Englemann Spruce Tops

The tops of my instruments are made from Englemann spruce. I get the blanks for my tops from a  friend and  long-time associate in northern Montana. The logs are harvested from the cold, northern slopes of the mountains where they grow slowly with tight, dense grain.  The blanks are carefully selected for both visual appeal and tonal qualities. This careful selection insures the top blanks selected are carefully quarter-sawn with no run-out of the grain lines. These carefully selected tops help create an instrument which is visually appealing, strong, stable, and has excellent sound characteristics.

Some of Bob's private stock of wood.