Traditional Tonewoods
From tree to tonewood, we select only the best.
"Spruce has been used for centuries as an ideal tonewood since the days of Stradivari."
Spruce
Spruce has all the properties that are important for radiating sound. Considered to be the best wood sonically for soundboards, spruce is light and strong, with a high strength to weight ratio. Spruce is also stiff across the grain, both radially and longitudinally. We quarter saw the spruce to maintain sound, strength and integrity in all our soundboards. At Pacific Rim Tonewoods, we offer three types of spruce:
• Sitka spruce has a slightly higher density and is preferred for steel string guitars. Grown at sea level from northern California to southeast Alaska, Sitka spruce is slightly more yellow in tone. Sitka grows in a 1,000 mile radius so can vary in density due to the different environments it grows in.
• Engelmann spruce is found inland in the Cascade mountains at elevations of 3,000 to 4,000 feet. It’s the whitest of all the spruce species and has a lower density than Sitka.
• A mid tone spruce, Lutz is found in a small radius in northern British Columbia and is therefore very consistent in its properties. Like Engleman, Lutz is popular with classical and smaller instrument makers because of its lower density.
Grades: AA, AAA, AAAA
Figured Maple
Big Leaf maple grows in a 500 mile radius in the area around the PRT mill in Washington State. While Big Leaf maple on its own is a less desirable tree, figured – or fiddleback maple – is a very high value tonewood. Like Hawaian koa, figured maple is becoming harder and harder to find. In order to ensure we have a sustainable source of fiddleback maple for guitarmakers, PRT is now propagating, cultivating and growing figured maple in the Skagit Valley.
Primarily used by luthiers for backs and sides, figured maple complements the subtle grain pattern and sonic quality inherent in a spruce soundboard. Quilted maple is another type of figured maple where the grain pattern creates a wavy, quilted effect, resembling ripples on water. You can find our figured maple collection in the Vault, along with plain and figured maple binding.
Grades: AAA, AAAA
Hawaiian Koa Wood
Koa wood from Hawaii is one of its most valuable assets, and a premium tonewood product at PRT. Long used by furniture and bowl makers, koa has become a favorite wood for guitarmakers and luthiers looking for beautiful figure and rich, dark tones.
Once abundant, koa has become increasingly scarce in Hawaii. In order to meet demand sustainably, Pacific Rim Tonewoods has established a forestry project in Hawai'i to ensure a supply of koa wood into the next century. As a finite resource, we take great care in how we harvest the koa trees, how we process each log, and how we let nothing go to waste at the mill. In our online shop, you’ll find koa back and side sets, tops, as well as bindings.
Grades: AA, AAA, AAAA
Redwood
Redwood grows in a narrow geographic corridor along the Pacific coastline of California and southwest Oregon. Known for their soaring height, redwood trees are some of the tallest in the world, and can live for thousands of years.
The rich color of redwood comes from minerals found in the surrounding soil and water. As a tonewood, redwood has a grain pattern and sonic quality that is distinctive from other guitar wood. While straight grain redwood is beautiful on its own, figured redwood is less common, making the wood more desirable for electric guitars or mandolin tops. Another variant, mottled redwood, has an understated wave to it, and is more suitable for luthiers building acoustic guitars.
Only 5% of the original old-growth coast redwood forests that once flourished on the Pacific Coast are still standing. We salvage our redwood for guitar makers – from sites that were once logged in the 50s and 60s. The redwood currently in our Vault is around 900-1000 years old, and was found partially submerged in a creek in Northern California.
Traditional Grading
Whether you’re looking to test drive a solid AA spruce soundboard, or want extraordinary figure in AAAA koa back and sides, we have tonewood for every budget and aesthetic.
With over 35 years of experience grading wood, Pacific Rim Tonewoods offers luthiers and guitar makers:
Book matched soundboards, backs and side sets
Clear distinction between grades
A guitar top free from defects within the template
Soil quality, sun, rainfall, and wind all affect how a tree grows. More importantly, the forest environment as a whole also affects the character of its wood. This is why we not only hand select each log that our traditional tonewoods come from, but with a craftsman’s eye, find the best guitar in every soundboard we sell.
Milling the Best Wood
At Pacific Rim Tonewoods, we take great care and pride when we break a log down and manufacture its parts into musical instrument components. Our focus is always on obtaining the right quality while maximizing the yield in each log. An eye towards quarter, maintaining sharp saws, and minimizing waste allows us to provide the highest quality product in the most sustainable way possible.
Shop Tonewoods
At Pacific Rim Tonewoods, we work with wood that is milled for the eye and the ear. Along with spruce, maple and koa and redwood, our Traditional Collection includes rosewood and ebony, sourced ethically from around the world. For one of a kind, limited edition pieces, visit The Vault.
