Orcas Island Tonewoods

05/26/2026

I copied this from a discussion about the spruce we see in vintage Martin guitars...very interesting...
In 1953, we see wood described as "Mystery Spruce", which could possibly be Engelmann...
I see a *lot* of wood in vintage Martins--including my own '51 D18--that is "Mystery Wood" to me... :-)

"In order to provide more info on the types of spruce Martin used I have put together the following table from data in the Martin purchasing records.
The date, supplier and description are from the Martin records, the type column I added because a detailed description was always recorded in the ledgers.
The table is not complete, only records from 1941 to 1957 are shown

DATE SUPPLIER DESCRIPTION TYPE
1941-12-13 BRECKWOLDT & SON 3/16" SPRUCE VENEER ADIRONDACK
1942-05-20 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. RIB SPRUCE & GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1943-12-15 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 5/4" RIB STOCK SPRUCE SITKA
1944-04-12 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 1000 PAIRS GUITAR TOPS 3/16" SITKA
1944-09-18 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 1000 PAIRS GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1945-02-28 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 504 PCS SPRUCE GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1945-07-25 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 2390' SPRUCE 5/4" SITKA
1945-10-05 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 1100 PAIRS SPRUCE GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1945-12-12 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 3900 PCS GUITAR TOPS SPRUCE SITKA
1946-06-07 NORTH HUDSON E. CO. 232' GUITAR TOPS SPRUCE 3/16" ADIRONDACK?
1946-08-20 NORTH HUDSON E. CO. 680' GUITAR TOP SPRUCE 3/16" ADIRONDACK?
1946-09-24 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 1500 PRS SPRUCE GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1947-01-07 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 1000 PAIRS SPRUCE MANDOLIN TOPS SITKA
1947-04-03 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. SPRUCE TOPS & RIB STOCK SITKA
1947-08-05 NORTH H. W. CORP. 956' 3/16" SPRUCE SITKA?
1947-08-25 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 2975 PCS SPRUCE GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1947-12-09 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. SPRUCE 5/4" & 3/16" PAIRS SITKA
1948-07-19 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 3250 PCS SPRUCE GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1948-09-21 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 3400 PAIRS GUITAR TOP SPRUCE SITKA
1949-04-26 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 4000 PCS SPRUCE GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1949-11-08 EATON LUMBER CO. 2247' 1-3/8" I. S. SPRUCE ADIRONDACK
1950-05-31 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 3052' SITKA RIB SPRUCE SITKA
1950-11-13 EATON LUMBER CO. 5135' SAWN SPRUCE 1-3/8" ADIRONDACK
1951-03-19 EATON LUMBER CO. SPRUCE VENEER ADIRONDACK
1952-01-14 EATON LUMBER CO. 1-3/8" SPRUCE ADIRONDACK
1952-12-05 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. SPRUCE TOPS & RIB STOCK SITKA
1953-05-08 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 3000 PAIRS SPRUCE GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1953-11-04 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. SPRUCE 3/16" & 5/4" SITKA
1954-02-19 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 3000 PAIRS SPRUCE GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1954-09-24 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. SUNDRY SPRUCE SITKA
1955-05-12 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1955-09-02 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. SPRUCE TOPS & RIBSTOCK SITKA
1955-11-15 EATON LUMBER CO. 2420' SPRUCE 1-3/8" ADIRONDACK
1956-03-28 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. 2396 PCS SPRUCE GUITAR TOPS SITKA
1956-08-27 POSEY MANUFACTURING CO. POSEY SPRUCE (RIB STOCK & TOPS) SITKA
1957-02-15 J. H. MONTEATH CO. 5786' SPRUCE 5/32" SITKA?
1957-06-03 J. H. MONTEATH CO. 3440' SITKA SPRUCE 5/32" SITKA
1957-06-28 WORLDWIDE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS CO. WOOD FOR INSTRUMENTS GERMAN

Some interesting observations can be made from this data:

