As far as using spruce, on the Squier site it simply says "pine", so I'm guessing not the spruce variety.
I suppose the tonal qualities come down to thinks like air pockets, density of wood, tightness, stuff like that.
One thing I don't fully understand is how the tone could be so greatly affected by the wood used on an electric. On an acoustic, yes, I see how it works. But on an electric, is the wood really acting as that much of a resonator? I would have thought pickups serve to pick up the vibration from directly under the string, as opposed to an acoustic where the sound is generated by the vibration travelling through the bridge, around the resonator, and out the soundhole. Seems to me the sound doesn't make that journey on an electric; it just goes from string to magnet.
But I don't know, so that is why I ask.
