Stain & grain Tremonti top

[6stringnate]

Hello all, my posts are few and far in between, however I just bought a 2023 Tremonti signature and wanted to share a picture and get opinions about the wood staining on the top. I love everything about this guitar and I’m one of those weird people who take in misfit PRS guitars that are not “perfect”. This one seems to fit that bill. The guitar has very dark stain in the lower left quarter of the top. It almost looks like too much black stain was left on. I would be lying if I say I don’t notice it, however it’s not going to make me play this one any less. I’m curious if anyone else has similar tops and what factors cause this other than the wood being naturally different in certain spots. I really just want to see other awesome misfit PRS guitar tops. I love the beauty in a perfectly matched top, however the curious side of me really loves the odd tops. Let’s see some???

https://imgur.com/a/6sTLFEY

 

[Bogner]

Not All Tops Absorb The Stains In A Balanced Manner. The Key Is Does It Play And Sound Good. If So, You Have A Winner.

 

[Birdsofprey]

Charcoal Cherry Burst great finish!

 

[dmatthews]

Wood has a sense of humour. That is spectacular!

 

[rcsrich]

Wow- stunning!

 

[deepender]

That’s a keeper.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

What does it sound/play like?

 

[JasonE]

Congrats on the new guitar! I hope it inspires you to play it a lot.

With maple tops you never really know how it is going to absorb the stain until you put it on. The figured maple has a variety of hardness across the piece of wood. The harder parts are going to absorb stain differently than the softer parts. That is what you are seeing. Although there are harder and softer sections, it is a hard wood overall. It is a natural material after all. Figured maple is also from a diseased tree, which affects the growth of the wood.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Congrats on the new guitar! I hope it inspires you to play it a lot.

With maple tops you never really know how it is going to absorb the stain until you put it on. The figured maple has a variety of hardness across the piece of wood. The harder parts are going to absorb stain differently than the softer parts. That is what you are seeing. Although there are harder and softer sections, it is a hard wood overall. It is a natural material after all. Figured maple is also from a diseased tree, which affects the growth of the wood.

Sphalted maple is from a diseased tree. It used to be thrown on the burning pile in sawmills many years ago to prevent the disease spreading.

Flamed and quilted maple is commonly believed to be a result of stress or compression. Paul does a pretty good video about it.

There’s also a belief that it’s genetic. However I remember Paul saying something about trees being grown using the seed from flamed/quilted trees and they didn’t yield figured wood.

 

[bodia]

Just how the wood takes the stain. And, OP, I'm with you....I dig unique tops.

 

[dmatthews]

This top looks quite quirky if you compare the two sides...



Hardly symmetrical in any way, but I love it!

 

[bodia]

Here's my goofy finish. Same kind of thing....lower left it much darker. Kind of hard to tell from the first pic.

 

[garrett]

The back of my old HBII was like that. I've seen plenty pics of guitars with a dark corner. It's just down to how some pieces of wood take stain. Seems to always be the lower left corner that gets dark, so I assume it's something with the direction of the grain.

I also like tops with a little quirk to them. I think my least favorite are the perfect "BBQ grill" Artist Package tops. I always loved the wild grain on my first PRS, a 98 CU24...

 

[Black Dog]

Very nice congrats.

 

[6stringnate]

You guys must have picked up on something about me with the green guitar pics. Green is my go to color! I love the the pics and thank you for the input on the wood stain. As for the play and sound of the Tremonti, I could not be happier the pickups are amazing and the neck shape is perfect for my hands. Clear and articulate notes when heavily distorted or clean for jazz & fingerpicking. The consistency and innovation of PRS has me coming back for more. Keep the funky top pics coming. They are fun to see.

 

[Prina]

Looks great, not goofy at all to me. Glad you're so happy with the sound!

 

[Headset]

Most tops have some movement in them that will shift how it photographs based on lighting. My first PRS has a similar darker side to yours but I absolutely love it.