“Wood, like a lot of woodworkers, does not like to be hurried or stressed,” David tells us from his base at Luthiers Supplies“Going abruptly from green to dry in a kiln can distort or even collapse the cell structure, in which case vital elasticity and strength will be compromised. To quote Irving Sloane: ‘A guitar put together under stress will come apart under stress.’ If the wood was stressed, unstable and forced into place, the guitar will likely fall apart.
“Not all wood deserves to be called tonewood. A spruce soundboard should sound lively when tapped and whisper a little of its potential when you slide it between your fingers. The wood should be from trees that are straight and cylindrical, have even growth rings and were felled when sap isn’t rising. It should be broken down into smaller pieces before it can discolour, and split into wedges before being sawn parallel to the line of cleaving – quarter-sawn, in other words. It’s then sawn into bookmatched pairs and ideally dried slowly. If the soundboard is strong, resonant and elastic, it can work effectively as an air pump to amplify energy and impart the harmonic range delivered by the vibrating strings.” [RB]