1) The last pre-war purchase of Adirondack spruce occurred in December 1941, it was probably in use until at least late 1942.
2) From mid-1942 to late 1945 only Sitka spruce was purchased by Martin.
3) I have not been able to find any information on the North Hudson E. Co. so I don't know if this is Adirondack or not.
4) The Eaton Lumber Co. was located in Rochester, VT and supplied "Vermont" spruce. I made the assumption this is a type of Adirondack. This wood must be the source of the "mystery" tops.
5) The late 1955 purchase from the Eaton Lumber Co. is the source of Adirondack spruce used on guitars from late-1956 to mid-1957.
6) The source of German spruce in use from mid-1957 must have come from Worldwide Musical Instrument Co. (although the type of spruce was not recorded in the records).
7) 1-3/8" spruce was always resawn to 3/16"
It can be assumed that most of the spruce ordered had to be air-dried prior to use. This delay should be considered when looking at the periods of use of the various types of spruce. The only exception is the German spruce that appears to have been supplied already dried since it was put into use almost immediately.
9) CFM III made a statement in an early 1980s article that Martin bought a supply of Engelmann spruce at some point. Since I could find no mention of Engelmann spruce in the records (at least as far as late 1964) there are two possibilities: a) CFM III was mistaken and meant Sitka instead or b) Posey Manufacturing supplied Engelmann spruce in some of their shipments."

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05/14/2026

...and, the wood glows in the dark...

GNARLY Black Locusr in Saugerties, NY. The Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is a fast-growing, deciduous tree native to the southeastern US, known for its extremely durable, rot-resistant wood, fragrant white flowers, and sharp, paired thorns. It fixes nitrogen to thrive in poor soils.
Photo by Fred Breglia instagram.com/bigtreehunters

05/10/2026

This is the world’s largest Douglas-fir, growing in the misty San Juan Valley for over thousand years. Many of us who seek out the giants of the Pacific Northwest dream of the mythical 5 metre (16.4 ft) wide fir. The tree pictured here, along with the Queets Fir, are the only two known Douglas-firs alive today approaching that legendary width, but they still fall fairly short. The Red Creek Fir measures 4.23 m (13.9 ft) DBH, and the Queets Fir as 4.35 m (14.3 ft) DBH. The elusive 5 metre wide firs are now only seen in faded photographs, old logging records, and the tall tree tales of centuries past-some true, others maybe not. Are there hidden giants still out there waiting to be discovered? Many big tree hunters believe that they do exist so the search continues. Thanks to Colin Spratt • Northwest Big Tree Hunter for this photo and information.

05/09/2026

04/24/2026

Considering that some of the most sought-after and beloved vintage 'Bones and D18s are made from wood you couldn't give away today--too far off quarter--discuss...
It's pretty much been proven that great tone, durability, and even "that" cloudy look that we all know and love can result from a severely off-quarter top....
Just sayin'....

04/18/2026

:-O

04/05/2026

Lot #123: A nice pile of hand-split Sitka Spruce, ideal for archtop guitars…

Wide graining, which is actually a lot harder to find than the tight-grained stuff…
Great flat split, hard to the fingernail, and the wood displays some nice medularies…

Scaled as 75 tops, a skilled resawer could get 100…
Split out 4-5 years ago...
Nice wood...
$7.5K...

Possible delivery to the Left Coast, or points between Seattle and Salt Lake City, Utah....

03/26/2026

03/25/2026

Lot #120: A nice stash of Western Red Cedar for milling flat top guitar tops.

Would be nice for archtops as well…

Approximately 280” thickness inches of resawable thickness for milling jumbo flattops…

Tight graining, hard-to-the-fingernail, even coloring, straight graining...

$5K…

The wood is located on Orcas Island, WA…
Possible delivery to the Left Coast…

03/25/2026

Eight sets of Western Balsam Poplar for cellos…

Similar weight, look, and workability to the wood we see in some of the Strad cellos and violas…

The wood is dry and ready to roll…

Selling for a friend…the wood is located near Seattle WA...
$1.6K

09/18/2025

This maker really likes funky wood… And I do too.
Looks like spruce sapwood staining, and some heavy bark inclusions on the Maple back…
Shows confidence as a maker, in my humble opinion…
Beautiful!