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Solid Vs Bookmatched


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i asked this at the end of another post but i don't think anyone saw it. i'm working on my first acoustic instrument and have cut a beautiful bookmatched front and back but am wondering this...with a solid glue joint and proper bracing is there any advantage/disadvatage between solid or bookmatched? is one more likely to bow or warp? this first build is a tenor uke by the way.

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Are you refering to one piece versus two piece? Wide enough pieces are more difficult to come by, although on a uke it should be fairly easy to get a wide piece for a back or top.

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Are you refering to one piece versus two piece? Wide enough pieces are more difficult to come by, although on a uke it should be fairly easy to get a wide piece for a back or top.

thanks for your response and yes, i was referring to one piece versus two but getting the wood wasn't an issue. i've got enough pecan, which is what i'm building it out of to do full sized guitars with one piece but i did a bookmatch for the look.... i had already assumed that most guitars were made that with two because of the difficulty in finding one piece large enough so i guess i was just wondering if there were any structural difference between the two.

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It's also an issue of tree size; you'll need a very, very, very large tree to get a 1-piece top that's perfectly quartered across its width. So, yes, it's partly a stability issue. Additonally, wood properties often varie across its width, different stiffness, etc. By bookmatching, you get two halves that are visually and structurally as similar as you're likely to find anywhere. In part, it's also aesthetics; bookmatching is pretty, adds symmetry to a symmetrical instrument.

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It's also an issue of tree size; you'll need a very, very, very large tree to get a 1-piece top that's perfectly quartered across its width. So, yes, it's partly a stability issue. Additonally, wood properties often varie across its width, different stiffness, etc. By bookmatching, you get two halves that are visually and structurally as similar as you're likely to find anywhere. In part, it's also aesthetics; bookmatching is pretty, adds symmetry to a symmetrical instrument.

thanks mattia..i appreciate the info.

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