Advance Guitars: Inoue’s Monologue
Episode 3: “The Adirondacks: Questions You’re Too Embarrassed to Ask Now”
Introduction
Hello. I’m Inoue, the manager of Advance Guitars.
Lately, I’ve had more opportunities to write articles for music magazines.
As I’ve written more and more, I’ve gradually accumulated a list of topics that I felt, “I couldn’t cover everything in the article, but I’d like to dig a little deeper into this.”
Also, as I interact with customers every day and observe guitars themselves,
I often find myself pausing to wonder, “How does this actually work?”
I wondered if there was a way to share the questions and insights I have in those moments in a more free-form way.
That’s how I started my “Solo Talk Series” on YouTube.
In this series, I cover a wide range of topics related to acoustic guitars, focusing primarily on things that I personally find “interesting.”
In this article, I’ve summarized the series while supplementing the parts that are difficult to convey through video alone.
I hope you’ll enjoy the world of acoustic guitars from a slightly new perspective.
Part 3: “Adirondack: The Basics You Might Be Too Embarrassed to Ask About Now”
What exactly is Adirondack spruce? How does it differ from red spruce?
This time, we’ll be discussing the top woods used in acoustic guitars.
Spruce, cedar, and mahogany are commonly used as top woods for acoustic guitars, but today I’d like to talk about spruce.
Specifically, I’m referring to what’s known as Adirondack spruce.
For fans of vintage acoustic guitars, this might be considered the gold standard.
Adirondack spruce is said to have been used in pre-war Martin and Gibson guitars, and it’s still used in high-end and authentic models today—it’s essentially the king of spruce in the acoustic guitar world.
This Adirondack spruce has another name.
That is Red Spruce.
Those familiar with current Gibson models may have heard this name before.
In this article, I’d like to explore what Adirondack spruce and red spruce actually are.
First, regarding Red Spruce, its scientific name is Picea rubens.
In Japanese, it is called "Akatouhi."
It is an evergreen conifer belonging to the genus Picea in the pine family.
"Picea" refers to a group of evergreen conifers in the pine family, and "rubens" comes from the Latin word for red—it’s also the root of the word "ruby."
It is called Picea rubens because it is a pine with red bark .
Incidentally , Sitka spruce, which is also commonly used, is Picea sitchensis.
It is still an evergreen conifer in the spruce genus of the pine family, and " sitchensis " apparently refers to Sitka.
And “Sitka” refers to a port town in Alaska.
While “Red Spruce” derives its name from the color of the bark, we can see that Sitka Spruce is named after a place.
As I researched, I discovered that this place name becomes important when considering Red Spruce and Adirondack Spruce.
Adirondack Spruce is, strictly speaking, a type of Red Spruce.
As for Red Spruce, it seems to be found mainly in the northeastern United States.
I’ve marked this on a map.
On the other hand, Sitka spruce is primarily found in the Pacific Northwest region of North America.
As mentioned earlier, Alaska is located on the North American continent, northwest of Canada.
So, it’s easier to understand if you think of Adirondack and Sitka as being divided between the east and west.
Since we’re talking about red spruce and Adirondack, I’d like to focus on the northeastern region.
The Appalachian Mountains stretch across this region, and records show that Martin, a company that has used red spruce since ancient times,
has records showing that it sourced spruce from several companies located in this northeastern region.
The Adirondack Mountains stretch across upstate New York,
and the red spruce harvested there was primarily used during Martin’s Golden Era, roughly from 1933 to 1941.
Because it was used during the Golden Era,
I believe the notion that Adirondack spruce is used in the finest guitars has become widely accepted.
Indeed, Martin guitars from this period are all exceptional, so I think even from a player’s perspective, it’s hard not to agree.
If we were to strictly define “Adirondack spruce,” it would refer to red spruce harvested in the Adirondack Mountains; however, Martin did not, understandably, keep records for each individual instrument specifying exactly which mountain the spruce came from.
As a result, the sources of spruce for Martin guitars prior to 1945 were quite diverse.
First, let’s look at the 1800s.
There are records indicating that, for a time in the latter half of the 1800s, Martin purchased spruce from a company in Pennsylvania, where the Martin factory was located.
After that, around 1900, the spruce came from the White Mountains in New Hampshire, and around 1910, Ohio and West Virginia appear to have been the main sources.
I imagine that this spruce is collectively referred to as “red spruce.”
As I mentioned earlier, since it’s not possible to keep records for each individual tree, I believe the term “Adirondack spruce” is currently used in a broad sense.
It might be best to view the terms “Adirondack Spruce” and “Red Spruce” in a broad sense.
I’ve prepared two Martin D-28s.
One is a Sitka spruce D-28, and the other is a D-28 Authentic.
2017 Sitka Spruce D-28
2015 D-28 Authentic
The Authentic model features Adirondack spruce.
Adirondack spruce is often said to have a wide grain, and when compared, the difference in grain width is striking—I think there’s some truth to that claim.
On the other hand, if you look at pre-war spruce wood, the grain isn’t necessarily this wide; you can also find wood with a tighter grain.
So while it’s true that Adirondack is often associated with a wide grain, looking at its long history, I now think that might not be entirely accurate.
As for this wide-grained nature, I believe climate and environmental factors play a major role.
As I mentioned in the first installment, this difference in grain size stems from growth rate.
A wide grain means the tree grew quickly.
Looking at just these two trees, it appears that Adirondack spruce grows faster than Sitka spruce.
From here on, this is just my own speculation, but I was curious, so I looked up the temperature trends around the Adirondacks and the annual temperature trends in Sitka, Alaska.
*Average temperature in the Adirondack Mountains
*Average temperature in the Sitka region
It turns out that the Adirondack region has greater temperature fluctuations compared to the Sitka region, with temperatures ranging from colder to warmer.
I suspect that having warm summers is a key factor.
Tree rings are divided into earlywood and latewood, with earlywood being the part that grows during warmer periods.
The width of the growth rings in the Adirondacks is derived from the part that grows in the summer—the so-called earlywood.
So, I think the temperature difference with the Sitka region is reflected in the width of the growth rings in this way.
On the other hand, Sitka spruce grows in a relatively stable climate, so I suspect its grain tends to be more uniformly dense.
When I consider that a single piece of wood used for an acoustic guitar is packed with such history, I realize more and more that this is a product with endless charm.
There’s no bottom to this—I just keep getting more and more drawn into its depths.
It serves as a lesson in culture, history, geography, and biology, so while it’s certainly a tool to be used, I personally think one of the great things about acoustic guitars is that they allow us to enjoy these kinds of stories.
Moving forward, I hope to continue talking broadly about acoustic guitars like this, without setting too many limits.
Until next time.
Thank you very much.
Author: Inoue, Manager of Advance Guitars – Vintage Guitar Researcher
An expert who has been playing instruments since childhood and has been involved in the appraisal and sale of over several thousand vintage guitars. He maintains strong connections with collectors and dealers overseas. Guided by the belief that “the history of a guitar can change with a single color or stamp,” he strives to provide detailed and passionate commentary.
Qualifications and Experience: 8 years as a musical instrument appraiser; contributor and supervisor for publications such as Guitar Magazine
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