Is this silking or bear claw?

[PeteyPower16]

Pura Vida, that’s a great photo, thanks for sharing! Seems very similar to the original photos I posted, just with some age. How do you manage to take your pickguard on/off at will? I thought they were permanent...

Thank you also to those experts who identified the know shadow/squiggle—that makes total sense and is really interesting scientifically! Wood is pretty amazing, isn’t it?

[bizango1]

A big angry bear got ahold of this D-21 Special.
Sounded so good when I bought it I don' remember even noticing it. I just knew it was going home with me.

[semolinapilcher]

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

The pickguard covers most of it:

Hi Pura Vida - your guitar is beautiful and super-interesting. The two halves of the top do appear to be bookmatched, but that shadow feature does not show up on the upper bout.

Presumably the shadow was thin enough to not be visible in the very next cross-section of wood.

[SkipII]

Here are the markings on quarter-sawn white oak where the blade intersected with medullar rays.

It is not correct to associate bear claw with lateral branches. Bear claw, know botanically as hazelficte. is from irregularities in the growth of the tree (drought, rainfall, temperature variances) and appears randomly. Silking, which is an even, wavy pattern perpendicular to the grain, is from precise quarter-sawing.

Bottom line, there is much debate even among luthiers on whether any of this as a constant is a factor in tone wood stiffness. If a spruce top has lots of silking, it is not the silking per se that provides that but the good quarter-sawing. If you look at such tops from the edge off the sound hole, you will find that the grain lines are perfectly perpendicular to the plane of the top.

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by PeteyPower16

Pura Vida, that’s a great photo, thanks for sharing! Seems very similar to the original photos I posted, just with some age. How do you manage to take your pickguard on/off at will? I thought they were permanent...

Thank you also to those experts who identified the know shadow/squiggle—that makes total sense and is really interesting scientifically! Wood is pretty amazing, isn’t it?

I just posted on the Eastman forum about how I replace my pickguards, but the short version is that I use a hair dryer to loosen the glue and dental floss to *slowly* work the guard away from the guitar top. Slow and steady is the key, so it doesn't damage the finish or wood. Until two years ago, Eastman didn't pre-install their guards, so I didn't have to remove anything on this guitar... just install the new Holter Pickguard.

FYI, others commenting may be missing the root shadow line b/c the medullary ray lines are so prominent in your photos.

Originally Posted by semolinapilcher

Hi Pura Vida - your guitar is beautiful and super-interesting. The two halves of the top do appear to be bookmatched, but that shadow feature does not show up on the upper bout.

Presumably the shadow was thin enough to not be visible in the very next cross-section of wood.

Thank you! Yes, it's really interesting that it must have caught just the edge of the shadow, as it's not really visible on the bass side (maybe a hint of it, if I look closely). I've definitely changed my opinion on Adi tops, Ebony streaks, etc. These are all natural parts of wood and provide character. Love it!

[RP]

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

FYI, others commenting may be missing the root shadow line b/c the medullary ray lines are so prominent in your photos...

Guilty as charged for my quick comment in post #2....

[PeteyPower16]

Thanks for the helpful feedback, Pura Vida and RP! Yes, I think that many see the silking on the top and may not be looking as closely at the root shadow/squiggle/wrinkle on the bass side edge parallel to the line of the bridge.

With the medullary rays/silking, it is hard to see where the shadow begins/ends.

RP and Pura Vida, I have two questions for you:

1. Do you think the root shadow is just for that left-most inch of the top, or do you think the shadow extends across the top toward the bridge for six inches or so?

2. As the top ages, do you expect the root shadow to darken more slowly/remain lighter than the rest of the top?

Thanks for your careful eyes and for sharing your knowledge of wood!

[Pura Vida]

Gotta give credit to Alan C., who called it out first.

In your second photo, it looks like it runs faintly all the way to the bridge, but you can probably see it better in person. I'd expect it to remain a little lighter than the rest of the top, although it's not *really* lighter. It's just a variation to the grain that makes it appear lighter. Embrace the character... it's a beautiful top!

[semolinapilcher]

Funny - for whatever reason I went back and continued reading this thread, and now I see the feature that the OP was calling out.

Honestly (and obviously) there was zero distraction from my eye. It’s a gorgeous top.

[Alan Carruth]

These small knot shadows are pretty common. If the knot was small (a 'pin knot') it might only show up in one slice of the top; you'll see it on one side but not the other. This seems to be one of those cases.

[Tempotantrum]

So to thicken the plot a bit - I have been trying to understand what these horizontal lines are in this Brazilian back. Are these "root shadows" as well?https://imgur.com/rd5FJosand https://imgur.com/bPY2FYb

[PeteyPower16]

Originally Posted by Tempotantrum

So to thicken the plot a bit - I have been trying to understand what these horizontal lines are in this Brazilian back. Are these "root shadows" as well?https://imgur.com/rd5FJosand https://imgur.com/bPY2FYb

That’s a great question. I am no expert, but those look more like medullary rays or a mirrored wood feature than a knot shadow. I don’t see the “shape” of the assumed knot. That’s a nice guitar though!

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by Tempotantrum

So to thicken the plot a bit - I have been trying to understand what these horizontal lines are in this Brazilian back. Are these "root shadows" as well?https://imgur.com/rd5FJosand https://imgur.com/bPY2FYb

Just to confirm, you're talking about the very dark streaks that run on the top-right and then a single, more prominent line along the bottom (both sides), right? I'd be curious if that is something in the wood (root shadow) vs. something influenced by the staining process.

I have a similar streak on the back of one of my EIR guitars. These photos are from the NGD post in 2017.

[Tempotantrum]

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

Just to confirm, you're talking about the very dark streaks that run on the top-right and then a single, more prominent line along the bottom (both sides), right? I'd be curious if that is something in the wood (root shadow) vs. something influenced by the staining process.

I have a similar streak on the back of one of my EIR guitars. These photos are from the NGD post in 2017.

They do look somewhat similar. They appear the whole length of the back and are present on both sides (in the bookmatch). I can see the grain "deformed" slightly where they appear, and so appear dark from a distance. I think it looks cool!

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Birchtop

Bear Claw: (plus a little visible silking in the center)





Don’t know why the top shows up so white in pic, the top is darker.

Because your guitar top doesn't equate to 80% grey which is what most camera sensors assume the image will be. You'd need to set the exposure manually.