You have Ezo spruce, right?Also aesthetically, I like the look of unpinched shoots more then pinched ones.
I have one Ezo, and it’s a recent acquisition, so I don’t have any experience with it. I did not pinch it as it grew this year. The new shoots are only about an inch long. The Ezo appears to only produce buds at nodes. From what I can see, looking at both this year’s new growth and previous year’s growth, there are buds at nodes only. I have not seen any buds form between nodes.
My Colorado Blue Spruce, however, WILL form buds along the new shoot as it grows. As will the Norway Spruce I have planted in my landscape.
It appears that not all spruce act the same. Just as single flush and double flush pines act differently.
“It depends”...