peedenmark7 Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 any spalted maple top standards out there ? or special order bound headstocks with first fret crown ? I'm on a roll.........
cmatthes Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 I don't think such an animal exists (yet?!). Jol has mentioned on 2 occasions, when talking about wood figure, etc., that the "Spalted" maple is a term wood suppliers/guitar companies use to sell off the cheaper, flawed grade of wood. He mentioned that the Spalted stuff is diseased or sucks up a lot of extra mineral content, so he is not a fan of it. That being said, there's always that custom order form, where stranger things have happened!
BTMN Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 I heard Jol's comments about Spalted woods last year at the HFC open house. While I dont wish to have one, just not my thing, some folks like them. Ctrixie got a nice looking V last year. The USA Time Capsules are well made and I have seen some Z/Standards that had nice looking tops. The TCs have a V shaped neck profile to them too. Here is a V from Deans Private Stash
peedenmark7 Posted November 7, 2005 Author Posted November 7, 2005 I am a sucker for spalted maple, especially if way over the top black and chocolate streaking along some nice flame exists... spalting is a fungus and the wood gets real punky soft.....so it does suck up a ton of finish to get a good clear coat build..I dont know how that would hold up with lacquer..... jackson uses urethane or polyester clearcoats which is way more durable than lacquer....many builders do not care for splated maple ,so I can see why jol would say that...its really a dramatic look and thats what I am into...jackson now and again has been putting out some real nice custom shop guitars with gorgeous spalted tops...if I cant get the graphic I am wanting... [white w/blk polka dots] on a 1 hum standard custom I will pursue the spalted thing further... I have some wild a$$ ideas in mind for either custom order...so provided theyre willing to do it and I dont have to remortgage the house , I will likely be happy either way I go.. one things for sure, I want a '70s standard neck profile...
peedenmark7 Posted November 7, 2005 Author Posted November 7, 2005 here is a killer example of a spalted maple top,,, now this is what I'd like ona std. !!http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v57/peed...spaltedtele.jpg
cmatthes Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 I like the look on the right guitar - I think it WOULD look good on a bound-top Standard. I had a nice bound Tele body in my hands at one point at a great price, but it was a little too chewed up and would have taken on a good bit of filler, so I didn't pick it up. Kind of regretting it after seeing that Warmoth pic.
peedenmark7 Posted November 7, 2005 Author Posted November 7, 2005 chris, I couldve had that very body pictured for $200 shipped... the guy bought it new and then couldnt finish the project for money reasons...he was kinda weird with me , I got a bad vibe and walked... havent seen another warmoth that nice since.I even sent warmoth the pic as reference to do a tele body and they kept saying the couldnt promise it would be exact....no duh.... every piece of wood is unique... so I shelved te idea...they can be difficult over there sometimes...so you sold all your standards ?????
tafkathundernotes Posted November 8, 2005 Posted November 8, 2005 IIRC, Jol used the terms "basically rotting wood" to describe the spalted maple last year. Somebody correct me if I heard him wrong.
peedenmark7 Posted November 8, 2005 Author Posted November 8, 2005 its really not like fallen rotting wood, its a disease in the tree .. a fungus really, which causes the black striping , discolorations and punky texture... its no fun to work with... it can be very soft in spots causing the wood to suck up a lot of finish to get a good build.... I've done some cabinet finishing on spalted maple and went through tons of precat lac in doing so.... just a bit more time consuming which can slow down production in a guitar shop. I would think most builders would want to use as thin a spalted cap as they could find to somewhat avoid this... I've always thought hamers were inherently bright,... depending on how thick the maple tops were, some I've had were very brittle and hard to control live. density of the mahogany plays a role in this as well... not sure how thick a cap they use today, but many of the old ones I've had looked like thin paper veneers... which I prefer because the guitar doesnt lean towards the maple end of the tonal spectrum it carries more of the mahogany... I am sure some would argue that point . tone is really subjective anyway. so in going spalted top, I am thinking it trims the highs off a bit ? pickups and amp will have a lot to say about that as well.... also, instead of rosewood fingerboard , one could go ebony to balance it back out. "I am likely over thinking this big time..." this would be an oddball guitar, not so much to hop around playing, but more of a show piece you display , and maybe one you cant seem to keep your hands off of after you've had a couple too many beers
peedenmark7 Posted November 9, 2005 Author Posted November 9, 2005 quotes are back...no go on the polka dot...very disappointed...didnt think it was that big of a deal...sooo, the spalted top standard is a go.. its gonna be awesome . when done I will post pics...
Armitage Posted November 11, 2005 Posted November 11, 2005 I like the look of spalted maple. Wild West Guitars have a set of Deans with Spalted Maple Tops. I think it'd look better with black PU rings though. Great guys to deal with BTW.
peedenmark7 Posted November 11, 2005 Author Posted November 11, 2005 cool V.... I agree black rings all the way on spalted.... I would even go black exposed coils... no shiney covers to draw attention away from the wood...I am also going with black hardware on mine... I want the top to be the attention getter on this one....
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