Anybody know about Bear Claw Spruce?

[DavesWoodstock]

I'm looking for a good explanation on how it becomes Bear Claw. why it's good or better etc.

TIA!

[Aruthas]

I think it goes like this (bear with me, as I am not a wood expert): the "bear claw" marking is actually a healed wood scar. Something appened to the tree, a bear sharpening its claws for example, and leaves a deap gouge. The tree heals itself over time, leaving a swearly patterned area embedded in the natural grain. Is the soundboard any better for it? I doubt it, but it sure is purty (and purty sells ).

[cpmusic]

I don't know how it happens, but it's highly prized by some folks. Some claim a tonal advantage, but I can't imagine how that works. Personally, I'd rather have "unclawed" spruce.

[Jim]

It has nothing to do with actual bears clawing on trees and then healing up with scars that are later uncovered when the wood is sawn into boards. It is named bear claw because it kind of resembles what one might imagine that could look like and people have a natural tendency to want to name things after what they look like. It's kind of like calling wrinkles around the eyes crows feet. They aren't really caused by crows stomping around on your face - well at least not in most people. It is actually just some sporadic rippling or wavyness in the alignment of the wood fibers that in most spruce trees grow straight as a ruler. The causes for finding some of this fiber rippling in one tree while the tree right next to it doesn't have any are generally believed to be genetics though there could possibly be climatic stresses that could cause or enhance it.

As for whether a piece of spruce with bear claw figuring is any better or worse than one with master grade straight grain I haven't seen much proof either way. There does seem to be some tendency for bear clawing to be more common in older trees that were slower growing (perhaps more stressed in growth) and so the wood can be (not always) a bit stiffer which some people prefer for some kinds of playing. For me, it's really a question of aesthetics. If you like the way it looks, then by all means buy it. If you prefer the straight grain look, then buy that.

My personal opinion is that I have seen one or two guitars that have have very beautiful bear claw patterns that I wouldn't mind owning, but I don't care for it normally since it is usually too irregular which to me is a visual distraction.

[dcn100]

Personally, I think bearclaw spruce is beautiful and adds a dash of character to the otherwise largely monotonous world of spruce tops. Is spruce really such a superior soundboard material, or are we just frightened into thinking that by tradition? Now all of a sudden, koa and walnut are being featured as high end sound board woods, and I don't hear people complaining about the tonal results. But I must say, I recently played a stunningly gorgeous koa Tacoma (including a koa top) that sounded like it was made of plastic. I couldn't put it down fast enough. On the other hand, perhaps the sweetest sounding 12 string I have ever played was a Taylor W65 (? - jumbo with the walnut top). And it was value priced in the low four thousands!

[cpmusic]

Originally posted by dcn100
Personally, I think bearclaw spruce is beautiful and adds a dash of character to the otherwise largely monotonous world of spruce tops.

Hmmm....that's like saying that real vanilla ice cream is boring, and we connoisseurs know better! Seriously, I've seen some un-clawed Sitka spruce that's downright gorgeous. Wood doesn't have to be highly figured to be pretty.

[DavesWoodstock]

I have heard that the Bear-Clawing effect is cause by distress to the tree. ie Hurricanes, Tornados, Appendicitis attacks etc.
And I have heard of some extremely straight grained Spruce WITH Bear Claw! Which to my understanding, is the ultimate!


Keep the info coming!
Inquiring minds wanna know!

[veteran13]

I agree with cpmusic about rather having unclawed spruce. I have a K-10 who's top just glistens when you look at it and has some beautiful depth to it. It is unclawed. Being uneducated about the benefits (or not) of bear claws, I always thought they used the "flawed" wood for the lower end guitars until I saw it on the Gallery series. I suppose it's all in the eye of the beholder and of course the ultimate thing is does it sound good? For me it's a matter of preference to have straight grain on my tops.

[acousticking]

Does anyone know of a picture of Bear-Claw? I'd really like to see it, it sounds interesting.

[acousticking]

Hasn't anyone ever seen "The Natural?" That tree was struck by lightning and it make Robert Redford an awesome baseball player. Imagine that tree in a guitar! The LIGHTNING WOOD TAYLOR! You'd FLY on the fretboard!

