Top Material – Songwriter Series

Spruce has characteristics that make it ideal for the “top” of an acoustic guitar (the part with the sound hole and bridge). Spruce is a straight-grained wood, and is very strong for its weight. In fact, Spruce was the wood used in early 1900s aircraft because it was very strong, yet still very light. For a guitar, this means a thin sheet of Spruce can be strong, yet easily transmit the resonance of the strings. It’s this top-wood resonance that contributes the most to the sound character of a guitar. Three types of Spruce are used for Voyage Air guitars: Select Spruce, Solid Spruce, and Sitka Spruce. All three make for a great-sounding instrument, and all have various considerations in terms of price, durability and performance.

Solid Spruce is just what its name implies: it’s a thin sheet of solid-wood Spruce that is used for the top of the guitar. As one thin sheet of solid wood, it has great resonance, tone, projection and harmonics. Realize that the family of Spruce trees covers a great many species. The Solid Spruce used by Voyage Air guitar comes from the northern latitudes, where the wet and cold climate is ideal for the straight-grained Spruce that makes guitars sound great. Solid Spruce is used in the Voyage Air Songwriter-04 series guitars.