As TGFers who have been members since the end of 2001 know, the roots of TaylorStock grew out of a one word response from Bob Taylor on the topic of wood grading. This weekend, Bob Taylor gave attendees a primer on the subject.
He began by specifically talking about how spruce is cut for tops, beginning with the difference between quartersawn and flatsawn wood. The best spruce tops are quartersawn. He also illustrated how the medullary rays are exhibited in high quality tops as silking. Other qualities of a piece of wood, including weight to strength ratio and straightness of grain, also determine the grading of wood. Other qualities, such as color and cosmetic flaws may degrade a set of wood.
After talking about wood, Bob Taylor showed footage he had taken on two trips a decade apart that he made with Pacific Rim Tonewoods. It showed how logs are cut and the care taken to select the best portions for guitar tops. On the left, the lines show where cuts are made to cut quartersawn wood, with the triangular shaped pieces being used for other purposes, such as bracing. Note that the almost horizontal lines are not the grain of the wood; rather, they are marks made by the saw.
After speaking about spruce, he talked about cutting other types of wood, especially maple. With some types of wood, quartersawn wood may not be desired. For example, quilted maple is cut perpendicular to flamed maple.
For a short time, he also talked about how ebony is graded for fretboards. The main considerations are color and straightness of grain. Those that are darker and straight going on higher models, while those with light streaks or wavy grain going on lower models. However, he also pointed out that the lighter grained ebony is not of lesser quality, just less desired cosmetically. He takes pride in the fact Taylor Guitars does not dye its ebony like many other guitar manufacturers do; instead, keeping the wood untreated allows the natural beauty of ebony to show through.
In the performance venue, he continued to field questions about wood grading and other subjects including the new cases, signature models, plans for future guitar models and body types. All questions were addressed directly and some with humor, even when he had already addressed them before on the TGF, such as the "deornamentation" of the 900 series.
Stemming from several discussions concerning the grading of Presentation Brazilian Rosewood last fall, Bob Taylor said we should go through a pile of wood and he'd talk about each set. Late Saturday night, he went through a couple stacks of AA and AAA Brazilian Rosewood, commenting on each set of wood, explaining why each set of wood was placed in each pile. Wood in both of these stacks have the proper density for a Presentation guitar; however, qualities such as matching back and sides and consistency of grain place a set in one of the stacks. Wood in the AA stack is used for a Presentation only if chosen by a customer. Wood that does not have the proper density is not considered for Presentation guitars at all.
