Advance Guitars: Inoue's Soliloquy
Third Session: "Adirondacks: Things You're Too Embarrassed to Ask Now"
Introduction
Hello. I'm Inoue, the manager of Advance Guitars.
Lately, I've been getting more opportunities to write articles for music magazines.
As I continued writing, themes I wanted to explore further—ones I hadn't been able to fully cover in articles—gradually began to accumulate.
Furthermore, through daily interactions with customers and observing the guitars themselves,
I often find myself stopping in my tracks and wondering, "What's the real story here?"
Can't we talk about the questions and realizations we feel in such moments in a freer way?
And that's how I started my "Solo Narration Series" on YouTube.
In this series, I cover topics related to acoustic guitars as broadly as possible, focusing primarily on things I personally find interesting.
This article summarizes the series, supplementing aspects that are difficult to convey through video alone.
I hope you'll enjoy the world of acoustic guitars from a slightly new perspective.
Third Session: "Adirondacks: Things You're Too Embarrassed to Ask Now"
What exactly is Adirondack spruce? How does it differ from red spruce?
This time, we'll cover the top wood used in acoustic guitars.
Spruce, cedar, and mahogany are commonly used as top woods for acoustic guitars, but I'd like to talk about spruce.
Among spruce treesAdirondack SpruceIt is said that...
For those who love vintage acoustic guitars, this might be the quintessential wood.
Adirondack spruce is said to have been used in pre-war Martin and Gibson guitars, and is still used today in high-end and authentic models—it is, so to speak, the spruce of acoustic guitars.The King of the Spruce WorldIt could also be called a material.
This Adirondack spruce has another name.
That isRed Spruceis.
Those familiar with current Gibson models may have heard this name.
This time, I'd like to consider what Adirondack spruce actually is, and what red spruce is.
First, regarding the red spruce,This has the scientific name Picea rubens.
In Japanese, it is called Akato-hi.
It is an evergreen coniferous tree belonging to the genus Picea in the family Pinaceae.
PaisierPicearefers to a group of evergreen conifers in the pine family, Rubens(Rubens)That's apparently the origin of the word for red in Latin, and also the origin of the word for the red gemstone, the ruby.
A pine with red barkPicea rubens.
Incidentally, Sitka spruce is also commonly used.Picea sitchensis.
It remains an evergreen conifer of the genus Picea in the family Pinaceae,sitchensis(Sichensis) apparently refers to Sitka.
And Sitka is a port town in the state of Alaska.
Red Spruce gets its name from the color of its bark, whereas Sitka Spruce is named after a place.
Through my research, I discovered that this place name becomes significant when considering red spruce and Adirondack spruce.
Adirondack spruce is, strictly speaking, just one variety of red spruce.
Red spruce is primarily harvested in the northeastern United States.
I made a map.
On the other hand, Sitka spruce is primarily harvested in the Pacific Northwest region of the North American continent.
Alaska, mentioned earlier, is located in North America, northwest of Canada.
So it's easier to understand if you think of Adirondack and Sitka as roughly divided between east and west.
Since we're talking about red spruce and the Adirondacks, I'd like to focus on the northeastern region.
Here lies the Appalachian Mountains, and Martin, a company that has long used red spruce,
Records indicate that several companies located in this northeastern region served as suppliers of spruce.
And in the northern part of New York State, the Adirondack Mountains stretch out,
The red spruce harvested here was primarily used during Martin's Golden Era, roughly from 1933 to 1941.
Because it was used during the Golden Era,
I believe the idea that Adirondack spruce is the pinnacle for guitars gradually took hold.
Honestly, Martin guitars from this period are all truly exceptional, so I suppose even from a player's perspective, you can't help but be convinced.
If we were to strictly define Adirondack spruce, it would refer to red spruce harvested from the Adirondack Mountains. However, Martin does not keep records for each individual product detailing exactly which mountain that spruce came from.
Therefore, the sources of spruce for Martin guitars prior to 1945 were diverse.
First, the 1800s.
Records indicate that during a period in the late 1800s, spruce was purchased from a company in Pennsylvania where the Martin factory was located.
Around 1900, spruce from the White Mountains in New Hampshire was the primary source, while around 1910, Ohio and West Virginia became the main suppliers.
And these spruce treesRed SpruceI imagine it's summarized like that.
As I mentioned earlier, since we cannot record each individual tree, I believe what is broadly referred to as Adirondack spruce is what we have today.
It might be best to keep in mind that terms like Adirondack spruce and red spruce are used in a broad sense.
We have prepared two Martin D-28 guitars.
One is a Sitka spruce D-28, the other is a D-28 Authentic.
2017 Sitka Spruce D-28
2015 D-28 Authentic
Authentic uses Adirondack spruce.
Adirondack spruce is often said to have a wide grain, and when compared, the grain's width is undeniably distinct—so I suppose there's some truth to that claim.
On the other hand, examining pre-war spruce lumber reveals that the grain is not necessarily this wide throughout; densely grained wood can also be found.
So when people say Adirondacks have a wide-open feel, that's true to some extent, but looking at their long history, I'm starting to think that might not be entirely accurate.
I think the climate and environmental factors play a major role in the size of this field of vision.
As mentioned in the first session, this difference in eye size is due to growth rates.
A wide eye means the tree grows quickly.
When comparing just these two species, Adirondack spruce grows faster than Sitka spruce.
This is just my own speculation, but I was curious, so I looked up the temperature trends around Adirondack and the annual temperature trends for Sitka, Alaska.
※Average temperature in the Adirondack Mountains
※Average temperature in the Sitka region
As a result, the Adirondack region experienced greater temperature variations compared to the Sitka region, becoming both colder and warmer.
I wonder if the fact that summer is warm is important.
Tree rings are divided into earlywood and latewood, with earlywood being the portion that grows during warmer periods.
The width of the Adirondack's grain originates from the summer growth, known as the earlywood.
So I suppose the temperature difference with the Sitka region is reflected in the width of the eyes like this.
On the other hand, Sitka spruce tends to have relatively stable temperatures, so I think it likely has a tendency toward uniformly dense grain.
Considering that such a rich history is packed into just one type of wood used for acoustic guitars, I truly feel this is a product whose appeal never fades.
There's no bottom, so I keep sinking deeper and deeper.
It's also a great way to learn about culture, history, geography, and biology, so while using it as a tool is certainly one aspect, I personally think that being able to find such stories interesting is another great thing about the acoustic guitar.
I hope to continue talking broadly about acoustic guitars like this, without setting too many restrictions.
Please look forward to the next update.
Thank you very much.