#16
|
|||
|
|||
My Larrivee OM-03R has an Engelmann top.
It sounds a lot like Sitka, with slightly more overtones. So between Sitka and Cedar would be correct, but maybe 20% towards cedar, not halfway between.
__________________
Larrivee OM-03RE; O-01 Martin D-35; Guild F-212; Tacoma Roadking Breedlove American Series C20/SR Rainsong SFTA-FLE; WS3000; CH-PA Taylor GA3-12, Guild F-212 https://markhorning.bandcamp.com/music |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
Many people like dull sounding guitars so if you are one of those go Engleman and let your strings stay on all year.
|
#18
|
|||
|
|||
I guess I can interpret that as meaning you are not an Engelmann fan. ........Mike
|
#19
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
I would respectfully swap Sitka and Engelmann, but that's a good description, IMHO.
__________________
Santa Cruz D12-12 string, Ger. Maple/Ger. Spruce Froggy Bottom SJ12 Custom Spalted Maple/ Adirondack Goodall Standard Custom Amazon RW/Italian Spruce Emerald X-20 Custom SS Life's been good to me so far.... |
#20
|
||||
|
||||
I've always felt Engelmann lacked a sparkle that I like. To me, at least on the guitars I've played, I always put the guitar down and quickly forgot about it. I didn't find them just to be mellow, but without anything really distinguishing them and making me take notice. Not putting down anyone that loves it, or loves building with it. And I'd be sure a better guitarist could make it sing. Caveats aside, it's just not a wood that draws my attention when I play it. I like a good, stiff redwood, or one of the more typically stiffer spruce guitars. Very happy with my Carpathian top. Not sure where that "typically" falls in among the others.
__________________
--------------------------------------- 2013 Joel Stehr Dreadnought - Carpathian/Malaysian BW 2014 RainSong H-OM1000N2 2017 Rainsong BI-WS1000N2 2013 Chris Ensor Concert - Port Orford Cedar/Wenge 1980ish Takamine EF363 complete with irreplaceable memories A bunch of electrics (too many!!) |
#21
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Just kidding (not about owning the guitars)... Tony
__________________
“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... |
#22
|
|||
|
|||
There are so many different opinions and I think it says a lot about Engelmann. It can vary quite a bit. It can be like cedar or stiff examples can be like Alpine or even Red Spruce. Almost all of the Engelmann topped guitars I have played have been Martin guitars. They have pretty much been consistant in using very stiff Engelmann. Over at the UMGF, Engelmann has been well recieved on the many Limited Signature Models that have been issued with this top wood. Headroom and clear trebles have never been lacking, that is in my opinion and the opinions of the many others who have experienced these guitars. Bottom line, know your source and quality of the wood you are considering when choosing Engelmann.
.......Mike |
#23
|
|||
|
|||
Mike says it quite well: Engelmann spruce can vary a great deal. It's a terrific tonewood and I'm glad my walnut Larrivée OM is topped with it, but I'm not convinced that it's necessarily all that predictable or quantifiable.
whm |
#24
|
|||
|
|||
I put a microphone in front of my Pono rosewood engleman parlor today, and could not hear anything but clear clean tone. This guitar sustains forever, I am sure the top has something to do with it. Very clear highs, but it is a small guitar after all.
__________________
2007 Martin D 35 Custom 1970 Guild D 35 1965 Epiphone Texan 2011 Santa Cruz D P/W Pono OP 30 D parlor Pono OP12-30 Pono MT uke Goldtone Paul Beard squareneck resophonic Fluke tenor ukulele Boatload of home rolled telecasters "Shut up and play ur guitar" Frank Zappa |
#25
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
|
#26
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
One of my best friends was president of LMI (Luthiers Mercantile International) for a few years, and there were some occasions when they got in shipments of spruce and quite literally could not tell which species it was. These instances were generally from suppliers who sourced their wood from regions where both Sitka and Engelmann spruce grow. When the tonewood retailers at LMI were completely stumped by what they had, and the suppliers couldn't give them any more information, they would declare the wood to be whatever species it most resembled from a visual standpoint. If there were some reddish-brown grain lines in it, it was officially declared Sitka spruce. If it was mostly a creamy white, it would be labeled Engelmann. Yet Engelmann can have those colored grain lines in it, and Sitka can be as white as the driven snow. I know that for a fact because I've seen well-documented wood from both species that completely fly in the face of the visual expectations many might have. The same is true of density and stiffness. As I wrote earlier in this post, all of the spruces can look, sound and act like all of the other spruces. None of this is as absolute as you might believe. There is a great deal of variation within each species. Hope that makes sense. Wade Hampton Miller |
#27
|
|||
|
|||
I frankly didn't care much for Englemann until I got my Langejans. Before I'd play a lot of Taylors with it (and luthiers too, but most of my experience with it was Taylors), and just didn't like the sound very much. Del got a very rich and complex tone out of Englemann, and at first I didn't like it, but it grew on me a *lot*.
That being said, it doesn't have the headroom that my Taylor sitka dread has. The sloped dread is larger and thicker than my Taylor, and has a bigger and more complex tone--such that I do feel like I can overload the top fairly easily. I wish it could handle a bit more punishment with a flatpick, but the beauty of the tone more than makes up for its shortfalls.
__________________
1998 Langejans BRGC Engelmann Spruce / Brazilian RW 2017 Heinonen "Olson" SJ Western Red Cedar / Honduran RW - Build |
#28
|
|||
|
|||
I agree with those who say it's tough to make generalizations, so I'll call my following experience anecdotal. I recently acquired one of the Shanghai Schoenberg Recording Kings with a very nice Engelmann top over solid African mahogany (Sapele?). It's a little 00 cutaway, and it has totally blown me away. It is crisp, balanced, highly responsive, with a lot of sparkle, and tons of sustain. I play it as much as I do my McIlroy (so much for having just one guitar ). It sounds as pleasing to my ear as any of the Martins I've ever owned. I don't know if it's just luck of the draw, but the Engelmann/Mahogany combo on this little guitar is superb. I've never played a Sitka/Mahogany combo that I've enjoyed more than this one.
__________________
McIlroy A25C |
#29
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
|
#30
|
|||
|
|||
What Wade said:
"...all of the spruces can look, sound and act like all of the other spruces. None of this is as absolute as you might believe. There is a great deal of variation within each species." We keep trying to tell folks that, and somehow... |