Andrew Paul
The cat's meow
Curious if anyone can explain to me what a “Dirty” maple top is? What grade is it, is it like 10 top or artist grade?
Look at some dirty 100 tops to get the idea.
I’ll have to check those out. I’m getting a special gift from my wife tomorrow related to the dirty maple top. Actually that sounded dirty LOL. It will be it’s own thread tomorrow.It is on a different scale. 10 and artist are typically applied to traditional looking flame or quilt. A dirty top shows more grain detail in that you see vertical lines, maybe in fragments and darker lines that are counter to the grain. Look at some dirty 100 tops to get the idea.
Here's one to look at.
Thanks for your replyI think 'dirty' really means there are some irregularities and inclusions in an otherwise spectacular top, something that makes them somewhat unique.
The story is that Paul likes these tops for his personal guitars.
Here's a few pics of my "Dirty" top guitar if that helps at all https://twitter.com/PlaidBlack/status/1197619731739496448?s=20
Here's a Reverb listing for one: https://reverb.com/item/19493820-paul-reed-smith-paul-s-dirty-100-black-gold-2009
One that was at Anderton's at one point: https://www.andertons.co.uk/second-hand-prs-pauls-dirty-100-guitar-inc-hard-case
What's that? Why no, I have absolutely not been stalking these guitars ever since @bodia shared his.
"Dirty" mostly refers to the mineral stain in the wood. Bodia's photo is a great example, as is this one that Black Plaid posted.
View attachment 7811
"Dirty" mostly refers to the mineral stain in the wood. Bodia's photo is a great example, as is this one that Black Plaid posted.
View attachment 7811
Not necessarily.Ok so the “vertical lines” are the mineral stains?
It does look great, I love the dark lines. Is it like a
3-D curl?
This is simply pornographic.
Great information, thank you so much for taking the time with your reply. I’m starting to understand now.Here are a few photos I have lying around that might help illustrate.
First of all, a couple that make the vertical/horizontal lines very visible. You can probably see both on most maple tops if you look for them.
This one has a lot going on, but look at the very clear vertical lines amongst everything else.
And this top is far from dirty, but the vertical lines are clearly visible.
My Dirty 100. Notice all of the little vertical lines that don't go anywhere. In this top they are a lighter colour.
A close up
and I mentioned little black lines. On this top that Paul picked for himself, you can see it between the switch and the tone.
and while it doesn't make it dirty, look at the fingerprints in the wood close to the upper edge - they are many places on this top, but that is the easiest place to spot them
OMG! Those maple blanks are all incredible. Would number seven also be considered dirty? Being there are knots in the wood?https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/wood-library-tremonti-madness.41132/#post-520438
Top no.8 is what I think of as dirty maple