What does quilted maple top mean?
Quilt or quilted maple refers to a type of figure in maple wood. It is seen on the tangential plane (flat-sawn) and looks like a wavy “quilted” pattern, often similar to ripples on water. It is a distortion of the grain pattern itself.
What is flame maple top?
Flame maple (tiger maple), also known as flamed maple, curly maple, ripple maple, fiddleback or tiger stripe, is a feature of maple in which the growth of the wood fibers is distorted in an undulating chatoyant pattern, producing wavy lines known as “flames”.
Why is quilted maple so expensive?
Quilted Maple is far more rare than flame Maple, so yes it is more expensive even if moderately plentiful at best. Factor in that one in 3000 trees are flamed, and of all the flamed maple trees, two to five percent of the flamed trees reveal or generate good quilt, that drives the price and demand higher.
What is the best wood for guitar top?
Spruce
Spruce. Spruce is the most popular wood used for guitar tops, and recognisable by its pale colour and (usually) understated figuring. The reason for its popularity is because it has a tone that makes it a very good ‘all-rounder’.
Is quilted maple a hardwood?
Big Leaf Maple with curl is beautiful but not better than Tiger Soft Maple or Curly Hard Maple. Quilted Maple is a world class figured hardwood with big bubbles of compression leaving one to wonder how figure such as this can come out of one tree.
What is AAA flame maple?
Normally they are the lesser flamed ones that are nicely matched or the very flamed ones that are not perfectly matched. AAA flame tops are very nice, they will take your breath away. Commonly they are very flamed and have good matching on both sides.
Is quilted maple rare?
Good, quality quilted maple is definitely rarer than quality curly maple.
Is quilted maple hard?
Quilted Maple // Acer macrophyllem You’ll appreciate how substantially softer it is than Hard Maple, too. Quilted figure occurs in the Big Leaf Maple tree of the Pacific Northwest U.S. and Canada.”
Is maple wood good for guitar?
Maple is a very hard type of wood with good tonal qualities and good sustain. Maple is also often used as a top for the guitar body, partly because it is beautiful (think flame or quilted maple tops), and partly because it can give a bright sound that would otherwise be murky.
Does a maple top affect tone?
So it seems the Maple top is just for looks and imparts nothing tangible in the way of tone alterations.
What is quilted maple worth?
Is Quilted Maple Expensive? Yes, highly figured quilt maple is expensive. Additionally, the cost is similar to highly figured birdseye sugar maple lumber. Specifically,as of December 2020, prices range from $3 per board foot for lightly quilted maple to $150 per board foot for extremely dense quilt figure.
What is the difference between flamed maple and quilted maple?
Solid flame maple or quilted maple have grades to them. Depending on the quality of the wood figuring (the distinctive patterns in the wood) different grades are assigned such as A, AA, AAA and even higher. The more As, the higher the grade the wood is, the more rare it is and the more expensive it is The difference is cosmetic.
What kind of figuring does a flame maple have?
The flaming you see on the guitars is just one type of figuring that maple can have. Depending on whether the figuring of the wood is radially, vertically or horizontally (or a combination of them) the wood may also be Quilted or Birdseye, these have their own unique look.
What’s the difference between a flame and a quilted guitar?
Quilted is sounding rich and smooth and has more punch and bass snap. It gives more of a lineal tone and a darker, warmer, softer, fluffier Top End. Flame tonality is more towards bright, shimmering, super clear, and tight with a great sustain, praising its rigidity and reflection quality.
Which is the best material for a guitar?
Flame Maple as the top material. Bassy, natural, and brighter tone. Maple Quilted wood as back material. Achieved a bright and balanced sound through the combination of spruce and maple tonewoods. Fascinating Maple wood in general produces old-world sounds to the guitar which are quite pleasing and very satisfying to the ear.