You'd have to look at the specs. I know that some of newer guitars from Eastman (the AC522CE, for instance) are listed as having "European spruce" tops. Here's an interesting breakdown of the qualities of the various spruce tops, although like all such reviews, the opinions are subjective and your opinion and/or experience might be different.
A long post follows... This one below comes from the Fellowship of Acoustics website: (
https://www.tfoa.eu/en/blogs/blog/tonewoods-explained/):
Arguably the most common tonewood,
Sitka Spruce is a well-rounded tonewood, one suited for many styles of playing. It’s known for its tight grain pattern and its high stiffness and relative lightness, translating to a broad dynamic range that stands up well when strummed heartily. At the same time, it’s also quite responsive to fingerpicking, though a light touch may result in a thin sound. Sitka tends to have stronger fundamentals than overtones, and this means that it can sound not quite as robust when played with the lightest touch. “Sitka is the most consistently available, good-quality spruce there is, and that’s why we use it as stock on the majority of our guitars,” says Dick Boak, director of the museum and archives at
Martin & Co. Besides Martins, Sitka Spruce is used on many guitars in the industry. A sitka spruce top can be seen on the J50 for example, second from right on the picture above.
Engelmann spruce, which also grows in western North America, is a common alternative to Sitka. Because it is in lesser supply than Sitka, Engelmann often costs more. It’s a lighter and less stiff variety than Sitka, and it has stronger overtones and weaker fundamentals. An Engelmann top typically has less headroom than one made from Sitka, and its sound can suffer a little when played loudly. “Engelmann is a good choice for players who want a more complex sound when playing softly,” says Dana Bourgeois, adding that
European spruce shares characteristics with Engelmann, but has more headroom, making it ideal for players with a stronger attack.
When Taylor Guitars redesigned its popular 700 series, the company turned to
Lutz spruce, a natural hybrid of Sitka and white spruce that provides a higher volume ceiling. Taylor is no stranger to Lutz; the world’s largest acoustic-guitar manufacturer introduced this tonewood into its lineup with the revoiced 500 series. It grows naturally in a relatively small area in Central British Columbia and the Alaskan panhandle. The supplier hails Lutz spruce for its “hybrid vigor.”
Adirondack, or Eastern red spruce, named after its ruddy coloring, grows in the Adirondack Mountains and in the cool forests of the Northeast. It is the king of spruces. Prior to World War II, it was the soundboard tonewood of choice for Martin and other makers. But over-harvesting of this wood led to its being all but phased out for use in guitars in the years after the war. For the most part, Adirondack spruce can be found on select high-end instruments. It’s a relatively heavy and stiff wood, having strong fundamentals, but a greater overtone content than Sitka, and it tends to be the loudest and liveliest of spruces as well. Adirondack can be extremely wide-grained—as few as four grains per inch—and not as pretty as other spruces, but it has the uncanny ability to add complexity to the tone. Adirondack is used as a top on the "midde" guitar, 4th from right, on the picture above! It's a J-45 Vintage 2018 model, rocking a classic Adi top combined with a Mahogany body.
German Spruce is a common term for Spruce coming from Europe, but it is not really accurate. Guitar grade Spruce has not come out of Germany for many years now. The best material comes from the former Yugoslavia region. With
German Spruce, you can expect the excellent, slightly golden-colored tonewood that, for years now, has been the staple of the bowed instrument world, and a favorite among high-end steel string and classical guitar builders.
German Spruce is of exactly the same species as
Alpine or
Italian Spruce,
but is different in sound because of the high regions the Alpine Spruce grows in. Alpine Spruce is just a bit warmer in color and the winter grain, when visible, is a bit pinker. Tonally, it is said be more focused with a slightly stronger fundamental than regular
German Spruce. For this reason it has a loyal group of devotees.
(Steve's note: "European spruce" is a catch-all term for
Picea abies, also known as German Spruce, Italian spruce, Norway Spruce, Carpathian Spruce, Swiss spruce, Yugoslavian spruce and probably a few others -- though note the Fellowship of Acoustics comment on the tonal qualities of Alpine spruce.)
