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A couple months ago we discussed and I ordered a bolt of sitka from these guys and I promised to give my impression of the wood I got. The "bolt" I got was graded as master grade and we talked about how that could really be done before it was cut into tops. Well the answer is, you can't judge a book by it's cover. I was able to get 16 slices from the block of wood I got plus a fairly large piece left over for braces. It was very green and wet so I just stickered it and have not gotten to sanding it yet. In a month or two I will pull it down off the shelf and skim sand it. Some of the tops may be close to master grade, I'm still not sure till I sand it. Some of the slices are fairly streaky and the rest fall between. Did I get my $$$ worth? Well, yes I think I did. It cost $50 for the wood plus $30 for shipping and I got 8 tops and will be able to use more than half of them at least. If I do indeed have at least 1 master grade top in there, that would probably be worth the price so I think I did well. There are some tops that look pretty good and some that I would not want to use at all. I don't use that much sitka so I think this will probably last me quite a while.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

John just for comparison sake tell us how you judge. The reason I ask is I have bought 3A,4A and so called Master grade tops. I find it hard to determine Why some of the 3A and 4A were graded down In fact I have a set of master grade Sitka in house that is not as stiff, has a lesser grain count and less silking that several 3A set I have gotten from Colonial and LMI. I have pretty much given up on buying Master grade.

They were the guys ast ASIA, right? I bought some bear claw tops from them and they were all pretty decent. A lot more than $10 each though....

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

No,the guys at ASIA were Alaska Specialty Woods
Alaska Specialty

Mike, I am by no means schooled in grading tonewoods and like I said these are not dry and therefore have not been sanded. I will try to make some grading judgements after they have been sanded to a uniform thickness so I can compare stiffness and really see the color and grain of each piece.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Hey J.H., I for one am curious to know what you think of that Sitka once it is dry....keep us posted.

------------------John How38527.7005439815

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

I bought 1/4 cord from him also. I had it shipped to Seattle for $47. It won't be cut for several years, but it is mixed. There are two two bolts of around 100 pounds each that look very promising. The rest is wait and see. Even if only 10% of it makes goods tops, I will have doubled my investment.

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Scott Thompson
Port Townsend,WA

"In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room"
-Billy Bragg

John
What wood do you use most commonly for tops, if it is not sitka