DGTplayer said:
I was just curious as to why the tops tend not be mirror images of each other (my understanding of bookmatching which might be incorrect). You do tend to see that with furniture.
Any ideas why one-piece tops are unusual?
With respect:
First, your understanding of bookmatching is indeed incorrect. I don't know if you read the Wiki link I posted, but it tells you the story, as does the picture of the antique violin with the bookmatched back. When the wood is sawn and split open like a book, the grain goes in different directions, and reflects light differently.
You also have to understand the difference between bookmatched wood that is then
carved, and flat pieces of veneer that are used by furniture makers that is not carved, but is simply glued onto another piece of wood that may be carved. A flat, thin piece of wood is going to be more uniform because you're not carving it and thereby going to a deeper part of the piece of wood.
(By the way, even very fine furniture makers use veneers, and have for hundreds upon hundreds of years. It is (and always was) unusual for furniture makers to use solid wood for decorative inserts, etc., though in the old days (pre late 1800s) it was hard to get a paper thin veneer, so the wood was a bit thicker. The reason veneers were used for this purpose was exactly the fact that the wood was merely decorative.)
Furniture isn't made for tone, so fancy wood has no other purpose than decor. However, a guitar top
is made for a primary purpose of sounding good, and its secondary purpose is looks. So it needs to be solid and if it's carved, the grain is going to change the deeper the carve.
Most furniture veneers are paper-thin if the furniture was made in the last 120 years. Even older antique furniture (mid 19th C and earlier) used relatively thin, flat veneers glued to curved surfaces.
PRS tops are
carved and
three dimensional. The wood that they start with is thicker in the middle and lots of wood is carved away. You're going deeper into the piece of wood with the carver. So the pattern of the wood grain that one starts with isn't going to be exactly the identical wood grain once the wood is removed during carving. This is the price that is paid for a solid wood top.
As to one piece tops being unusual, it should be obvious: It's harder to find a single piece of wood that's as wide as a guitar with a nice pattern going from edge to edge!