Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) is the wood used for the vast majority of acoustic guitar, piano, violin, and other musical-instrument soundboards. It is hard to believe but it is being harvested at such a rate from the Southeast Alaskan forests where it grows natively, the end of the instrument-quality supply could be in sight. That would be a sad day indeed!
But I would like to take a moment to talk about a very special kind of Sitka which is no longer available today except from builders wood rooms where it is growing very scarce as well.
The term “Salmon Spruce” came from a period back in the mid 1800’s or maybe earlier, when fishermen built very large crates out of Sitka Spruce, which were submerged and filled with Salmon to be kept alive until the fishermen could get them to market.
The majority of the harvest took place in the fall when the Salmon began to move up the river to spawn thus the most plentiful Salmon fishing was found near the mouth of The Great Lakes. The fishermen used these crates to transport the fish down the river to the market keeping the Salmon completely submerged in the water.
As time passed the shipping methods improved and the old crates were just abandoned and left under water to age. Only recently, in the last 20 years lets say, have these same crates been salvaged for the planks to be cut into instrument sets.
Salvaged wood that has been under water for a long time goes through an interesting change. The fresh water will, over time, remove the resins from the cells and pores of the wood much in the same way air and heat can. The important difference between the salvaged wood versus modern kiln dried is the cell structure in the wood’s grain does not collapse as it would using the conventional methods. The cells are left more open and even after the lumber has dried, making the tone of the wood much more resilient and active.
Salmon Spruce is very limited and extremely rare today. It is a lively top with wonderful tone production and is historically significant.
I am very lucky indeed to have a guitar commissioned with this wonderful tonewood. Thank You Bill!