I'm will be getting an 8 string built soon. It will have an all maple neck(28"), a single Lundgren m8 pickup, and a bolt on body. I have decided on maple for the bodywood. The whole body will be extra small and thin(1.25 inch). Maple isn't really the most pretty wood, so I decided to get some kind of top, but the body style will have a forearm contour, which will really ruin the top by being cut off. I have considered doing half the body maple, and the other top half a nice looking figured wood but still have good tonal characteristics and similar to maple. I've been looking for some nice looking tops, and I found this beautiful piece. It's Anigre:
Anyone know what anigre sounds like? Is there a way to just get a standard maple body and stil have the nice figured top regardless of the forearm controur(bend the top??)?
Does figured maple sound different from regular maple?