Exquisite wide grain and bear claw top in early F-112, is it Sitka Spruce

[Guildedagain]

Adi is supposed to be cleaner than this, considering bear claw had been considered a defect at one time, long before the tonewood debate... Sitka seem to have more of the anomalies, silking, bear claw, medullary rays.

Getting back from the airport in the middle of the night last night and staying up a while, I discovered that that top in the F-112 really some way above average top wood. By ceiling light, I could see bear claw everywhere, and the width of the grain at the outer edges is surprising. At that point, the grain itself has bearclaw running up each line, I've never seen anything this good on a guitar top.

The pics have a yellowish cast from the room lighting, grain in the top is just outrageously good.

This is really the first time I've truly appreciated the top on this gorgeous guitar, the wear, the bumps, the bruise, the patina, it's superb. I think this surpasses my F-30 as the top guitar in the house, the F-30 being a Sunburst, I much prefer NT.

And a fingerpicker's dream, 1 15/16" nut width.

 

[chazmo]

It's Sitka spruce.

I'm not seeing the bear claw in your pictures, @Guildedagain , but there is some lovely silking in that soundboard!!! Very pretty. Silking becomes visible in some wood when it's properly quarter-sawn, like your soundboard.

 

[Br1ck]

My 70 D 35 has bear claw over all the top. It is so subtle as to be visible only in certain light at certain angles. But it is there and most probably thrown in the not suitable for our good guitars pile.

Your F 112 is my favored top, tight grain in the middle going to wide grain at the edges. Love the look. Love my favorite 12 string too.

 

[Christopher Cozad]

...Getting back from the airport in the middle of the night last night and staying up a while...

I have tried to explain the benefits of this to my wife for years. The insight I have gained during those hours… !

 

[Christopher Cozad]

...I'm not seeing the bear claw in your pictures...

Bear Claw is certainly not out of control, but it is present.

 

[Christopher Cozad]

I am currently building (completely rebuilding) one of my 1975 F-212s. The old soundboard featured very tight, straight grain. The new soundboard by contrast, probably conspired with your F-112, GuildedAgain, before jumping to the top of my stack for me to select. It is 30-plus-year-old Bear Claw Sitka. Tight grain in the middle with wider grain at the edges typically comes from a smaller tree. I think it is lovely to look at, and I grew up in era of “perfect wood ONLY for my guitar”. More importantly, as you mentioned, is the sound. Bear Claw can so bright and crisp, as the board is so stiff. Downright yummy!

 

[adorshki]

Adi is supposed to be cleaner than this, considering bear claw had been considered a defect at one time, long before the tonewood debate... Sitka seem to have more of the anomalies, silking, bear claw, medullary rays.

Is it sitka? Most probably so. When the question of use of Adi in the '60's-90's comes up, we can't find any evidence from credible source that Guild ever had any, and several reasons why it wasn't even widely available at the time biggest being overharvesting during WWII.

You should see the silking on my "standard grade" D25 now, underneath the ambering. Incredible. And I've got a bearclaw swipe right under the bridge. Looks like a pair of inverted wings.

 

[Guildedagain]

My D-35 doesn't have much silking at all, but this intense "rain camo" pattern.

 

[chazmo]

That's bear claw.

 

[Guildedagain]

I always thought silking was bear claw, but this is a relative backwater.

 

[kostask]

Adi is supposed to be cleaner than this, considering bear claw had been considered a defect at one time, long before the tonewood debate... Sitka seem to have more of the anomalies, silking, bear claw, medullary rays.

Getting back from the airport in the middle of the night last night and staying u a while, I discovered that that top in the F-112 really some way above average top wood. By ceiling light, I could see bear claw everywhere, and the width of the grain at the outer edges is surprising. At that point, the grain itself has bearclaw running up each line, I've never seen anything this good on a guitar top.

The pics have a yellowish cast from the room lighting, grain in the top is just outrageously good.

This is really the first time I've truly appreciated the top on this gorgeous guitar, the wear, the bumps, the bruise, the patina, it's superb. I think this surpasses my F-30 as the top guitar in the house, the F-30 being a Sunburst, I much prefer NT.

And a fingerpicker's dream, 1 15/16" nut width.

Note that medullary rays, and silking are not anomalies. but a product of the way the soundboard wood is cut. It is present in all spruce varieties, not limited to Sitka, Adirondak, or Engleman, or any of the "European" spruces. Medullary rays are the "veins" or passages that distribute the water and nutrients to the outer (i.e. growing) layers of wood and bark. Silking is what happens when the spruce is cut exactly on the quarter (the grain lines run perpendicular to the surface of the wood) and the medullary rays are cut. If the medullary rays are perfectly radial, and the top is perfectly quartered, you get silking over the entire soundboard. Sometimes, the medullary rays don't run straight from the core of the tree to the outside wood, and you may have only some silking, or none at all.

 

[karlo]

Sad face! Mine has a defective bear claw top:

 

[chazmo]

Sad face! Mine has a defective bear claw top:

yeah, return that thing, karlo!

 

[karlo]

yeah, return that thing, karlo!

It's too late, I already put it in the trash where it belongs! DEFECTIVE

 

[West R Lee]

Sad face! Mine has a defective bear claw top:

Now that's cool.

West

 

[Br1ck]

Way back in the days of the Neanderthal, Anything but tight grain spruce was headed for the reject pile. I think instead, guild bought it for D 25s and D 35s, since anomalies are very common on these models. Over the decades, builders have been able to market it as a feature, with companies like Santa Cruz featuring it. It is a no cost box you can check on their build sheet. Whoever ordered my D PW certainly did. Bearclaw to me needs to be very prominent. One little "flaw" looks funky to me. Twenty looks great. My SC has about five, but they are five or six inches long. Great instruments have been built from stripes too, especially red spruce. The only deal breaker for me is runout.