Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm trying to choose between carpathian and adirondack for an upcoming build. For those of you who've worked with both or played guitars with both, would you agree or disagree with the common understanding that they're tonally similar? Do you find that they have similar stiffness? I'm interested in any other thoughts you may have.

I've been using Red Spruce and Carp almost exclusively the last several guitars. I can't claim to have the knowledge that you seek so I'm just here to see what other more experienced think too. I'm generally of the opinion however that any spruce can be made to sound like any other spruce when doing various engineering testing to find the target thickness of any given top. The very stiffest top I have is a Red Spruce top. I've got very stiff Carp too but also some pretty floppy ones.

Thanks for that. Do you think it leans more towards Adi or euro from a tonal standpoint?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's my understanding that Carpathian is Euro is Italian is German and so on... I just call it all (Picea abies) Euro.

This is correct. Carpathian refers to the region of Europe where the wood came from. Same as Italian, German, Norway, etc. spruce. All are Picea abies.

_________________
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Place of origin can be important. Brz RW trees were planted in other areas of the world, but the result is not the same.
Carpathian and Red spruce are somewhat similar if you're doing deflection testing, but then again most spruces are.
In my own experience, the farthest I would go would go would be 1) if I was building a Bluegrass guitar, I would go with Red spruce and 2) If I was building a classical/flamenco Carpathian. For OO or OM it's a toss-up. It would depend on the individual board. I believe the companies selling the wood have promoted this perception. At one time there was a rumor spread far and wide that European wood dealers were buying Engelmann spruce and selling it back to us as European. I try to buy the wood and not the hype. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

The region it comes from might have something to do with it but I would suggest that the environmental/geography conditions are more important. IOW is it high mountain spruce or down in the valley. The Carp I have been getting all came from Ukraine.

I think there is another false narrative still floating around there that Carp is actually REd Spruce planted in Ukraine and surrounding areas in the early 1900's.

I don't know how much of a difference species on its own would make. I have Englemann now at .46 sg and used a piece at .28. I found a rating one time that Englemann came out terrible. The top wood, as far as adding to the sound was Tulip wood. I think that they were talking about what is commonly known as yellow poplar! I found that out on another chart on characteristics a long time ago.
Who uses yellow poplar? Not that it wouldn't work, but who will use wood that looks like it came from a big box store?

_________________
Why be normal?