Materials
Traditionally, european spruce has been the timber of choice for the soundboards of stringed instruments. Though I don't follow this tradition for tradition's sake, it is important to recognise that instrument makers have continually experimented with different timbers and that spruce has still remained the preferred timber. For this reason I use European spruce for all my soundboards.
I have a large stock of wood, both spruce and maple, some of it bought in log form in the Dolomites and southern Germany. A recent addition to my woodstock has been a large quantity of lombardy poplar grown locally. This wood was frequently used by many of the old masters in place of maple for cellos. I have had good success with it in the past as it produces a particularly warm timbre and it is a wood that is being rediscovered by many of todays top makers.
I find that the wood is an important source of inspiration and one of my greatest joys is sifting through the stacks to find the appropriate piece for the next instrument.
 |
Some
of my stock |