What wood is used for handmade violins? Introduction to maple and spruce wood

When making a violin, the back is usually maple and the top is spruce. Only using these two woods can have an important impact on the craftsmanship and sound quality and make a real violin. So here’s the question. What is the difference between the wood of a handmade violin and the wood of a factory violin? From a simple logic, they both use spruce and maple. The materials are the same, but what is the difference? Today, let’s talk about what kind of maple is used in making handmade violins. What about wood and spruce?

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What is the difference between maple and spruce?

maple

Maple is one of the most commonly used materials in handmade violins, and is mainly used to make violin backs, side panels, necks, tail hooks and other components. It has high density, high hardness, and excellent resonance characteristics, which can make the sound quality of handmade violins fuller and more balanced.

The texture of maple is relatively simple, but its color and texture are very bright, which can add an elegant temperament to the violin. In addition, maple wood also has good wear resistance and deformation resistance, making the violin more durable.

spruce

Spruce is one of the main materials used to make violin tops. It is moderately stiff, lightweight, and performs well in terms of resonance. The resonant frequency of the spruce top is high, and its sound is clear and transparent, making it very suitable for playing brisk and beautiful music.

Compared with maple, spruce has a more complex texture and has its own unique beauty. In the process of making handmade violins, the selection of spruce wood needs to take into account factors such as its age, tree species, and growing area to ensure that the produced panel has stable quality and good resonance.

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  What are the differences and characteristics of maple and spruce wood for handmade violins?

The maple and spruce used to make handmade pianos are necessarily different from the wood used in factory pianos.

So what's the difference?

The maple and spruce wood used in handmade violins is generally made of European materials. There are good and bad European materials. All good European materials are used. In terms of drying time, they are required to be more than 5 years. Generally, those from the factory are After drying, maple and spruce wood for hand-made violins are generally not purchased in large quantities from factories. Instead, violin makers may choose from hundreds of pieces of wood based on their years of experience and their own characteristics in making violins. Pick two or three pieces and prefer the better ones. The hardness and rigidity of the wood, as well as the tiger grain of the annual rings, are higher, and the price will be very high. Generally, the maples we use to make handmade violins are Czech maple and Bosnian maple. For these woods, spruce trees generally use German spruce and Italian spruce.

  What should we pay attention to when buying a handmade violin?

It is important to note when purchasing a handmade violin that different manufacturers may use different woods and processes. Therefore, before purchasing, you should understand details such as the luthier and studio of the handmade violin, the year of production, specifications, and its materials and workmanship to ensure that you can choose a high-quality violin that suits your needs.

Although maple and spruce are one of the most commonly used materials in handmade violins, they are very different from the materials of ordinary violins. We need to think from the root of the problem. We cannot rely on appearance alone. Appearance can only understand three-thirds of the answer. . Therefore, when purchasing a handmade violin, you should understand the characteristics of different materials in order to choose a high-quality violin that best suits your needs.