[DavesWoodstock]

(Reprinted from another Forum)

While some tone wood is classified by it's cosmetic character, other tone wood is classified by its POTENTIAL for superior tonal character. The "best looking" spruce may be different
things to different people. For instance, I own a guitar with a "bear claw" spruce top. Some people look at it and say yuck, its all messed up. Others look and go wow! what a beautiful top. Either way, it is tonally a superior top, no doubt about it. I believe that a perfectly quarter sawn spruce top with bear claw figure and tight consistant grain is going to sound better to
me than a wide grain large degree of runout set of the same spruce.
My evidence is anecdotal and probably would not stand up to scrutiny. However, Santa Cruz, Martin and most other makers get premium $$ for these "cosmetic" attributes.

AAA koa is a tone wood with very high figure (curl or flame) and depth that is consistant running across the guitar's back and sides. The color is intense and will be particularly striking to the eye. The best koa I have seen is also quite dense which I believe, in the hands of a competent luthier, can be used to the best advantage when designing and voicing the instrument. Of course, the ultimate tone of the instrument has more to do
with the builder and the design than the wood. Most hand builders will build with the highest quality woods possible because they want these instruments to reflect the best possible chance of being an excellent guitar, tonally and visually. Its hard to separate the visual from the tonal because its all
part of the same experience, at least for me it is.

[cpmusic]

Originally posted by taylorman
(Reprinted from another Forum)
I believe that a perfectly quarter sawn spruce top with bear claw figure and tight consistant grain is going to sound better to
me than a wide grain large degree of runout set of the same spruce.

I have no doubt that these samples will sound different, but I don't think the bear claw has anything to do with it. I've read that the tightness of the grain will affect tone (wider grain being bassier) and I can't imagine that a large degree of runout won't hurt a wood's tonal qualities. The thing to do is compare a lot of spruce samples that are very close in all respects other than bearclaw.

I think you're right, though, that it's a combination of all aesthetic properties that draw people to a given type of wood.

[DavesWoodstock]

(Another reprint from another forum)

The technical term for "bear claws" is hazelficte. It refers to a pattern in the grain occasionally showing up in all species of spruce. Basically it is a ripple in the fibers of the wood and is similar to the patterns you get in some maples (the curly stuff or "quilt"). But in spruce, bear claws are not uniform but random and asymmetrical. Some say they look like the curved claws of a bear, others say they look like the marks left by a bear who was sharpening his claws on the tree before it was felled and turned into furniture or guitar tops.

It is almost always a sign that the spruce is from an old tree with a very dense molecular structure. This translates into stiff tops and a greater velocity to the soundwaves they produce. Many luthiers feel that bear claws are a reliable sign of higher quality tone wood within a given species of spruce.

This is why you see highly bear clawed tops on the special Martin D-50s on up that have been produced primarily as museum-quality examples of the appointment work of their Custom Shop artisans.

So some people feel they are ugly, or at least when there is only one or two marring otherwise straight grain in a top. Others like it because it makes their guitar singular and noticably unique from all others. But when there is significant bear clawing, as in some of Bourgeois top line stuff or those D-50s I mentioned, it can be quite stunning.

I don't think people originally liked bear claws because of how they looked, and therefore coveted that particular piece of wood. But rather the other way around: it is something people have come to find aesthetically pleasing because it is a sign of a very good piece of wood, tone-wise.

But it is not a matter of myth, it is a matter of molecular chemistry. Bear claws only appear in the stiffest Spruce.

[dcn100]

I likewise initially assumed that bearclaw spruce was some kind of salvage scrap, the use of which reflected a world shortage of clear wood, or something. That is, until I saw a $4k Bourgeois for sale in Redwood City with a highly clawed top. Wow, it was beautiful! It looked like God had used the spruce surface to paint a subtle duochrome watercolor of a stormy sea. Anyway, ever since then I have viewed bearclaw admiringly, and would be delighted to own a guitar that featured it. A beautiful bearclaw looks like you are seeing stars just prior to fainting. I think it gives a guitar a strangely blurry, surreal look.

[Aruthas]

Man, is my face red. Next time, I'll shut my mouth instead of giving my opinion on things I know nothing of.

Wait a minute, I can't do that: I'm a manager. If I were to speak only of things I know of, I'd never speak!