Les Paul Top and book-matching
Quarter-sawn, rift-sawn and flat-sawn
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Beautiful Les Paul Standard tops, from left to right: 9 0627, 9 1854, 9 0823, 9 0629
All Les Paul Standards manufactured between 1958 and 1960, often nicknamed "Burst" by guitarists, had a top consisting of two side by side maple boards. The wood used was usually acer saccharum, also known as hard or rock maple, but sometimes Gibson also used acer saccharinum, known as silver maple, or acer rubrum, known as red rum maple.
Ted McCarty and John Huis, Gibson factory manager, picked maple trees in a forest in East Lansing, Michigan, and had them cut in a sawmill owned by the Forestry Department of the Michigan State University.
The body (top excluded, of course) was in "old growth" Honduran mahogany, obtained from trees that were hundreds of years old.
Since the top of the Les Paul was finished in a see-through Sunburst finish, it was important to make it as elegant as possible. The book-matching was used to create unique tops, just like fingerprints, and to maximize the beauty of the wood. It was accomplished by cutting the maple board in half and opening it like a book, in order to obtain two symmetrical boards creating pleasing visual effects.
Ted McCarty and John Huis, Gibson factory manager, picked maple trees in a forest in East Lansing, Michigan, and had them cut in a sawmill owned by the Forestry Department of the Michigan State University.
The body (top excluded, of course) was in "old growth" Honduran mahogany, obtained from trees that were hundreds of years old.
Since the top of the Les Paul was finished in a see-through Sunburst finish, it was important to make it as elegant as possible. The book-matching was used to create unique tops, just like fingerprints, and to maximize the beauty of the wood. It was accomplished by cutting the maple board in half and opening it like a book, in order to obtain two symmetrical boards creating pleasing visual effects.
The book-matching
On acoustic instruments, such as violins or acoustic guitars, this technique not only emphasizes the aspect of the wood grain, but, it also serves to give structural resistance to the body; for this purpose, only quarter-sawn boards can be used, the only ones capable of providing the necessary stability, as well as creating beautiful patterns.
Quarter-sawn, rift-sawn and flat-sawn
Since the top of the Les Paul Standard was not carved out from the inside and was joined to a strong mahogany body, the structural strength and stability were already secure. Therefore flat-sawn and rift-sawn boards, discarded in acoustic instruments manufacturing, could be used as well, reducing unnecessary costs. This was particularly useful for Gibson, which needed at least 5/4 lumber. Larger mills usually would cut the board to the "standard" thickness of 4/4. Therefore, Gibson was forced to obtain 5/4 boards from smaller lumber mills, significantly reducing the number of boards available with an increase in production costs.
According to the cut and the plan, the boards could have different grain and be more or less figured.
It's now important to understand the meaning of grain and figure.
According to the cut and the plan, the boards could have different grain and be more or less figured.
It's now important to understand the meaning of grain and figure.
The grain is a two-dimensional pattern that appears on the surface of the board, direct consequences of the annual rings. They are created as the tree grows: the darker rings form during the winter, when tree growth is slower. Depending on the angle of the cut you can have different patterns.
- In quarter-sawn boards growth rings run parallel to the board edges and are more than 60° to 90° to face of the board. Straight parallel lines appear on the surface; on the side rings intercept edge, leaving irregular shapes.
- In flat-sawn boards growth rings intercepts the surface, leaving a cloud-like grain pattern on the top surface and a rainbow-like grain pattern on the front face. On the side annual rings may run "uphill" or "downhill", depending on the cut.
- Rift-sawn boards are between quarter-sawn and flat-sawn in character. Furthermore, the board in one point can be more similar to a quarter cut, on the opposite side it can be more "flat". Growth rings run at an angle between 30° and 60° to the face of the board.
The figure is a completely different phenomenon, caused by a drastic change in fiber orientation and its density. It usually interlocks with the grain. The light is reflected from a certain pattern of the top surface, creating optical illusions to human eye which makes Les Paul top particularly attractive. Ribbon curl, tiger-striped, curly, pin-striped, fiddleback and flamed are several different three-dimensional patterns that appear on the surface of only a few boards. Usually particularly flamed tops were reserved for other models, more important to Gibson, such as the Super 400 and the L-5, but it was possible to find them on few the Les Paul Standards. Probably, Gibson at first paid less attention to the aesthetic aspect of the Les Paul top, so there is a higher percentage of figured tops in '59 compared to '58, but given that it depended on availability in stock, a definite division by year seems contrived. The truth is each year that the most of the Les Paul Standard tops were plain or with moderate figures.
There is a close relation between figure and grain. Generally, figure is strongest on quarter-sawn boards and may be not so prominent on flat ones. But the figure is often not very reflective on quarter-sawn boards and may not have enough "movement" as the viewing angle changes.
Les Paul top consisted of two symmetrical side by side boards. '50s Les Paul top was 1/2" in the center part, while the thinnest outer edge was 9/64". Thus, after carving, a considerable amount of wood was discarded. This did not change the pattern on the new carved surface of the quarter-sawn boards and both figure and grain remained straight. But two- and three-dimensional patterns on rift and flat boards, which represented the majority of the Les Paul tops, varied considerably, losing the symmetry given by the book-matching. After carving, most flat-sawn boards were devoid of three-dimensionality, but some rift-sawn boards still had beautiful figures.
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Comparison between quarter, flat and rift sawn, and related top patterns
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Rift sawn boards usually had a quarter-tending edge and a flat-side one, so they could book matched with the flat edge in the center or, as in the case of most Les Paul Standard guitars, they could be joined with quarter edge in the center.
After cutting the lumber in half to get a book-match, it was possible that one out of the two sliced board was discarded for various reasons as cosmetic imperfections. The remaining board was saved and matched within the same lumber for color, figure and grain.
When a book-matching was not possible, Gibson used to cut a lumber at its body length, making a side-by-side figure matching. The surface exposed was the one closest to the bark side of the tree, which usually was more figured. This is called flitch-matching.
If this was not possible, Gibson matched the boards for color only. As the Sunburst finish was see-through finish, the color-matching was important. So the factory would have opted to match the boards from the same lumber although they were not contiguous, rather than risking the matching from different lumber.
When a book-matching was not possible, Gibson used to cut a lumber at its body length, making a side-by-side figure matching. The surface exposed was the one closest to the bark side of the tree, which usually was more figured. This is called flitch-matching.
If this was not possible, Gibson matched the boards for color only. As the Sunburst finish was see-through finish, the color-matching was important. So the factory would have opted to match the boards from the same lumber although they were not contiguous, rather than risking the matching from different lumber.
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The Flitch-Matching
