Ok Distinct Stripe Sitka Top Owners Speak Up

[ronmac]

Yeah, but it is another chance to talk about our Larrivees :D

Coming up next, "How the colour of the lining in your guitar case affects the tone". ;)  

[orsino]

I'm waiting for the "How the String Swing enabled me to learn Django licks" thread.

[Big Martin]

The striping I am talking about is like that pictured in JohnM's photo of his L01.

The D-03 pictured above is also what I refer to as boldly distinct striping.

The difference between this and other spruce is that

1 - the lines are incredibly straight,

2 - have a lot of visual contrast between the "grain" lines (which, by the way are NOT really grain lines but annular rings, I believe), and lastly,

3 - have very little, none really, of the medullary "silking".

Two of the best sounding Larrivees I have ever heard had this kind of top...

Now before you guys beging insisting again that the Larrivees begin using Micarta fretboards, YES, I do find a sonic differences in the way different guitars sound...

:D

Could one of the Larrivee's respond here before the MICARTA IS COOL crowd takes over

[HanSoo417]

someone please explain what silking means.

[Big Martin]

someone please explain what silking means.

the major "grain" of a spruce guitar top runs in one direction, generally parallel with the strings.

silking refers to mostly small veins in the wood that run perpendicular to the "grain".  If you research this, it is usually referred to medullary rays.  In guitars they show up sporadically because of the random irregularities in tree growth.

Not a tonewood site but shows where in a tree these occur:

http://www.nccpg.com/Default.Aspx?Page.Aspx?Page=120

and from Dana Bourgeois at http://www.bourgeoisguitars.com/voicing.htm :

"So, I flex the top, listen to it and check the grain for directionality. The last thing I consider when buying top wood is the appearance of the wood. Obviously, I try get a pretty piece of wood on a special guitar, but only if it is going to make it sound good! I try not to be seduced by appearance, so I make that my last criterion. Having said that, there's probably a 75% correlation between the appearance of a top and the way that it sounds. I mean , if the color is even , the grain spacing is even, the grain is straight, and there's lots of medullary ray, chances are the top's going to be a killer. But not necessarily. The trick is not to take that for granted. Conversely, a funky looking top can sound spectacular. "

and from James Goodall (who wouldn't consider putting a micarta fretboard on a guitar - maybe knows something about tone quality?):

http://www.goodallguitars.com/woods.htm

and by the way what most refer to as grain are annukar rings - from LMI site:

"Grain: Some people refer to the annular rings as the Grain. Straight grain in this case refers to the lines of the annular rings being straight and parallel to each other. Fine grain is when the annual rings are close together or are seen as fine lines. Course grain is farther apart or the lines are wider and more visible."

[Denis]

someone please explain what silking means.

As mentioned in the above post, if you look at the top of my OM-03R, you can make out some horizontal lines in the wood.  That would be silking.

[JohnM2001]

Saw this OM-01 pic over on the Pictures forum, it belongs to Whitey Johnson.  Looks like the wood on my L-01, but has a bit more silking.  Nice! :D

[brothawils]

Mine that I just received a week ago, has a very pale grain right where the two top halves meet.  It looks like one centrally located white stripe.  

I didn't like it at first, and I kept staring at it.  It immediately produced two songs just from fiddling around with it, and it sounds awesome, so it earned its home.

I love the feel of the neck.  Still haven't decided to go for a colored picguard or leave it clear....

pics:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwilson223/a...lbum?.dir=/f218