Seawater Sitka Spruce

I have been fortunate to obtain an exceptional supply of Sitka Spruce which was salvaged from pilings pulled out of the ocean on the east coast of Vancouver Island more than 30 years ago. The usable portions of the pilings were quartered and spent the next 25 years air drying. From 1999 to 2007 they resided in my woodshed and I have now split them into billets and am resawing them for tops. They are incredibly resonant and full sounding, with absolutely beautiful tonality. I am calling it Seawater Sitka.

There is some speculation that the early Cremonese violin makers (Stradivarius and Amati among others) sunk spruce logs in saltwater lagoons where they remained until they were cut for instruments. This apparently resulted in mineral deposits in the wood cells from the seawater. This is perhaps another contributing factor to the incredible sound of these early instruments.