i just bought a open pro cd rim (32) with a chris king hub laced 3x, the problem is that the guy does not remember what spokes he built it with. so my question is, is there a way to determine what type of spokes they are once i receive the wheel?

The heads on the spokes should have markings to indicate the brand, and you'd need a guage to determine the thickness. Not sure where to find one by itself, but my Park tension meter came with a little guage to tell how thick the spokes are.

Is there any particular reason you need to find out which spokes are on this wheel?

thanks urbanknight!! and i am going to build the front wheel to the same specs, so i will use the same spokes on the front wheel. or should i just use dt revolutions regardless?

The spokes on your front wheel do not care what spokes are in your back wheel. Just buy good, appropriate spokes, such as DTs. You can't go wrong with Wheelsmith or Sapims either. You don't really need as many spokes in front or as heavy gauge either. Without your weight are riding style, its not easy to recommend a specific spoke # or gauge, but its safe to say that the most optimal wheelset will not have identical front and rear spoke # and type.

Agreed. Whatever you have on the rear, chances are you can use fewer and/or thinner on the front.

Fantastic!!! thanks guys