My kit definitely had two bass wood spars for the hstab. Much harder than balsa although some of the balsa in my kit was pretty hard too. i seem to recall identifying the basswood spars from the size rather than the appearance - also seem to recall them being 18" long before cutting to size. Maybe the photo can help.

Regarding the die cutting...I also broke off one or two wing rib tabs, stuck them back with CA. Even from sheet to sheet I found same part no's with slightly different dimensions, lots of sanding during assembly, especially with the fuselage.