European spruce also known as Norway spruce Soundboards.
Scientific name: Pieces abies
Copied from Acousticcentre:
'European spruce is being used more and more by high-end builders, and it offers some of the headroom of Adirondack and a quicker response than Sitka, but with a warmer, thicker tone. Some builders compare it to a brighter Cedar or Redwood, but with the volume and note-separation of Spruce. It's wonderfully pale in colour, and pairs well with darker timbers like Rosewood or Ebony for a striking two-tone appearance. It benefits from a stronger attack, and louder strummers will love its thick sound even when pushed hard.'
These are also called German, Italian, Alpine spruce, depending where they originate from.
As described by the Acousticcentre, these soundboards are indeed a lovely pale colour.
These particular soundboards originate from the Carpathian Mountains.
GRADING C - AAA
C Grade- This grade will be discarded and normally used by guitar repairers.
B Grade- This grade is the most economical grade. There won't be any knots within the template area, but there might be small blemishes like tiny resin pockets. The grain might have higher runout towards the outside of the set. These sets, generally will have more noticeable reddish grain. Some sets might have very straight and uniform grain, but with more reddish grain running across.
B+ or B/A Grade- this grade Picea Abies soundboards will be somewhere between B and A grade. For example, the soundboard that would normally fall under A grade, but due to some reddish streaks or wider grain runout, these will be degraded to B+ or B/A grade.
A Grade- A grade soundboards will have uniform and straight grain. Some barely noticeable reddish streaks are possible. Generally these soundboards will be pale looking with uniform grain and some grain runout.
AA Grade- The AA grade will have a very uniform and tight grain with minimum grain runout.
AAA Grade- This grade will have uniform and tight grain across the template area.
Bearclaw -
Bearclaw pattern is a rare occurrence in spruce. The soundboards with a very few bearclaw patterns will be graded as per above grading system, while more unique looking pieces will be sold only as bearclaw.
Generally all grades will be quarter sawn and have grain orientation between 80 and 90 degrees, with higher grades being 90 or very close to 90 degree.
