish. The sound of Maple is very bright with a lot of bite. It looks good in any style finish. Western Soft Maple is another wood like Alder that grows in and around in Washington State. It is usually much lighter and softer than Hard Maple, but is a little more towards reddish brown in color. Its sound is characterized by good bite and attack, bright, but not brittle like hard Maple. Our Fiddle back and quilted bodies are western Big leaf Maple.

Walnut:Walnut is not quite as heavy as Maple, It has a similar sound though not as bright. Walnut is very beautiful with open grain. Oil finishes can look wonderfully rich on this wood when applied properly.

Koa: This very beautiful wood indigenous to Hawaii. Weight varies somewhat from medium to heavy, a good wood for basses and in combination with other woods to create hollow body guitars. Koa has a warm sound similar to mahogany, but a little brighter. Like Walnut, this wood may be oiled or sprayed clear either way this wood is gorgeous.

Zebrawood: This wood is very heavy with a very distinctive look, open grained with light and dark brown stripes it is becoming more and more common in the bass and guitar world. Its weight and sound are similar to Walnut depending on the application. It is difficult to find in thick pieces, but it is more commonly available for laminated bodies where it excels. This wood may be oiled or sprayed clear, either way this wood is also very beautiful.

Rosewood: This wood is our heaviest with bodies weighing in at over six pounds plus. We've used several different species, depending on availability, but our primary choice is Indian Rosewood. The sound is much warmer than Maple, the high end seem to lack a bit only because of the oily nature of the wood. Finishes are difficult to apply because of it's oil content.

======================
NECK WOODS
Maple: As our primary wood we use Northern Hard Rock Maple selected for clean clear grain and minimal run-out. This wood has a bright tone with excellent sustain.

Birdseye Maple: This is the same species tree as plain Maple, however, for some unexplainable reason it has a beautiful Birdseye figure, and therefore more expensive. There is a great deal of variation from board to board in the appearance and density of this figure. Because each one is unique your neck will have it's own distinctive appearance. We have found no difference between plain Maple and Birdseye Maple.

Eastern Fiddle back Maple: A highly figured Maple known by its flamed beauty and sweet warm tone. Found in the north east it is known for its use in violin construction.

Rosewood: We use Indian Rosewood for our fingerboards. This is a very stable hardwood, ranging in color from dark purple to various shades of yellow and orange. Its tone is warmer than Maple. Rosewood requires no finish, so you can play it without.

======================
FINGERBOARD WOODS
Maple: Maple fingerboards maintain the same brightness and twangy tone of the standard Maple neck. Plain Maple necks have plain Maple fingerboards. Birdseye necks have plain Birdseye fingerboards. Because Maple necks are usually lacquered, their feel is that of the finish, not the wood.

Rosewood: Rosewood is an oily wood with open grain. It is also a bit softer than Maple. This feature attributes to Rosewood's warmer tone. Rosewood is the most popular fingerboard available. It ranges in color from very dark and almost black to purples, and orange, all darkening with use.

Ebony: Ebony is the hardest and smoothest feeling fingerboard wood. Ebony's tone is bright and clean. Its color is generally black, but frequently comes streaked with small chocolate-colored brown and gray lines. We prefer not to dye our ebony, leaving it to distinguish its own beauty and uniqueness naturally.

[Ronkirn]

are you going to explain how frets grow while ur at it.

Have you never heard of the incredible growing frets?? Duh!

Is it possible you somehow missed the point

There was a point???

Just so you know my comments had nothing do with stability.

Good to know since I didn't even read your comment. I hope that comment didn't cause you to loose your stability..

you’re just messing with us, right???

I'm always messin' wiff sumpin'...

. . .you explain in your own parlance how a flat sawn blah. blah, blah, . . .

Oh, you didn't read MY comment either... I guess fair is fair....

Just so you know plywood gets its strength and stability from crossbanding,

I appreciate the heads-up... assuming that plywood only comes in a cross banded structure.... ya need to get out of Home Depot..

And…. I might say…. Nice job…. Beautiful arc, great golden color,,, the distance is stunning… I’m sure your urologist must be proud.

And you thought you hated me before….

rk

[Nick JD]

Tangential shrinkage/expansion (due to humidity changes) is about twice that of radial shrinkage/expansion. Flat sawn necks will sprout worse than quarter sawn.



The only reason musical instruments are made from wood is because they were invented when wood was the optimal material for their construction, and guitar music (indeed, the whole culture) is largely based on nostelgia.

As an example, think of the instruments of sport (a culture not trapped by nostelgia, but motivated by success) that were originally made from wood but are no longer. Nearly everything that once was wood is now not.

I believe that if the guitar were invented today, it would not be made from wood.

