I think the attributes ascribed to specific species of spruce are somewhat exaggerated. While the typical example of one spruce might differ from the typical example of another (for example, red spruce, on average, might be stiffer or have higher sound velocity than Sitka), there's a lot of overlap and when any two examples are compared, those "typical" differences may not be there. I have instruments with Sitka spruce, bearclaw Sitka spruce, red spruce, Engelmann spruce, European spruce, cedar, mahogany, and even wormy chestnut (that one's a mountain dulcimer) as top woods. They all sound different and those with similar top woods don't sound any more alike to me than ones with different top woods. Size, body style, and builder all make a considerably bigger difference, at least to my ears. If a guitar sounds good, I wouldn't worry what kind of spruce it used.
One of the questions I submitted to the LMG question thread was why Guild was using red spruce on many of its New Hartford models but Sitka on its most expensive -- the F512. I don't recall ever hearing the answer but I suspect it's because it generally has a more balanced tone that works better for a 12-string and/or it's difficult to find good looking pieces of red spruce in a size big enough for a 17" jumbo. In other words, I guess I don't equate red/Adirondack spruce with "the best" (although it can be a spectacular top wood, don't get me wrong) and I see Guild's usage pattern as consistent with that. Again, this is no dig at any wood. One of my favorite guitars had a red spruce top. (But then, the others of my favorite guitars don't.)
