Spruce: Instrument Timber and Decorative Veneer
Wood Dictionary
You may have heard the name spruce in connection with guitars or pianos. As a timber name, it applies to several trees in the genus Picea. While spruce is known for instrument soundboards, MORI KOUGEI's A4 sheet offers its pale color and grain lines as a decorative facing.
The photographs are examples of the color and grain associated with each wood or figure. Every piece of natural wood is different; the sheet you receive will not have exactly the same color or grain as the photographs.
Name and basic information
- Trade name and English name
- Spruce MORI KOUGEI: Spruce A4 Product
- Scientific name and family
- Picea spp. / Genus Picea, family Pinaceae. The trade name alone does not establish a single species. USDA：Sitka Spruce / USDA Wood Handbook：Commercial Lumber
- Principal names in the references
- Sitka spruce: Picea sitchensis; Engelmann spruce: Picea engelmannii USDA：Sitka Spruce / USDA Wood Handbook：Commercial Lumber
- Product-page description
- The species description lists America. The A4 sheet is offered as quarter cut. MORI KOUGEI: Spruce A4 Product
Spruce is not one scientific name
Spruce is used with several species names, including Sitka, Engelmann, and white. Sitka spruce, for example, grows along North America's Pacific coast. These are not alternative names for a single tree: each has its own scientific name and growing range. This page uses the trade name Spruce as an introduction to timbers in the genus Picea. USDA：Sitka Spruce / USDA Wood Handbook：Commercial Lumber
Grain within a pale color
USDA references describe Sitka spruce as having creamy sapwood and light pinkish brown heartwood, with a relatively fine texture. Rather than assuming that spruce is pure white, recognizing a range within its pale tones helps when combining it with other woods. This is a general description of Sitka spruce, not a specification of the color of each sheet we sell. USDA Wood Handbook：Commercial Lumber
MORI KOUGEI's A4 product is offered as quarter cut. Making use of the grain direction can introduce a quiet rhythm to long, narrow parts or a flat surface. Treat the photographs as a guide to grain direction rather than as a fixed pattern of growth-ring widths and colors. MORI KOUGEI: Spruce A4 Product
Its role in creating sound
Sitka spruce has been used for piano soundboards and guitar tops because of its strength relative to weight and its acoustic characteristics. The important distinction is that these applications use timber selected for the purpose. Sharing the same name does not make a washi-backed sheet approximately 0.25 mm thick suitable as an instrument soundboard. USDA：Sitka Spruce / MORI KOUGEI: Spruce A4 Product
An A4 sheet for decorating surfaces
We sell natural wood veneer measuring 210 × 297 mm laminated to industrial washi paper. Suggested uses include furniture edges, decorative facing on small objects, marquetry, and speaker-cabinet surfaces, adding wood character to a substrate. Choose it by the dimensions and application method of a facing material, not by acoustic performance. Pale wood can be influenced by what lies beneath, so test a small area with the actual substrate and finish. MORI KOUGEI: Spruce A4 Product
View the Spruce A4 veneer sheet ↗
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This article draws on publicly available sources from Japan and abroad, with AI used to support research and organization.