Carefully slipmatched Sitka spruce top with a natural, warm coloration and tight grain for a clean, elegant aesthetic.

Sitka Spruce 4 Piece - Sonically Graded

Dreadnought / Low
$100.00
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Carefully slipmatched Sitka spruce top with a natural, warm coloration and tight grain for a clean, elegant aesthetic.
  • Carefully slipmatched Sitka spruce top with a natural, warm coloration and tight grain for a clean, elegant aesthetic.
  • High-quality bookmatched Sitka spruce soundboard showcasing a delicate, natural golden hue with a refined, straight grain.
Sitka Spruce 4 Piece - Sonically Graded

Sitka Spruce 4 Piece - Sonically Graded

$100.00
SizeDreadnought
Density
Description

PRT is proud to bring a 4 piece top to market. These tops allow us to make soundboards from smaller diameter logs and to utilize each log more completely. Four piece tops are cut from a smaller section of a tree, representing less of any tree's life (say 60 years, instead of 120), and are therefore more consistent in all of their physical properties. If sonically graded, we measure them with BING testing for  density, stiffness and Q (damping).

Every sonically graded board is required to meet the following specifications:

  • Density in the range of 350 - 500 kg/m3
  • Stiffness within 10% of the mean
  • Damping (Q) >= 150
Details

Sonic grading relies on data and mathematical models for classifying each soundboard. This provides more meaningful grading than is traditionally done, where standards are based on appearance. We evaluate density, stiffness, and Q (damping) to group our soundboards, as follows:

Density in the range of 350-500 kg/m3 (as measured with the wood at 8% mc)
Stiffness within 10% of mean and above
Q (damping) >= 150

Nominal Dimensions:
Dreadnought 0.160” (4mm) x 4.25” (107.95mm) x 21.5” (546mm)
Miroslav Tadić testing a custom acoustic guitar with figured koa back and sides and a light-coloured spruce top.
“

Being a luthier-hobbyist myself, I recently built a Flamenco guitar using sonically graded Sitka spruce from Pacific Rim Tonewoods. The quality of their wood helped me make a clear step forward as an instrument builder, and I'm looking forward to collaborating with this amazing company for many years to come.

Miroslav Tadic, Musician & Luthier

Man in blue shirt inspecting tonewood pieces on a workbench surrounded by guitar body templates and stacked wood sheets.
“

One of my jobs at Collings Guitars for the last 33 years has been ordering and putting into production Pacific Rim Tonewoods Sitka spruce tops. The quality and consistency of their soundboards is outstanding—it doesn’t get any better.

Bruce VanWart 

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