I just bought a few pieces from Gallery Hardwoods (which'll be posted in "My very own bass in progress thread" when they arrive). I had wanted a particular Goncalo Alves top I saw on the site, but when I ordered, Larry said it had been sold to LAG. He told me he was going to cut another set, though, and that it would be more figured.

They have done the shop work on the pieces, and they got sent off yesterday. Larry e-mailed me saying the GA came out with plum pudding figure. What exactly does that look like? Gilmer says it's the rarest of the figures, and had this piece (they didn't say what species) to exhibit it:

http://www.gilmerwood.com/images/01-24-02w70close.jpg

Personally, I don't see what the figure is. I see a little shimmer at the top. What is plum pudding figure, and what should I be looking for in the piece?

I think that pic is the plum pudding mahogany. Doesn't look that spectacular in the photo, to me anyway.

This looks identical to the figured mahogany on my ABG, though I hadn't heard this type of figure called "plum pudding" before, or known that it was exceptionally rare. There is a shimmer to it, but the figure is really the sort of "crumpled" look, with the lines going diagonal to and across the grain. It's not really all that dramatic looking though, even in person. That may be different for Goncalo Alves.

Mike

Thanks. I'm not really a figure-fiend (the original piece of GA I wanted only had a tiny bit of curl), so hopefully, I'll like it anyway. I'm a little wary of buying a top without seeing it, but, oh well. I trust Larry to cut good stuff.