Official Luthiers Forum!

Sunbursts have been used for years to hide cosmetically challenged top wood. As resources become scarcer I think you will see more creative staining and finishing solutions used. Some of the things the furniture industry does as S.O.P. you may eventually see bleed over to guitar production. We tend to believe that domestic hardwoods will always be relatively cheap and available, but they are on a global market, and are subject to the same pressures and potential over harvesting as their tropical cousins. I remember the complaint of the sawyers back in the 70's that they couldn't pay what the "Germans" were paying for veneer logs. The Germans had veneer saws that could cut veneer half as thick (1/64th in.) as the American mills and were getting twice the square footage from the same log. The veneer is so thin the "backer" makes a difference in the color of the face veneer.