The Tops... ...onemission
Despite from visible quality factors as, for example, grain and color, the wood’s physical characteristics should also be taken into consideration if the right top should be chosen.
A nice cross silk pattern (medullar rays!), for instance, reveals that the wood has been accurately split (no run outs) and quarter sawn. However, there is a variety of attributes influencing the sound (i.e. attack point, sustain and resonance) of a good top: the wood’s stiffness (crossways/lengthways), the relation from exact weight to volume, its elasticity/hardness, rotation growth and the orientation of wood fibers. Unfortunately, these features are not paid sufficient attention in any classification.
A master grade guitar mostly lives from its construction. It’s the luthier’s talent, his experience and his skilfulness that are mainly responsible for the unique sound of a guitar. Nevertheless, the knowledge about the wood’s physical and sound characteristics should also be there when splitting and sawing it.
Therefore, the tops manufactured in my workshop are crafted in a way that is optimally serving the subject – namely to strive for perfect sound.
"A top is the guitar's soul."