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#1
10-01-2023, 11:01 AM
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Grain Patterns in Top
This is real guitar nerd stuff. I noticed something today on two of my guitars that previously eluded me. The spruce tops are beautifully quartersawn, and they both have heaps of silking, but what I never noticed before was that both have wide grain patterns on the outside perimeter and as you move inward towards the sound hole the grain becomes tighter and closer together. Has anyone ever noticed this on well-quartered tops? Are these types of tops, perhaps, even sought after in building, or is it irrelevant to the final tone?
My other guitars have roughly equal spacing between the grain lines, and that's what I've always come to expect with well-made tops. Not so with the two guitars I'm referencing. Something interesting, I thought. I don't wanna make any tonal correlations, as I know the guitar is a complex system. Though these two guitars do sound outstanding, so...  Thanks for indulging my nerd side! 
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#2
10-01-2023, 11:36 AM
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This is honestly more common than not with spruce tops. Typically you'll see the wider grain towards the outside of the guitar but many pre-war Martins actually did it the other way with the wider grain towards the center.
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#3
10-01-2023, 11:53 AM
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It's not at all uncommon, and grain width and and quarter-sawing have nothing to do with each other.
From everything that I've read from very knowledgable folks, grain width has virtually nothing to do with tone. However, narrow and uniform grain width will grade higher than wide or uneven grain (since pretty much everybody grades purely on cosmetics). So, no, having grain that's wider on one side of the book match than the other aren't sought after per-se. But there's nothing wrong with it either.
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"What have I learned but the proper use for several tools" -Gary Snyder Bourgeois DR-A / Bowerman "Working Man's" OM (walnut and 'Cook Shack' Sitka) / Martin Custom D-18 (adi & flame) / Martin OM-21 / Northwood M70 MJ / 1970s Sigma DR-7 / Eastman E6D / Flatiron Signature A5 Mandolin / Silverangel Econo A Mandolin
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#4
10-01-2023, 02:30 PM
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Thank you both for your responses!
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#5
10-01-2023, 03:41 PM
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Quote:
You mention the tops have beautiful silking. Is the silking more prominent toward the center?
__________________
Mark Hatcher www.hatcherguitars.com “Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.”. Andrew Fletcher Last edited by Mark Hatcher; 10-01-2023 at 03:47 PM.
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#7
10-01-2023, 05:34 PM
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Quote:
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#8
10-01-2023, 05:54 PM
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If the silking goes all the way to the edge then the entire top is QS. Spruce trees grow slower when they get older so you have tighter annular rings, grain lines, towards the bark edge. Since there is less curve at the far edge you get more QS rings there too so typically luthiers join them that way, on the bark edge.
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#9
10-02-2023, 07:32 AM
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Mark, one has a bit more silking in the middle, while the other has an insane amount all over the top. Actually might be the most silking I’ve ever seen on a guitar.
Great info from you all. Thank you.
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#10
10-02-2023, 08:01 AM
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Quote:
If ever you are trapped on a dry desert island with these two guitars and you only have one case humidifier I'd suggest you put it mostly in the case with the guitar that has less silk out on the sides. Other than that I wouldn't give it a second thought!
__________________
Mark Hatcher www.hatcherguitars.com “Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.”. Andrew Fletcher
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#11
10-02-2023, 01:11 PM
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