Flatsawn vs. quartersawn

[edbanas]

I am about to cut down some trees on my property. Many of the maples and some of the cherry I have cut up for fire wood have had interesting figuring I have not capitalized on. I hope to use some of the next few trees for building guitars.......actually, if I get one guitar out of them I'll be thrilled. Here's the question: For the back and sides of a guitar is it necessary to use quarter-sawn wood? I am sure quarter-sawn would be stronger and more stable. But, do quarter-sawn backs and sides improve the sound? I know everything effects the sound. But, how different would flat-sawn sides and backs sound compared to quarter-sawn backs and sides? Would flat-sawn parts somehow fail where quarter-sawn would survive? I look forward to your comments. - Ed

[tippie53]

the more quartered the more stable so that is the key.
cut to size asap don't let it set around long. Keep it pressed and if you have a few sets use a 3/4 in sticker between them and tie them down so they don't move
tonally your braces may have more of an effect on this that how the wood is cut. Your wood specie will fall into a certain category in density and you can find this on youngs modus of elasticity.

http://www.woodworkweb.com/woodwork-top ... ngths.html

here your changes are across and with the grain so I don't see where quarter or flat sawn would sound much different.