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Why bookmatch?

chutsk10

chutsk10

Dec 27, 2006
620
8
Surrey, BC, Canada
#1
This may be in the wrong section but I am just wondering why exotic tops are always bookmatched?

Is it due to aesthetics, cost, etc?

Personally the seam in a bookmatch always bugs me no matter how good it is done, obviously just my opinion but I would like to know the reasoning for it?
 
#2
i'm not a luthier, but i'd like to take a crack at the question anyway.

#1: because finding a piece of wood suitable enough to use as a top that's big enough to not have to cut in half is highly unlikely. there will be flaws, knots, just general ugliness.

#2: considering #1, we can be certain there'll be a seam in every top, so i ask you, would you rather that seam be right down the middle, where a good deal of it is hidden by pickups and bridge and such, or would you rather have it off to one side or the other, fully visible?

just my .02
 
#4
TrevorOfDoom said:
#2: considering #1, we can be certain there'll be a seam in every top, so i ask you, would you rather that seam be right down the middle, where a good deal of it is hidden by pickups and bridge and such, or would you rather have it off to one side or the other, fully visible?
Click to expand...

I'd rather not have it there at all :D haha. Actually the book match in flame tops bugs me the most which is why I will never have a flame top, sad I know. Quilt is not so bad to me and some of the darker woods are even better. I will say the symmetry does help the appearance of some of the woods.

I thought too that it may because it is hard to find a nice enough single piece to make a whole top . . .

I’d like to know what the luthiers have to say?. . .
 
#5
chutsk10 said:
I'd rather not have it there at all :D haha. Actually the book match in flame tops bugs me the most which is why I will never have a flame top, sad I know. Quilt is not so bad to me and some of the darker woods are even better. I will say the symmetry does help the appearance of some of the woods.

I thought too that it may because it is hard to find a nice enough single piece to make a whole top . . .

I’d like to know what the luthiers have to say?. . .
Click to expand...

It's also easier than finding 2 different pieces of wood where the grain matches and doesn't leave an even more glaring seam.

My guess is that difficulty finding large pieces of figured wood is bound to be more difficult and more expensive, though I'm just guessing.

Also, I think some people actually like the way it looks. Not me though, I'm totally with you there. :)
 
#9
Bookmatching aside, the goal is to take the wood you've got and
make the most pleasing top out of it. Sometimes, maybe most times,
you've got a 6" wide board and resawing and bookmatching it seems
like the best thing. It's at least a cliche that's hard to be faulted
for. But there are certainly times where some other arrangement
makes more aesthetic sense.

Also, while bookmatching gives you that demonic inkblot look
highlighting the center seam on a highly figured piece, it's also
a good way to hide the joint altogether when you're working with a
quartersawn piece of straight grained wood.
 
#10
when consecutive pieces are sawn from lumber the grain pattern is relatively identical. Laying 2 pieces that are nearly identical side by side creates a mirror image of the grain pattern. In fact using a mirror is how a luthier can determine the "picture" of the grain - place a mirror 90º to the wood and move it around till you get a pleasing image. There are numerous visual possibilities w/BM - you can skew the image/grain etc. More than 2 pieces can be used 4, 6, 8, whole dining tables are made w/BM veneer. BM is also an economical use of valuable/expensive wood - cut it into thin slices and you get more slices for multiple tops etc
 

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