Which grade is this spruce top?

[ozanbilgin]

I'm a little confused about my guitar's top. It has extremely dense strips, but also has silking all over the top. It looks nice to me, but I know 30 years ago that was considered a flaw. What do the professional luthiers and players think?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zYX4LzgN8jQ3nEW57

[tomiv9]

Looks good to me. Silking is a sign if perfect quatersawn wood, idk if it was ever considered a flaw. Unless you're talking about bearclaw, which is a little different.

[charles Tauber]

What specifically confuses you regarding that top?

What characteristic of it are you suggesting was considered a flaw 30 years ago?

Much of wood grading is based on cosmetic factors. What people find cosmetically (aesthetically) preferable often changes over time - styles and fads.

[ozanbilgin]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

What specifically confuses you regarding that top?

What characteristic of it are you suggesting was considered a flaw 30 years ago?

Much of wood grading is based on cosmetic factors. What people find cosmetically (aesthetically) preferable often changes over time - styles and fads.

The silkings all over the top.

[redir]

Silking was never considered a flaw. There are guitars made with master grade top sets that sound mediocre and their are guitars made with economy grade top sets that sound stellar. So it really doesn't mean a lot.

[D-utim]

Does it sound AA or AAA?

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by redir

Silking was never considered a flaw.

I'm thinking the same thing. I actually look for silking on a spruce top, because it indicates a good job of quarter-sawing.

Your guitar looks great, but how it sounds is paramount. Hard to tell that from a photo.

[Wade Hampton]

Thirty years ago, sixty years ago or sixty minutes ago that would be considered an excellent top. Anyone who told you otherwise was probably trying to weasel the guitar away from you.


whm

[bunnyman]

If it sounds good it is a great top

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by D-utim

Does it sound AA or AAA?

I think it looks pink. Or maybe a tad fruity.

Good grief.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

I think it looks pink. Or maybe a tad fruity.

Good grief.

Sitka can have a pink tint to it. I would not hold it against one.



It is a fine looking top. But like others have said, "She ain't pretty, she just looks that way." It does not say it will sound as good as it looks, if the builder built it to its potential.

[rgregg48]

Take a pill,,it all looks just fine!

[ozanbilgin]

Originally Posted by D-utim

Does it sound AA or AAA?

Sounds very good, crisp and much louder than a small body guitar should. Interestingly, it sounds like a rosewood b&s guitar even though it's solid mahogany b&s.

[DCCougar]

Originally Posted by ozanbilgin

....It has extremely dense strips, but also has silking all over the top.....

I think it's a reasonable question.

The angle a photo is taken and the light angle make quite a difference. I see that nice silking but the top grain really isn't showing. AFAIK, overall silking is a good indication of a high quality top, but the look of the grain is also a consideration of how the top is graded.

My Guild JF30-12 has nice even grain and super silking. A guy knowledgeable about Guild's production of the JF30-12s told me that Guild used AA tops for that model. Mine also has an ebony fretboard, which is not unheard of, but most JF30-12s have rosewood fretboards. So I consider my guitar one of the special ones, and personally I think the top is a AAA too.

[AndrewG]

Tops are graded arbitrarily depending on the manufacturer's whim. One man's AAA might be another's AAAA. Martin grade theirs on cosmetic appearance only. Like the man said, 'if it sounds good it is good'; what it looks like is immaterial to me. I owned a Taylor 314 with a massive knot in the top. Guitar sounded fine.