Flatsawn vs. quartersawn
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:59 pm
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