Bird's Eye Maple

[Coan_teen]

This is a beautiful wood, and for a long time I wondered why no one made guitars out of it. Then, whilst flipping through a music supply catalog, I found one, an Epiphone acoustic with a maple top. Other companies such as GL Guitars feature bird's eye maple on the fretboards of their guitars.

 

Now, this may seem like a frivolous post, but here's what I'm trying to say. First, I want to know if anyone owns a solid bird's eye guitar, and if the sound is as good as an ash, alder, or poplar body.

 

Second, I want to rhetorically ask, why do places like churches throw out beautiful bird's eye maple furniture? My step-grandparents have a desk and shelf made of bird's eye maple that was taken from a church scrap heap (they were throwing out their pews!). There was enough maple in those pews to make several very pretty guitars.

 

Plus, I'm bored. I'm sitting in class doing nothing, so I figured I might as well discuss guitars.

[Gabriel E.]

Birdsey is actually pretty common in guitar construction. Guitars aren't usually made of solid birdsey because guitars usually aren't made of solid maple - that tends to be too bright. However birdseye maple body caps and necks are quite common.

 

Like flamed and quilted maple, birdseye is just regular maple with an unusual figure. It's valuable because it's beautiful but it's not rare, unlike ebony or Honduran mahogony.

 

I once was at a friend's house and he was burning split logs in his fireplace. I looked at one of the logs and saw that it was deeply flamed maple. Oh well.

[TurboDog]

What he said.

 

I've seen a few birds eye maple tops. Honestly, I've found every one to be kinda ugly. I just don't find them aesthically pleasing. And I think most people prefer a flamed or quilted top.

 

Having said that, I LOVE birds eye maple necks. So go figure. (No pun intended).

[Mark Zeger]

I have a rare Veillette-Citron bird's-eye maple solidbody that is beautiful. Bought it direct (at a killer price) from Joe Veillette and Harvey Citron at their old shop in Kingston, NY. Neck-through design, ebony fingerboard (25 frets, no markers other than side dots), hand turned brass knobs, great pickups. They made many guitars and basses out of bird's-eye and other figured maples, along with other more exotic woods, but I can't give you a comparison on tone. A really elegant, very versatile instrument.

[DC]

A solid bird's eye maple guitar would weigh a ton. It would be a lot heavier than a Les Paul at the same size. And yes, it would be a very bright tone. The lighter woods (alder, swamp ash etc.) have a deeper tone where the hard woods are bright. It is commanly used in neck construction and could be used for caps on mahogony for example.

[Coan_teen]

Cool info to know, guys. Thanks.

 

I personally don't mind a very bright tone. If I were to get a bird's eye guitar, that wouldn't bother me.

 

The weight would be a problem. I assume it's not too much of a difficulty on hollowbodies and flat tops, but I agree that a solid maple electric would be really heavy.

 

I saw an electric guitar once that was made out of some really (and I mean really!) beautiful slate-gray wood (or maybe it was just stained), but felt like a block of concrete on a necklace when I put the strap over my shoulder. Yikes.

 

Anyway, thanks for the input everyone.