[old goat]

Originally Posted by Weazel

Oh well. I had serious fret sprout on a 15 yrs old quarter sawn neck during the norwegian winter 2010/2011 (as cold and dry as a large building with the sign: 'Cold/Dry' on top of it)
No sprout at all on two flatsawn necks about 8 yrs old each.

Oh, and for what it's worth, all three of'em is finished by myself with oil/beeswax, all three have rw fretboard.

Mother nature (or common sense) is a b*tch, aint she?

Different woods expand and contract with changes in moisture content by different percentages. Quarter sawn wood expands and contracts less than flat sawn wood. (Quartersawn maple, for example, changes more with humidity than flatsawn mahogany.)There are published tables based on careful measurement-if you want a reference the standard one is Bruce Hoadley's "Understanding Wood." The moisture content of wood will eventually equilibrate with the moisture content of the environment, regardless of the finish. However, thick film finishes will slow down the equilibration,compared to oil and wax, as will keeping a guitar in it's case. The moisture content of a piece of wood, which can be measure by an instrument, will determine the amount it can shrink--that is, a quarter sawn piece of wood with a high initial moisture content may shrink more than a flatsawn piece of the same species with a low initial moisture content. Without knowing the species of your necks, their history, and their moisture content when the frets were placed I can't explain your observation, but it's safe to assume there is one. For that matter, it's possible you can't really distinguish flat sawn vs quartersawn wood.

Here's another reference: http://www.fs.fed.us/ccrc/topics/urb...0of%20wood.pdf
In this table radial refers to quartersawn wood and tangential to flatsawn.

[Jvm210Guy]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

Tangential shrinkage/expansion (due to humidity changes) is about twice that of radial shrinkage/expansion.



The only reason musical instruments are made from wood is because they were invented when wood was the optimal material for their construction, and guitar music (indeed, the whole culture) is largely based on nostelgia.

As an example, think of the instruments of sport (a culture not trapped by nostelgia, but motivated by success) that were originally made from wood but are no longer. Nearly everything that once was wood is now not.

I believe that if the guitar were invented today, it would not be made from wood.

What than, plastic? I'm sorry but wood affects tone, in good ways. Guitars weren't inveted a couple hundred years ago. Wood instruments were invented a LONG time ago, and even than they knew wood altered tone.

Your right though I think, because even now some companies are trying to get away with cheaper alternatives (compound/hybrid materials). I'm not going to get on the "wood doesn't matter on an electric guitar" bs though. It does matter, not that I think you think that...

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by Jvm210Guy

Your right though I think, because even now some companies are trying to get away with cheaper alternatives (compound/hybrid materials).

Wood's about the cheapest material guitar manufacturers can use. A 5-piece alder blank would cost Fender a couple of bucks at a stretch. Probably cheaper (lighter too) than the equivalent plywood.

My point is, if no one was trying to replicate a particular wood-derived tone my feelings are, a designer would use a more stable material than wood.

I'm off to play tennis in my small shorts, dunlop sand shoes and my wooden tennis raquet that I keep in a frame to prevent it warping retro tennis. After that I'm playing golf ... with a 1 wood.

Don't get me wong though - I love wood for guitars, and I can live with retuning and trussrod adjustments and the occasional acoustic humidity issue - but I often need to advocate the devil in these issues.

[old goat]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

Tangential shrinkage/expansion (due to humidity changes) is about twice that of radial shrinkage/expansion.



The only reason musical instruments are made from wood is because they were invented when wood was the optimal material for their construction, and guitar music (indeed, the whole culture) is largely based on nostelgia.

As an example, think of the instruments of sport (a culture not trapped by nostelgia, but motivated by success) that were originally made from wood but are no longer. Nearly everything that once was wood is now not.

I believe that if the guitar were invented today, it would not be made from wood.

I'm not so sure. Carbon fiber guitars are available. I've never played one. National has been making steel guitars for years--they obviously have a particular sound. Neither have replaced wood guitars. Wood does have a lot of physical properties that are hard or expensive to duplicate with other materials. It's easy to work with using simple tools compared to other materials. With a clear finish it's beautiful.
To give one example where technology has not improved on wood, snow ski manufacturers, who use a wide variety of high tech materials like titanium and carbon fiber, have not come up with a better core material than wood.

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by old goat

To give one example where technology has not improved on wood, snow ski manufacturers, who use a wide variety of high tech materials like titanium and carbon fiber, have not come up with a better core material than wood.

That's a very good point. Wood is wonderful for augmenting composites, especially as a core material.

I've been spending a lot of time lately in the world (topsy turvy) of acoustic plate tuning and the over-all elephant in the room is the structure of the very wood. It's an exercise in dealing with wood's inherent structural faults and working around them.

Bummer that the best material to emulate the tone of spruce ... is spruce - even with all its issues. Rings like a bell and then you have to brace the hell out of it!