Using flat-sawn wood

We like to stay away from flat-sawn wood in guitar-making because it tends to be less dimensionally stable and will shrink or swell to a greater degree with humidity changes. The main exceptions are when we want something to bend easily (guitar linings) or because the flat-sawn wood is nicer to look at. This is the case with bird’s-eye maple. I have included a photo, not of the beautiful look of good bird’s-eye but rather the endgrain showing the tree rings so you can see that the wood is totally flat-sawn. If you cut the same maple radially as you would any other wood for guitar-making the eyes don’t show up. You are looking at a the side of the guitar with the binding rebate cut exposing a clean view of the 2mm thick back. You can see fine dark lines in the maple which are horizontal – just the opposite of the dark vertical lines you see on the end of a typical top or even on the inside of the soundhole.