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I recieved the following sitka spruce AA top/soundboard from LMII that was thrown in as a bonus on an order of 2 custom kits.

As oriented in the first picture, the grain width is further apart towards the center and get tighter as you move towards the outside. There is also a defect (cutout top right and left) in the wood that if flipped around, would not fit either a dred or an OM pattern so I am stuck with the orientation shown. While I can't complain as it was free (actually I was thrilled with LMII to get it), I would like to still use it if possible..

Is there a reason (acoustical, structural, or asthetic) why the wider grain portion of the soundboard can't be towards the center line of the guitar and the tighter grain be toward the outside? Does anyone build this way?
Thanks,
John Butler

I don't see why not. The bracing carries most of the actual load. It may darken the tone a bit I suspect but how much would be greatly debatable.

The narrow grain is generally stiffer than the wide grain. I remember reading somewhere that orienting the stiff grain to the outside can add some treble to a rosewood guitar (if you desire that) or conversely orienting the loose grain in the middle can add bass response to a mahogany guitar.

Take that with a grain of salt but at least someone has thought about/tried it. At any rate it's probably more cosmetic than anything.

actually wider grain is often stiffer I tested a lot and for the most part Martin in the old days set the finer grain to the outside now it is the middle
do what you like , it is just aesthetics
john

As tippie says, there's no real correlation between grain spacing and stiffness, either along or across the grain. Long grain stiffness does correlate closely with density, and tight grain can be denser, but it's more a matter of the relative widths of the soft early wood and harder late wood lines. Cross grain stiffness is only really predicted well by the ring angle, with well quartered wood having higher cross stiffness. Even a small deviation from quarter can make a big difference.

Of course, most people do believe that tighter grain= stiffer, so you might get some flak for reversing it. It's sad that so many people listen with their eyes.

I put the wider grain to the outside ,but only because of looks and tradition..!!
Tom