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Do you like to see tops and backs bookmatched? I do. But I see many instruments made without it, including some very high end ones. So .... what do you think?
Bookmatch or Not?
- Thread starter VegasGeorge
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ripock
Well-known member
I don't like it. If I'm paying for solid wood, I want solid wood. I don't know (or care) if it sounds better or not. It is merely an issue of getting what I pay for. Conversely I wouldn't mind paying less for something that isn't solid as long as that's part of the conditions.
I quite like bookmatched wood tops and backs on my tenors. Some can be really attractive. It's not always possible to get an exact match. Especially if there's a heavily flamed pattern.
I do have a Ko'Aloha Crown Bridge tenor that was made with single-piece top, back and sides. It looks odd to me since all of my other tenors are bookmatched.
I do have a Ko'Aloha Crown Bridge tenor that was made with single-piece top, back and sides. It looks odd to me since all of my other tenors are bookmatched.
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Ripock, there seems to be some misunderstanding here. "Bookmatch" doesn't have anything to do with solid versus laminate construction. Either can be bookmatched, or not. Apart from the appearance issue, I see bookmatching as a sign of special care being taken in the choice of wood and building process. I just like to see the grain pattern matched across the face of the instrument.
Graham Greenbag
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I’m under the impression that book matching makes a feature out of a necessity. Often boards don’t come wide enough for a solid/continuous piece of wood to act as the sound board or back and so are butt joined along the centre line of the instrument. Book matching is a form of more visually attractive joint.
If I had the option then a single piece of wood would be my preference; it’s simple, it doesn’t have a joint subject to fail and it doesn’t have backing strips that might unhelpfully stiffen things up.
If I had the option then a single piece of wood would be my preference; it’s simple, it doesn’t have a joint subject to fail and it doesn’t have backing strips that might unhelpfully stiffen things up.
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Graham, I agree whole heartedly! A single piece is ideal. And, of course, the grain runs all the way across. Bookmatching would be my second choice. What I question is very high end makers apparently choosing not to bookmatch, and producing very expensive instruments with non-matched two piece tops. I just think bookmatched tops are more beautiful than mismatched grain tops.
Cadia
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Yes to bookmatching. I can't imagine buying a high end uke and having the top not matching. I'm getting a custom tenor built right now, and I was greatly debating whether to have the back bookmatched or get a contrasting backstrip. In the end I chose a contrasting backstrip, but I think a nice bookmatch would have made me happy as well.
Actually though - with spruce isn't that the sign the wood has been properly quartersawn and a sign of good quality?
Depends entirely on
1. The wood
2. The construction
3. The scale / size of uke
Some woods lend well to bookmatching, some less so. Tops, depending on scale can be two piece (can be bookmatched) or one piece (can't be).
So I don't think this can be an 'either or' or a 'I like this or that'.
This is a very simple soprano I own made from reclaimed Brazilian Mahogany. It's one piece on top so bookmatching does not come into it. I like it for how it is.
1. The wood
2. The construction
3. The scale / size of uke
Some woods lend well to bookmatching, some less so. Tops, depending on scale can be two piece (can be bookmatched) or one piece (can't be).
So I don't think this can be an 'either or' or a 'I like this or that'.
This is a very simple soprano I own made from reclaimed Brazilian Mahogany. It's one piece on top so bookmatching does not come into it. I like it for how it is.
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That's a nice Martin IZ, UkerDanno.
Funny, I splurged with my first solid wood uke and went for a Mele custom tenor. It came with a one piece solid top and one piece back, and I thought at first that a mistake had been made, lol. Very soon I realized that a tree the width of my tenor went into making the instrument and then I got it. That said, I think nothing less of a book matched top. Agreed that my eyes inherently like the symmetry and my ears can't tell the difference.
Funny, I splurged with my first solid wood uke and went for a Mele custom tenor. It came with a one piece solid top and one piece back, and I thought at first that a mistake had been made, lol. Very soon I realized that a tree the width of my tenor went into making the instrument and then I got it. That said, I think nothing less of a book matched top. Agreed that my eyes inherently like the symmetry and my ears can't tell the difference.
