Sitka Spruce Tonewood

Spruce tops achieve a volume and "punch" that is simply not available to the redwood top.

Spruce, on the other hand, has a "brash" sound to go with that punch, and will never achieve the dark chocolaty sweetness of a redwood top. But spruce will "play in" over a year or so of steady playing, and finally achieve a sweetness to replace the original brashness of the new wood. Choose spruce if you want maximum volume and like to play your dulcimer in a muscular style.

The spruce used at Bear Meadow is Alaskan virgin growth Sitka spruce that has been blown down in storms, harvested by hand in a way that is very respectful of this resource and the surrounding environment. Our sawyer selects Master Grade baulks to our specifications and sends it in large quartersawn billets of Master Grade, enabling me to do my own resawing. This yields a high degree of control over the acoustic and aesthetic choices for Bear Meadow spruce tops. To see more about the spruce resawing process see quatersawing.

For price see the Price List.