Can someone explain flamed/quilt tops to me?

[dereksilloway]

What I mean is how is it accomplished?
I am a complete novice when it comes to woods and painting.
But I am curious how flamed/quilt tops are accomplished? Also, can someone explain the different "A" ratings for flamed/quilt tops?
Maybe show picture examples?

I just love flamed/quilt tops on basses. Especially black and red.

Thanks!

[mrbell321]

I'm pretty sure it's just how the wood grows sometimes. I don't think there's a process you can apply to make a flamed/quilted top, unless you use a veneer(which is just another piece of wood). And all maple doesn't grow that way. It must be an environmental thing...
However, the finish you apply can bring the contours out more than is natural.

[Phendyr_Loon]

Flame, quilt, spalt, burl, etc. is formed by the wood growing in that manner. It is often called "figure".
Grading wood consists of the more "A's", the more pronounced the figure is and consequently the higher the price of that piece of wood.

[Big B.]

The curl/quilt does indeed come from the grain of wood. There seems to be a fair amount of disagreement about exactly what conditions lead to the different figures but quilt/curl/birdseye/etc. are all due to environmental stresses while the tree is growing. With quilt/curl the grain is actually wavy instead of straight and if you split a piece along the grain you can see the grain run up and down like a hilly road. I've also seen tree trunks where the bumps of the curl could be seen and felt on the outside of the tree (under the bark).

[Konquest]

Quilted and Curly ("flame") woods are brought out by a combination of natural ripples in the growth rings, combined with sawmill/sawyer technique. When a good sawyer sees potential for figure, he or she will mill the wood appropriately, to yield the highest % of figured boards (more money).

In the sawmill, I have never seen the A-5A "ratings" that guitar manufacturers use. Quilted is Quilted, and the tightest curly figure is called "fiddleback", then "tiger", then just "curly". Soft maple seems to be more prone to curly figure than Western Bigleaf Maple, vice versa for quilt figure.

The way these woods are accentuated on guitars is that the wood is dyed a dark color, then sanded back so that the dye only remains in the "stripes". Then additional colors are applied to create a fire or water 3-D effect. Modulus Graphite and Paul Reed Smith are renowned for their dyed maple finishes.

[dereksilloway]

Awesome guys. I really appreciate the explanations.
All my questions have been answered, and as Konquest has said, ive drooled over the finishes on PRS guitars many a time.

[Lonnybass]

And the figured finishes really take colored dye treatments well, especially using sand-back techniques to get the grain to really come alive.

Lonnybass