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#3
03-10-2020, 03:18 PM
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If it's red in color, that probably has more to do with pigmentation in the lacquer than it does the species of spruce. "Red spruce" is the common name for the species more often called "Adirondack spruce" in guitar forums like this one; it doesn't refer to the actual color of the wood itself.
If your Gibson was made in 1986 it's much more likely to have a Sitka spruce top than a red/Adirondack spruce top. Hope that makes sense. Wade Hampton Miller 
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#4
03-10-2020, 04:16 PM
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I think you are correct Wade, because it does have a # 2 stamped on the back of the head and the top has irregularities, so I'm guessing they tried to hide/tame them down with either shaded lacquer or red stain before the clear coat, or a combo.
I only paid $700 in 03 for it and I bought it for the sound. I remember he was playing it when we walked in, and when I heard and recognized that exact tone I had been looking for I knew that I was going buy it even before looking it over. Also, I didn't know that red spruce was not red. Ha!
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#5
03-10-2020, 09:05 PM
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Yeah, red spruce is basically the same blond wood color gradually darkening over the years as Sitka spruce or any other species of spruce. They all look very similar, and anyone who thinks that he can tell the species of spruce with a glance is kidding himself. There are some general characteristics that the different species CAN conform to - Engelmann often starts of a creamy white, Sitka can have noticeable red-brown grain lines in it - but all of the spruce species can and often do perfectly mimic all of the other spruce species.
That extends not only to appearance but also to density, cross-grain stiffness, musical performance and every other characteristic. Again, there are general tendencies that can be ascribed to specific spruce species, but none of them are as absolute as the tonewood determinists who often dominate these forum discussions would like you to believe. Hope that makes sense. whm
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#6
03-11-2020, 06:21 AM
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As far as I know no Nashville-made acoustic was built with a red spruce top period. Deurloo, Lamb et al had done their best to resurrect the acoustic line in Nashville but all left in 1984 after Gibson was acquired in a hostile takeover by the group which owned Piezo Electronics. The fact that the J30 was made at all is amazing considering the new owners quickly announced their intention to phase out the musical instruments division.
__________________
"You start off playing guitars to get girls & end up talking with middle-aged men about your fingernails" - Ed Gerhard
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#7
03-11-2020, 08:43 AM
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Red spruce was essentially absent from the acoustic guitar market from the 1960's until the mid-1990's. This is due to the fact that old growth red spruce was commercially extinct, and second growth trees were still too small to yield two-piece guitar tops.
Having participated in the revival of cutting red spruce for guitars, I can say that the first sales of red spruce to the guitar factories didn't take place until around 1992, and that was in minuscule numbers.
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#8
03-11-2020, 09:28 AM
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I believe Gibson is currently making a J-35 historic in red spruce.
__________________
Gibsons: SJ-200, SJ-200 12-string, SJ-200 Parlor, Woody Guthrie Southern Jumbo, Hummingbird Taylors: K24ce, 517 Martin:0000-28 Ziricote Preston Thompson: O Koa
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#9
03-28-2020, 11:34 AM
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Quote:
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