Bird's Eye Maple Necks

[sjor]

Is the myth true?
I've been told that for it to show figure, the maple must be flat sawn. Is that why it's said to be weak or does the birds eye physically weaken the wood? And if it is "weak"...weak compared to what? Compared to straight grained, 1/4 sawn maple or weak compared to all woods (like, mahagony, for instance). Thanks for the help.

[ryman150]

I am interested in this too! And is it possible to get a birds-eye in a Anderson??

Ryan

[Donk70]

Originally posted by ryman150
I am interested in this too! And is it possible to get a birds-eye in a Anderson??

Ryan

Affraid not. Tom is not a big fan of figured maple for necks. He doesn't trust the stability of the neck.

[tom]

messy subject, but i'll give it a go. i think most people would say that birdeeye ;ools better on slab(flat) cut wood. we don't offer birdseye, we dd in the old days, and it was not stable enough for me to want to be responsible for it forever. that does not mean that all birdseye is bad, it's just not consistant enough for me to feel goood about. generally speaking, the prettier the least stable. imho. as for slab vs. quartered, i feel, contrary to public opinion that slab cut hard maple is as strong, and perhaps more stable than quarter sawn maple. we have made 10,000 guitars and i have seen enough movement to entitle me to this opinion. it is however my opinion. for mahogany, i do favor quarted wood. the grain structure of the two qoods is as different as tey could be, so you can not put a blanket rule on all woods.

[sjor]

Thanks for the reply, Tom. It seems that everyone has maybe a different opinion on this, but you're is pretty darn important!