1 piece tops: What’s the attraction?

I prefer the look of nicely matched 2 piece tops but I wouldn’t say no to a tasty 1 piece.
There’s definitely a rarity factor involved, it’ll cost more to produce a nice 1 piece top compared with 2.
I think we’re a lot more used to seeing 2 piece tops, going back to those famous late 50’s single cut guitars so a 2 piece looks right to me on a guitar.

More folks are hung up on the hog backs, 1 piece seen as superior to a 2 or even 3 piece back. Again it’s all about cost, cheaper to produce 2 piece from smaller blanks.

However I did spy online a rather tasty hollowbody for sale with 1 piece top and back, had to look twice before realising it was 1 piece.
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I'm not sure this explains anything:









I like 1 piece tops. But, I wouldn't normally pay extra for the rarity, because while quite beautiful, they aren't as visually appealing to me as a really good mirror book match. I'm not saying that's right or wrong; it's just what my eye likes. And I was genuinely curious as to what others prefer about a single piece. Blonds, brunettes, and redheads! ;) Interesting thread.
 
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11top said:
I like 1 piece tops. But, I wouldn't pay extra for the rarity, because while quite beautiful, they just aren't as visually appealing to me as a really good mirror book match. I'm not saying that's right or wrong; it's just what my eye likes.
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I agree! I do love that 1 piece Quilt top you have on that Hollowbody - maybe because its Red and would certainly be welcome in my collection.

I didn't pay 'more' for my 1 Piece Maple top/back on my own HBii and it certainly wasn't the main reason I bought it. It happened to be available whilst I was on the hunt for a Fire Red Burst HBii specifically - it also happened to be available in my preferred retailer - the same retailer I purchased my 509 and Cu24 and that was the biggest reason I ended up with my 1 piece top. There was 1 other Fire Burst Red non-10top HBii with a book matched top I could find in the UK but not from a retailer I had dealt with before. All the HBii's I could find - inc those in different colours, were all around the same price I paid for mine. I could have tried to negotiate with various retailers, try to play them off against each other to get the 'best' price but I went straight to my preferred retailer, discussed/negotiated a reasonable discount and had the guitar in my hands within a few days.

Whilst it was advertised at the same ballpark price as all the other HBii's despite it being the only 1 piece top as well as the 1 piece back that you get from a HBii (its not just the top like Solid body PRS guitars as you know), I actually paid a bit less - maybe because I have spent over £10k with the retailer - but it wasn't priced higher because of the 1 piece top/back.

As I said in my post, my favourite top of my guitars is my Chevron style Book match Cu24. I would think you can only get the chevron style by using 2 pieces as I can't see that occurring in nature. If I had to pick between having only 1 piece tops or only 2 piece book matched tops, I would opt for book matched. That isn't to say that 1 piece tops aren't stunning and, in many examples (as your and others Pics show), 1 piece tops can be as stunning, if not more so than the majority of 2 piece tops - maybe because these 1 piece tops are stunning enough to be kept as 1 piece instead of cut to be 2 piece tops. Either way, I don't go out of my way to seek or avoid 1 piece tops, if the model of guitar I am looking to buy in the colour I want just so happens to be 1 piece, then I will add another to my collection...
 
11top said:
I'm not sure this explains anything:









I like 1 piece tops. But, I wouldn't normally pay extra for the rarity, because while quite beautiful, they aren't as visually appealing to me as a really good mirror book match. I'm not saying that's right or wrong; it's just what my eye likes. And I was genuinely curious as to what others prefer about a single piece. Blonds, brunettes, and redheads! ;) Interesting thread.
Click to expand...
A grand majority of people like symmetry. How often do you see a "mudflap girl" or "kid pissing on (take your choice)" decal on only one side of a pickup truck rear window?
 
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